A Simpleton in Black and White
Ah, another fine winter morning, with the receding mist leaving all of beautiful nature covered in a frosty white veil. And just like the world right now is exceptionally beautiful, so is Ray Comfort showing how exceptionally ugly he can be when he wants to. Yes, it’s that time of the month again: Ray has published another homophobic, bigoted post on God’s judgment of gays.
We can choose to become a pedophile, a fornicator, an adulterer, or a homosexual.
I just don’t know what to say. Ray doesn’t even try to hide it. He’s straight-up, plain-as-day, clearly equating homosexuality with pedophilia.
“Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 9-10).
Notice how this actually says nothing about pedophiles? Apparently, being gay is bad enough to warrant special mention in the Holy Book itself, but raping children isn’t. Yet, Ray is equating one with the other, saying both are abominable sins in the eyes of God. How can he make that statement? Obviously, being gay is much worse than being a pedophile.
After publishing this, and quite expectedly receiving a substantial torrent of comments pointing out his bigotry and “Christ-like” hatred of people who aren’t exactly like him, Ray added a postscript. It reads as follows:
P.s. After reading this post, some have asked if I would endorse the killing of homosexuals–quoting Old Testament verses, from Hebrew civil law. Of course I wouldn’t. Why would I (living in the United States in 2010), advocate the sentence given under the civil law of nation that existed 3,000 years ago?
Pedophiles do have rights. They have the same rights you and I do, and they lack the same rights you and I do. Pedophiles, as disgusting we all think their affliction is, are still people. They have the right to, and deserve, all the help they can get to cope with their problems.
Also, I have a question for those of you who were obviously angered by what I have written. Why have none of you suggested that pedophiles are born that way, and they have rights, etc.? All I have done is given you the biblical perspective, and warned you of who will not enter the Kingdom of God. Again, if I didn’t care, I wouldn’t bother.
Oh, I know you care, Ray. The question isn’t if you care, it’s what you care about. Apparently, you care so much about people around you loving other people that you have to write a blog post specifically to condemn such “sinful” behavior. You care so much that you will compare statutory rape and child abuse with consensual sex between adults, and claim they’re both just as bad. I’m sure the Ku Klux Klan “wouldn’t bother” with the sheets and burning crosses if they also “didn’t care”.
This being the somewhat incendiary topic it is, Ray felt the need to add a second postscript:
P.P.s. Individuals have responded with: “Pedophiles don’t have rights because they are CAUSING HARM. They are harming children. Consenting adults HARM NO ONE. Again, it’s pretty clear cut.” “Said act harms children. End. Of. Story.”
Therefore pedophiles that have pictures of semi-naked young children on their computers are okay? No one is being harmed. Why then is it illegal? The “I was born like it . . . it doesn’t harm anyone” doesn’t cut it in civil court. Neither will it on Judgment Day.
Again, Ray is tripping over himself in his eagerness to portray homosexual men and women as “sinful” and wicked. Again, it’s not a crime merely being a pedophile. If a person had pedophilic tendencies but never acted on them, “I was born like it, it doesn’t harm anyone” is perfectly good defense. It’s so good, there isn’t even a reason to accuse him of anything to begin with. Is Ray suggesting that civil law start punishing thought crimes?
Ray can add all the postscripts he wants. It won’t change the fact that he is a sad, bigoted, hateful joke of a man.
“Is Ray suggesting that civil law start punishing thought crimes?”
God punishes thought crime. Coveting is a thought based process and yet it is included in the 10 Commandments. Same with lust. It is not only the actions that condemn, but the thought.
There is a strong precedent for Christians to feel they can punish thought.
The problem is that Christians like Ray both compare God’s law to that of man’s, and at the same time highlight the differences. The fact, in this case, is that man’s law does not punish thought crimes. It is no illegal to simply be a pedophile. Why is he making an analogy with courts of law? He’s trying to argue that pedophilia is bad enough to be punished as a criminal offense, but ignoring the fact that this does NOT apply to homosexuality. Which is correct? Should we not punish pedophilia, or SHOULD we punish homosexuality?
Simply put, Ray makes no sense at all. Not even the arguments based on the Bible make any sense. Again, why is homosexuality such a horrible sin, but pedophilia doesn’t even get a single mention? It’s all a thin veil to unsuccessfully hide his own bigotry and homophobia.