Post by goz on Apr 12, 2019 1:35:02 GMT
"What makes religious people think that they have a free pass to bully intimidate and vilify?"
Believing that what you espouse comes directly from God is a powerful incentive to be confident and assertive.
The Bible, for example is replete with examples of followers of God vilifying others. Consider how Jesus vilified the Scribes and Pharisees. In Matt. 23:16 the writers have him referring to them as blind guides. Then he is said to have called them fools, serpents and vipers. Luke has him calling them hypocrites. The writer of Matthew has the Jews almost enthusiastically saying of Christ...“His blood be on us and on our children!”
The OT is full of cases where the Lord calls for executions for all kinds of things en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_capital_crimes_in_the_Torah
And consider how many times the Lord cursed this or that person or people for various things.
Isn't cursing someone a form of bullying?
This is how some Christians come to the conclusion they can bully people for perceived moral infractions.
Believing that what you espouse comes directly from God is a powerful incentive to be confident and assertive.
...and this is what causes religious wars, bigotry divisiveness and discrimination.
Whilst not particularly wanting to make a religious martyr out of this man, I hope he gains some perspective about the rights and beliefs of others, when he loses his hard won career.
You can't have it all. You can either be a religious bigot OR a well paid professional sportsman with a responsibility to your viewing public and the youth who might follow the sport.