Judge yourself before others
“I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C
H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.”
I used to sing this song in
Sunday school at the top of my
lungs. I figured God was way up in
heaven, so the louder I sang, the
more glorious the sound would be
in God’s ear.
I am a Christian. I come from a
Christian background. My family is
Christian. Most of my friends arc
Christian. The only catch is, I have
no catch. Being Christian doesn't
mean I assign a label to my faith,
such as Catholic, Methodist or
Baptist.
But I do know most Christians
have a common goal: to try to live
their lives as closely to the way
Jesus lived his for 33 years. With
all the talk these past few weeks,
back and forth, about the rights and
wrongs of homosexuality, I have to
say I’m disappointed in some of the
people who claim to be Christians. I
don’t doubt their love for God, but I
do wonder where they’re learning
their beliefs about homosexuals.
It's true the Bible teaches us that
homosexuality is a sin. In the New
International Vbrsion, Leviticus
20:13 tells us, “If a man lies with a
man as one lies with a woman, both
of them have done what is detest
able.”
However, we must also keep in
mind that premarital sex is consid
ered a sin. Not keeping the Sabbath
is wrong. Also. God doesn’t
distinguish between “white lies”
and intentional lies. Sin is all the
same in God's eyes.
Christians always remember the
preacher's lesson about damnation,
hellflrc and brimstone. We rarely
remember the lesson about how
Jesus taught us to be merciful and
nonjudgmcntal. Jesus loved
everyone, including the prostitutes
and tax collectors. We, as Chris
tians, arc commanded to follow his
lead. We too must love everyone.
And “everyone” includes
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Regardless of how you feel about
the act of homosexuality, you must
continue to love the person. It does
no good to attend church on Sun
days and pretend to worship if
. you 're not living the lessons of the
Lord.
homosexuals.
When one of the Pharisees, an
expert in the law, asked Jesus.
“Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?”, Jesus
replied:
“Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind. This is the
first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: Love your
neighbor as yourself' (Matthew 22:
35-40).
Jesus tells us to “love your
neighbor as yourself.” Our neighbor
may be Mr. Friendly, who lives in
the green house with the toy
poodle. Or perhaps our neighbor is
Tom Hunk, who drives all of the
women gaga when he strips off his
shirt to mow his lawn. We even
may live next to Joe, a man living
in a figurative closet because he too
admires Toni's biceps. Christians
arc supposed to love Joe as much as
they love Mr. Friendly.
For those who look down on
homosexuals, we must remember
that the Lord taught us to be
nonjudgmcntal. “Do not judge, and
you will not be judged. Do not
condemn, and you will not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will
be forgiven ... For the measure you
use, it will be measured to you”
(Luke 6: 37-38).
Christians believe we all sin. If
this is true, how can we judge
someone cIsc's sin before we take a
look at our own? Jesus asks us.
“Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother’s eye and
pay no attention to your own eye?”
(Luke 6: 41).
We don't want to be cast out of
society because of our own sins.
God is the only one who is able to
judge. By thinking we have a right
to snub our noses at somebody else,
we are vastly overestimating our
importance. The truth is, we arc no
better than anyone else.
OK, docs this mean that God
doesn’t think homosexuality is a
sin? 1 don’t know. All 1 know is
what the Bible says. But, even if
God docs look at this act with
“detest.” we must still feel nothing
but love and mercy. When Peter
asked Jesus how many times he
should forgive his brother who had
sinned against him. Peter assumed
the answer would be seven times.
Jesus answered, “1 tell you. not
seven times, but seventy-seven
limes” (Matthew 22: 24-25).
Again Jesus commands us to “Be
merciful, just as your Father is
merciful” (Luke 7: 36).
Regardless of how you feel about
the act of homosexuality, you must
continue to love the person. It docs
no good to attend church on
Sundays and pretend to worship if
you’re not living the lessons of the
Lord.
