Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke has stated clearly that if he is elected as the president of the United States of America, that he will make removing any religious organization’s tax-exempt status if they discriminate against the human and civil rights of Americans. The question asked by the interviewer to him was directed toward the idea of homosexuality and the way conservative religious groups fail to accept them.
On CNN the discussion went like this… https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2019/10/11/beto-orourke-says-hed-revoke-tax-exempt-status-of-religious-groups-that-oppose-same-sex-marriage/?fbclid=IwAR18dRSc_NEwC4Llzs–JM6R_sSmwIsDY8czUMSewzelFIJSjg-0bOko1yY
Don Lemon of CNN posed the question, “Do you think religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities — should they lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage?”
Beto O’Rourke quickly responded with, “Yes, there can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone, or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us,” he added. “So as president, we’re going to make that a priority and we are going to stop those who are infringing on the rights of our fellow Americans.”
This is no small matter. And the very Constitution that Mr. O’Rourke is claiming to uphold is the thing that he is dragging through the mud. To infringe upon the rights of countless Americans is completely contrary to what he vows to protect.
The first amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
This clearly states the freedom to practice one’s belief system and exercise the practices of said belief system. And the fact that the separation of Church and State is not to stop religious beliefs from influencing the American people involved in the Government. But was instilled in our founding so that the Church would be protected from the Government body. Many people seem to get the idea twisted and I blame this on our educational institutions; people simply do not want to learn about their history and that is why our citizens are in the mess that they are now.
Without learning our own history we will be destined to fall into the same pitfalls that those before us did. This cycle is still repeating so there is an urgent need to educate yourself and those around you of our history.
Now to address the topic of homosexuality. As a Christian, I do in fact disagree with the lifestyle of those who practice any form of sexuality outside of God’s will (that being any type of sexual activity outside of the marriage bed between a husband (biological male) and his wife (biological female), but this does not mean that I hate them! In fact, I am writing this because I love the LGBTQIA+ so much that I cannot help but lovingly express God’s correction to them.
This is not to say that I am perfect or without sin. I also struggle with temptations and sinful actions day by day; this should grieve me as much as it grieves God if I am in fact a Christian.
So if I struggle with sin in my own life, I cannot say because someone is tempted with sinful sexual desires (outside of the marriage bed) means that God hates them. But rather it is important that as Christians we come to them in a place of understanding and kindness. God desires that we should all come to the knowledge of Him, repent, and place our trust in Him as the one true God and His Son as Savior.
I believe that Christians have received a bad reputation when it comes to addressing this topic because of a lack of category distinctions. If someone is practicing sinful actions and not grieved then we have a problem. But if someone who is tempted with sinful desires (and even possibly acts on them at times) but is grieved and repents to the Lord… How can I not say that God is willing to forgive and is with them in this time of confusion, temptation, and sin?
I believe that it would do all Christians well to remember this. John 8:7-11,
