Thinking Out Loud/Open Letter: #PrayForOrlando Controversy

Why are people getting upset because Christians are sharing the hashtag, 'PrayForOrlando?' It is ridiculous.

I read through the comments section of pastors, Christian public speakers and churches after they uploaded messages asking people to join in and pray for Orlando. Whilst going through them, I couldn't help, but notice that some people said things along the lines of, "why should we pray for sinners and their families?" "why should we be praying for gay people?" "they brought it on themselves," et cetera. Before I start the next paragraph, I will quote John 8:7, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Why should there be a debate concerning whether we should pray for those who unjustly lost their lives and the families who lost loved ones? Why have we created a holier-than-thou image of ourselves in our minds? Why do we think that we are so perfect, that only people like us need prayers and that because someone is different, they are any less of a human?

I am going to stop asking questions now.

1 Timothy 2:1 says, "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them."

Mark 12:31 says, "Love others as well as you love yourself."

1 Corinthians 13:5-6 says, "[Love] ....Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel"

Luke 6:31-34 says, “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that."

So, how do we think that it is right for us to believe that people aren't being true to their faith and beliefs because they choose to pray for those who lost their loved ones? 

(Sorry, I had to ask that question)

None of us have been Christians from the day of our birth! We could have been born into a Christian family, but just because my parents are friends with someone does not mean I have the same relationship they have with that person. Being born into a Christian family does not equate to having a relationship with Jesus. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. None of us are better than those who died or those who lost loved ones. There is no reason for us to feel that it makes anyone less of a follower of Christ because they choose to pray for others.

How can we use the Bible to condemn people of their sins when we are sinning in the process of judging and condemning them?

What do we lose by refusing to pray for others?

(These questions have to be asked)

Christ did not come for the righteous, but for the sinners!!

Oh my gosh! If we are supposed to strive to live like Christ or follow WWJD ("What Would Jesus Do?" why is it so hard for us to unconditionally love others and pray for them?

I'm done with this.

I am going to keep on praying for the families of those who lost their lives in the Orlando mass shooting. I am going to continue praying for the Grimmie family. I am going to continue praying for anyone who needs prayer! Black, white, Christian, Muslim, Bhuddist, Gay, Straight, I do not care. I will keep on praying for anyone who needs prayer!

When my best friend died, I wouldn't say I had much of a relationship with God. However, people kept praying for me, people kept showing me that they cared and that they loved me. Look where I am now! What if those people just ignored my circumstance because they had a "better" relationship with Christ than I did. What if people told me that I brought it on myself?! Honestly, if people did that, I would probably be dead right now.

We need to pray for Orlando.

I urge you to pray for Orlando.

If you still choose to live your life and ignore what those families are going through, go ahead, I can not force you to do anything you do not want to, but I can ask that you do not try to use Christianity or the Bible to justify a reason for us not to care about the lives of others.

#PrayForOrlando

Responding to things I've been told concerning how I eat

Picture got from SecurityAffairs.co

Hey,

So, in this blogpost, I will be responding to the common questions and statements I've got from people concerning what I eat now. All these comments have come from meat-eaters so, if you're a meat eater, you may have wondered this and I'm here to clear it up.

Everyone who has asked me any of these questions or similar questions or made any of these statements has known me for a little over a year, at least. This means that they knew me as an anaemic person, as someone who had chronic headaches, who suffered from severe fatigue and pretty much was always sick.

Okay! So, I'll start my response now:

Question: "Don't all the fruits and vegetables you eat give you the shitz?"
Response: I'm guessing that when you said that she was referring to a running stomach or something along that line and, well, no, my eating more raw fruits and vegetables hasn't resulted in that. I have bowel movements daily that are perfectly normal and the idea of getting the waste products out of my system instead of harbouring them in my body for days or weeks sounds good to me.

Statement: "Eating so much fruits and vegetables is unhealthy!"
Response: We've been told many times to eat our fruits or eat our veggies because they're healthy so.....yeah. I believe that raw fruits and vegetables don't only make us feel good and full of energy, they are also nature's medicine. I have always loved fruits and eaten them whenever my mum bought some (although I didn't eat half as much as I eat now). I have been sick for most of my life. I do not remember a year that I haven't been in a hospital, sick bay or health centre. Ever since I began to eat more raw fruits and vegetables, I haven't been to any of those health institutions (if I can call all of them that), I haven't needed to as I haven't been sick or experienced any of the ailments I used to. So, yeah, my eating so much fruits and vegetables is most definitely not unhealthy. Do you know how amazing it feels to have spent most of your life being sick and to finally go almost a whole year without being sick? It's wonderful!

Statement: "You need to eat meat!"
Response: The day a butcher's daughter told me this. Oh me, oh my. All I had to say to her was, "I do not need to eat meat." Okay! So, as most of you know, I don't eat meat because I don't like it's taste. When I went vegetarian, I hadn't done any research on it. The word 'vegetarian' was just a label I found for people like me who did not eat meat (I think I found it on Wikipedia or something when I googled not eating meat). Okay! So, due to not doing my research on vegetarianism, I ended up becoming anaemic as I became iron-deficient. I'm not helping myself here, am I? You see, I was iron deficient till last summer. I had been taking iron pills for years, but now, I don't need them. I'm not anaemic anymore. Do I eat meats? No. I overcame anaemia through raw fruits and vegetables (and thanks to God :) ). Did you know that spinach has more iron than beef and chicken (and possibly many other meats) and kale has more iron than chicken and over half the amount of iron in beef? Yup! So, I overcame anaemia by increasing my intake in those. Also, vitamins, especially vitamin C (I think that's the one) aids in the absorption of iron into the blood stream. I eat a lot of fruits rich in vitamin C so.....yeah, my body is absorbing that iron! :) So, yeah, I don't need to eat meat. I'm doing perfectly fine not eating meat.

Statement: Vegetarianism (and veganism) is (are) not supported by the Bible
Response: I can't remember how that statement was made word for word, but here is my response to it:

• Genesis 1:29 - And God said, “See, I have given you ever herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”
• Genesis 2:9 - And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
• Genesis 2:16-17 - And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

It is not till after the flood that we ever read of God giving people permission to eat animals in the Bible: Genesis 9:1-4 "So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood."

Okay! To me, vegetarianism and veganism are supported here. Adam and Noah had about a 1100 years age difference. The time between the creation of the earth and the flood was like 1656 years. So....I take that to be over a thousand years of pure veganism in Biblical times.

Some people could argue that Noah and his family were given permission to eat animals because of the time it takes for fruit bearing trees to produce fruit, but I don't know if that's God's reason for giving them permission to eat the animals and I'm not going to get into that as it is not the point of my response.

So, yeah, I've responded to the common questions and statements now. Here's my question:

• Why is it that no one really cares if I go off rice or pasta, bread or milk (one of my cousins hates the taste of milk I should add), but there is such a big deal about me going off meat?
• Why do people make such provocative statements over things that they are not used to?

~Sammy