Stop using religion as rationale
The Toronto Blue Jays cut pitcher Anthony Bass last week after he drew backlash for reposting a video on Instagram that called Target and Bud Light “evil” and “demonic” for supporting the LGBTQ community.
Toronto’s general manager Ross Atkins told reporters that the move to cut the relief pitcher was primarily driven by his performance this season, which could be true, or might be a way to avoid backlash from the bigots of the world, or might be a combination of the two.
Either way, good riddance.
But situations like this always baffle me.
I understand bigotry, ignorance, hatred, and fear. These are all terrible but understandable reasons for a small-minded fool to oppose human beings based on their skin color, sexual orientation, and the like.
But according to Antony Bass, his rejection and repudiation of the LGBTQ community is based on religious grounds.
Essentially, the Bible made him do it.
And while the Bible does include passages that forbid homosexuality, it also includes so many things that people like Anthony Bass, a significant segment of the Republican party, and religious leaders like the Pope choose to ignore.
The Bible is filled with laws that religious people never follow.
I know. I’ve read the book, cover to cover, three times.
Leviticus – the same book of the Bible that condemns homosexuality – also states with absolute clarity that “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, even with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and adulteress must be put to death.”
Did you get that? The Bible unequivocally calls for the execution of anyone who cheats on their spouse, as well as the person aiding and abetting in the cheating.
It also says, at least twice, that you cannot work on Sunday and specifically calls for the death (by stoning) of anyone who does so.
As a professional baseball player, Bass has definitely worked on Sunday. Thousands of times.
If anyone – even members of your own family – suggests worshipping another God, they must also be killed.
If you discover that a city worships a different god, you destroy the city and kill its inhabitants, including children and animals.
Did you get that? Kittens must die if their owners worship a God other than the one in the Bible—and not just some kittens.
All the kittens.
The Bible also unequivocably states that:
- Enslaved people must be submissive and obedient to their masters.
- Women must be submissive to their husbands.
- Clothing of two or more fabrics can never be worn.
- Hair cannot be cut, and beards cannot be shaven.
All of these laws are unequivocally stated in the book, which is reportedly the word of God. It’s the same book that feckless, hateful morons like Anthony Bass, a majority of Republican lawmakers, and the Pope use to oppose things like same-sex marriage and transgender rights.
It’s ridiculous. It’s Bible Buffet at its worst.
If you oppose the rights of LGBTQ people because you’re a bigot, just say you’re a bigot.
If you oppose same-sex marriage because you’re afraid, ignorant, hateful, or following your parents’ and neighbors’ uninformed belief system, just admit it.
If you hate gay people because you can’t imagine loving someone of the same sex and being different is bad for you, just say so.
But stop basing your ignorant, cowardly hatred on the Bible because that book is filled with hundreds of laws that you willfully ignore while – for some creepy reason – you and your religious leaders are obsessed with the laws about genitals and where we put them.
It’s weird, Also inconsistent, hypocritical, and nonsensical.
It’s frankly stupid.
I’d rather you simply be a bigot than some Bible-brandishing moron who either doesn’t know what that book contains (probably in the case of Bass) or is choosing to ignore the inconvenient parts (in the case of religious leaders like the Pope).