Slock Is i junior secondary education
major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
«■*.*> «i« k> 2iff o#
Women aren’t just skin-deep
Men seem to be conditioned to
do a visual scan to evaluate
women’s body shapes. Our eyes
automatically move back and forth
between the breasts and the rear
end. It's more than just a bad habit.
It's like instinct.
A man cannot be free as long lie
looks at a woman as an object for
sex. As long as a man looks at a
woman's breasts or rear end first,
he is limiting his thoughts. Even
when he looks at her breasts and
rear end second, his thoughts arc
limited. If a man’s thoughts arc
limited to a “sex first” or a “sex or
bust” attitude, he is lost.
Men seem to be locked into a
way of thinking about women that
is based on their sexuality. Men
spend too much time looking at
their bodies. The women they
encounter arc constantly at risk of
being sexually evaluated even
before they open their mouths to
speak.
We don't even have to actually
be thinking about sex at that
moment. Still, we take any opportu
nity to look. Maybe looking isn't
such a bad thing. But what purpose
docs it serve? Why do we do it so
often?
It is so common. We all know
it’s there, but we ignore it. I think it
would be great if women started
saying things to men like. “Hey
you, what arc you looking at?” or
“Eyes ofT mv chest pal!”
It isn't true that all men look
only at the sexuality of women.
Besides, a woman's shape is
thought to be the symbol of her
sexuality. If that were true, only
some women would have something
to worry about, because most men
have a “favorite” kind of body
shape. But that isn’t true. The
problem is much bigger than that.
I’m not saying every woman
who encounters a man is being
sized up for sex. What I’m saying is
that because men spc,nd so much
time looking at rear ends and
breasts, they arc bound to lose their
A man cannot be free as long he
looks at a woman as an object for
sex. As long as a man looks at a
woman's breasts or rear end first,
he is limiting his thoughts.
focus. Women can help us to break
this pattern of behavior by telling
us to stop it.
Picture this; Two men are in a
serious conversation about some
thing. and as a woman passes, they
stop just to look. Sometimes one or
both may comment; other times
they may not. But the conversation
stops. What’s going on here?
I get the idea that, no matter
what is happening, a man has some
special right to think “sex!” any
time he wants. Not only that, he
seems to be allowed to talk freely
about it, any time and anywhere.
I try to avoid situations in which
I find myself with a group of men
who allow their conversations to be
interrupted while they size up
women's bodies. Sometimes, in an
instant, we thoughtlessly base a
woman's entire worth on her shape.
Even for that short amount of time,
what a man docs in the 10 seconds
it takes for a woman to pass says a
lot about where a man's head is.
If I had been looking at women's
feet for all these years, it wouldn't
bother me so much. Maybe I'm
paranoid, but what else could we
men be thinking about but sex?
With a conscious cITort, 1 can
keep my eyes at eye level and off
women’s bodies. I’m amazed at
how hard it is sometimes to control
where my eyes go. When I try, I can
temporarily free myself from this
odd behavior. It’s odd, even though
it’s so common, because the shape
of a woman’s body has no real
meaning.
I know logically that a woman’s
sexuality is only a tiny part of her.
But how did I get to the point at
which I feel a need to take back
control of my gaze?
How can society advance if men
sec women other than just as
people? It isn’t right to say it’s OK
to look at a woman's sexuality one
minute and her “business sense” the
next. The two don’t mix. And you
can't have one without the other.
Putting the two together is. at the
very least, unethical.
What part docs a woman’s
sexuality play in daily life? It has
absolutely nothing to do with
anything, but from the looks of it.
men would be lost without it.
Of what value is sexuality
between men and women in
everyday relationships? Men and
women may think there is some
connection between the two. They
may think there is an “appropriate"
amount of sexuality. But how much
is that? And who gets to decide that
anyway?
Is it OK for men to include the
element of sexuality in their
evaluations of women? As long as
men arc thinking to themselves,
“nice ass" or “that thing is as big as
my house," women are looked at as
objects.
It really doesn’t matter what a
woman’s butt looks like, does it?
Shank* la a graduate student and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
ising up For The Occasion...
H
a
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