Religious-based business not tenable

A post on Facebook the other day got me thinking about sin and how religious people react to those behaviors they or their religion define as sin. I don't normally get caught up in religious discussions since "truth" can never be ascertained.

One religious belief is just as good as any other since none can be definitively shown to be correct. The same is true of non-belief.

But, since the Hobby Lobby decision, religious views have intruded into the marketplace. They are again in the news with the current flaps about serving same sex couples. Some religious people feel they should not have to serve homosexuals because that would violate their religious beliefs, i.e. the behavior is "sinful."

OK. That makes some sense. Would not want to force someone to do something against his conscience.

This got me thinking about a religiously based business. Homosexuality is a sin, so I won't serve homosexuals. My reading of the bible tells me so.

That got me thinking about sin in general and wondering how many things the Christian bible says are "sinful." So, I did what any good Twenty-first Century person would do: I Googled the question. One author found 600 sins outlined.

Whew. That is a tremendous load to screen before someone will do business with you. For example, are you baptized? (Luke 7:29-30). Can't sell you that hamburger until I see your certificate, please.

Or, have you dressed "indecently"? (1 Timothy, 2-9) Goodbye speed O and bikinis. Gone, too, are gold, pearls and "costly array." (same Timothy).

Complaining (Luke, Timothy and Numbers). Suck it up or no hamburger for you. Proud speech, gossiping, complaining, discourtesy, lying, despising, disobeying, drinking (one presumes this is alcohol), believing in evolution (PS, 100: 3), being foolish (Mark and Timothy), gambling (Luke), gluttony, gossiping, making a graven image (goodbye Santa), being proud, lying--the list goes on and on.

One writer listed 600 sins carefully outlined in the bible. That's a tremendous amount of checking before you get your hamburger. In fact, I would submit that no business will EVER sell another good, product or service using "sin from the bible" as the litmus test before transactions occur.

Unless--the business person SELECTIVELY chooses "good sins" and "bad sins." We now have a moral dilemma for the religiously-based business. That businss has to shun some sin and countenance other sin. Countenancing sin is an abomination in the eyes of god, is it not?

So, what are these good Christians to do?

I submit that they follow their religion. "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and render unto god what is god's." That is, in business (a legal contract between the buyer and the seller), do business under the laws of the state. Serve anyone who comes across the transom.

After all, it is a sin not to "submit to man's laws." (1 Timothy 2-9, Py 7-10), To do otherwise is to selectively choose which sins to commit and which to ignore.

And that would not be the Christian way, right?

Black Role Models and the Liberal Meme

Sitting in church is an excellent time to think--and not just religious thoughts. Today, I pondered the assertion that children, especially black children, need role modes. That is, their teachers need to be black. I would not dispute that some teachers of different races is a good thing.

Black teachers are good for black children and (perhaps even better) for white children. The same is true for Asian teachers, Hispanic teachers and a host of others. Nothing reduces difference like positive exposure.

But then, I ask myself about other black role models--specifically, John McWhorter, Ben Carson, Colin Powell, Jason Riley. Why, I ask, are these successful black men not held up a models for children, black and white. Rather, with the possible exception of Powell, are they typically denigrated by liberals?

Are they not "black enough" for the liberal meme? Or is it simply that they hold views liberals can't stand? They do not subscribe to the "victim industry's" typical "capitalism is bad," "whites are racist" politically-correct storyline.

Instead, they look for equal opportunity; liberals prefer government to search for equal outcomes. Individualism. Liberal prefer statism and collectivism.

The left simply cannot stand an independent thinking, independent acting, strong black person. That would negate their propaganda that black people are victims. (Don't shout; there is racism and there are victims in the black community).