I don’t know. I guess I’m just dumb. Not a biologist that’s for sure. Seems the Bible is considered hate speech as well. I read somewhere that the word “hate” appears almost 90 times in the Old King James Bible. I read somewhere else “50 times” and yet another place 124 times. Either way, the “hate” word is overused. I’m tired of hearing how pretty much everyone is some kind of “hater.” Really now! Pretty high bar… well not any longer. I don’t drink Starbucks. Does that make me a “hater?” Some would say yes. I just think it’s over-priced, haughty and… did I say over-priced? Why there is a line there I will never know. I just don’t drink or buy it. I am not a “hater,” just ambivalent about this in a way.

Can’t we just be ambivalent any longer? I really just don’t care, I really don’t. Actually, I usually don’t buy anything to drink in a restaurant or when ordering fast food. Ice water for me, thanks. So, where is this “hater” thing coming from? Do people just need harder jobs so they are better occupied throughout the day with less time to feel troubled by stuff? Maybe.

So, actually, this is all leading somewhere… Finland. Yes, Finland. Beautiful Finland and poor ol’ Paivi Rasanen, former Minister of Interior. She is accused of making “derogatory comments” on at least three occasions. And one of those occasions was a tweet in 2019 quoting actual verses from the Bible. (Wanna bet Romans 1: 27-29?)

OMG (as they say these days). Can you believe that… the Bible. What nerve. A “hater” for sure. Her use of this foul language was in response to elements in the Finnish Lutheran Church supporting Pride Week (against traditional church doctrine). So, now we have to support Pride Week or we are haters? She is not allowed to “not support” this? Huh???

As Christians, we are to “evangelize” and tell others what we believe and why. But there is a point at which Christ taught us to just move on. Kick the dust off our feet. Become ambivalent? Perhaps. Doesn’t make us “haters.” We may still feel bad but still be ambivalent.

According to several articles and media accounts, she had the audacity to quote verses from the Bible which (according to that very same media) “appeared to describe homosexual acts as shameful.” Wow. Who would have thought? The courts are now deciding whether or not quoting the Bible could/should now be considered a crime in Finland. In 2004 she evidently described homosexuality as a psychosexual development disorder. So I looked it up. According to what I found in my research, there are three main categories of psychosexual disorder: sexual dysfunction, paraphilias and gender identity disorders. Sounds like she was correct to me. Unless, like the definition of vaccine, this definition is also changing right under our feet.

Finland's state prosecutor had stated that Ms Rasanen’s comments were likely to cause intolerance, contempt and hatred towards homosexuals. There’s that word again. “Hate.” I guess that, in addition to definitions becoming gray-areas with blurred lines, so also is the bar being “lowered.” And this same thing is happening right here in River City folks. Examples are all around us and if you think me wrong, you are not keeping up with current events very well. Trump much?

But this is not an isolated “one-off” instance. It is world-wide. John Sherwood, a Christian pastor and street preacher in the UK, was arrested for causing “alarm and distress” in London by preaching about the biblical definition of marriage and “proclaiming that the family unit should encompass and father and a mother, as directed by God, not two fathers or two mothers, according to Genesis 1: 27-28.” He was, fortunately, recently acquitted for that “crime.”

One article I read suggested that just because something is in the Bible, it still could or should be viewed as hate speech. There’s that word again: hate. So, allow me to reiterate that “hate” is a pretty high bar and it is an abused word in today’s contexts. What is not “hate?” One point of view is and not another? The thing that confuses me the most however is this: “If you don’t believe in my ideas on things like heaven and hell or sin, why does it bother you so much that I do?” Seriously. I didn’t hear Sherwood or Rasanen calling you “haters.” Sinners maybe, but not haters. And many don’t even believe in sin in the first place (a very unused word these days), what’s your beef?

So, I again went to the dictionary. I suggest using as old a dictionary as you can find. One written before woke “redefining of words took hold. I have the 1828 edition, and yes, words like “television” aren’t in it but vaccines still work as designed.

Hate: “implies an emotional aversion often coupled with enmity or malice.” (Merriam Webster). I will add that hate, I believe, is also thoughtful. An emotion that has been arrived at after much consideration. It should not be confused with emotions like “detest,” “destain,” “abhor,” or “loathe.” The word “hate” is overused and its “overuse” contributes to the destruction of our language. We need to stop this watering down on meanings of words. We will ultimately have “nothing” to say.

Questions of morality are not “hate.” They are stances people take. Beliefs people hold. If you, like me, believe the Bible is the bottom-line, you can see this. And, a Biblical WorldView is my base, my MO. If you don’t believe the Bible, you don’t believe as I do. And, if you don’t believe as I do, why does it bother you so much what I believe, the environment in which I wish to live, or how I want to live? No different from anyone else essentially. You want “safe places,” so do I.

You are, for some reason right – and by your same logic, I am a “hater?” I’m a “hater” and those opposed to me are not? Christians believe in hell as a possible life outcome. Why does this belief bother people enough to bastardize the language and accuse those with this belief of “hate?” That’s “hate?” It is not. And, if you do not share my belief in heaven and hell, then the end goal in life for you is most likely limited to having power on earth. Control, divide and conquer here and now, on this planet. There is nothing beyond this. If you are of this belief, you are just wrong. Is that “hate?” No, just fact, truth. So, I ask you this: Who were the actual “haters”? Christ when He was crucified or the folks who crucified Him?

In other news: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine recently exhibited an extensive understanding of Scripture by extending Pride Month to a "Summer of Pride." In a video posted on the official HHS Instagram account, Levine said: ”Happy Pride! Happy Pride Month, and actually — let’s declare it a summer of Pride. Happy Summer of Pride," Yes, Scripture says “Pride comes before the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Yes-siree-bob, fall does come right after summer.

Labor Day, I am hearing from the FAA, is the second biggest holiday travel weekend, second only to Juneteenth, and Keith Olbermann is calling Riley Gaines 'stupid' and ‘unsuccessful.’ Go figure.