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He doesnt hesitate to confirm rumors that he tears the pages of Leviticus 18:22 out of copies of The Bible in his hotel rooms either. (The chapter deals with a number of sexual activities that are considered to be abominable, including homosexuality.)
I do, absolutely. I'm not proudly defacing the book, he says, But it's a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible.
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Ian McKellen Admits to Ripping Pages from The Bible - Popcast |
I found this really revealing. Why would he tear out the pages? It seems he's rebelling against what he knows deep in his heart is true.
Personally I've never been a big fan of his, and this blatant blasphemy will likely impact whether I support him financially by watching his movies in the future.
What exactly do you think he knows in his heart? That homosexuals, like him, and like me, should be stoned to death, in accordance to God's law?
To me, ripping out Leviticus is an act of defiance, but in my opinion, it is an act of defiance against the current disgusting state of certain brands of Christianity today that enjoy cherry picking verses like Leviticus 20:13, Imply that "I can't kill you, but it is in accordance with God that I should, because you deserve it," and think that is in ANY WAY the message of Christ.
Christ could have stoned the woman caught in adultery. He was without sin. He could have cast the first stone. Frankly, God could have just killed all of us, rather than send his son to save us, to teach us how to forgive one another, to sacrifice for one another, to act as servants for one another, to edify one another, and to love one another, and by doing so, love God. As Christ said, as you do so to the least of these, you have done also unto me. As you have denied the least of these, so have you denied me.
What has happened to Christianity, where God sent his son, not to condemn the world, but to save it, and yet, Christians will accept that redemption, not because they earned it, because God has mercy upon us, and then turn around, quote Leviticus, a book which most Christians do not keep, save for 2 verses that supposedly deal with homosexuality, and then hold homosexuals to those verses, and do not hold themselves to the same book, and then condemn them, call us abominations, have personally told me on different occasions out the of the hearts of different Christians in different places and cities that God hates me, and that I deserve to be killed?
That, I believe, is what Sir McKellen is "ripping out" - the terrible hatred that has rooted in the hearts of so many Christians, daring to claim that homosexuals deserve death because of the lack of love and the murder in their hearts.
He says, "It's a choice between ripping out that page and throwing the whole bible away," he is implying that he doesn't want to throw out the Bible or Christianity completely. He just has an issue with those who quote Leviticus, an archaic book that people rarely read, often know little about, have often not even looked at the translation, the 1000s of web pages discussing the translation, what it means, what it means in context, who was being spoken to, who was speaking and why, and use it simply to condemn others.
That, in my opinion, is a far greater sacrilege than ripping a page from a book. Telling people they deserve to die because of Leviticus is a sacrilege. I
worked for a crisis line in the 80s, and a young 16 year old boy told his priest that he was gay. The priest told the boy that it would be better that he be dead than gay, so the boy called the line because he wanted sometimes to say goodbye to before he killed himself. That is a sacrilege. It is a sacrilege to claim that AIDS is God's punishment, and show no compassion. It is a sacrilege to claim that homosexuality is one of the "tenets of the religion," which it isn't. It is a sacrilege to start thread after thread about homosexuality, and ignore the majority of heterosexuals that have premarital sex, sing about it on the radio, brag about it openly, and imply that heterosexuals are somehow the models of morality.
I don't deserve salvation, but I have it. I am not going to spit on the cross by telling others that "Jesus loves me," but not them. I am not going to spit on the cross, boasting about my salvation like it was a personal achievement, but humble myself before anyone, knowing that I don't deserve it, and it is offered anyway, that love is offered and constant whether I am on the path or whether I stumble. I admit that I sin daily because I am imperfect, and that is why I need God, so I would never demand perfection of another, tying burdens upon them that I refuse to carry myself.
The God I serve is one of love and encouragement, of hope and redemption for a world that often thinks themselves unworthy of love, often, not even loving themselves, and so, unable to love their neighbor as themselves. I serve a God who is not my Genie who helps me win a basketball game or helps me find a parking spot, but one who is the Master of my life, and it is I who do the serving, I who ask what I can do for Him. And I acknowledge that God, while my Master, showers me with blessings nonetheless, because he is Good, and Merciful, and Kind. He blesses me more than I am even aware of, and so I simply offer thanksgiving, even for blessings that elude my consciousness.
I serve a God who has forgiven me, so I forgive others even before they ask, as a thanks to God, and to demonstrate what God can really do in one's life. I constantly pray for love, for God's pure love, so that I can put it in action, and show it to others, give it to others, and give it first, without asking anything in return except that they accept it, because that is what God has done for me
And I serve a God whose whole crux of his message was to love my neighbor as myself, and in doing so, love God with my whole heart, soul, and mind. I do not tear out the Gospel, and hold up Leviticus with stones in my hand, and look to Christ, as if he is going to give me a thumbs up to kill another, because that is not what Christ did. To those who sinned, he said, "Neither do I condemn you." He did not condemn. He did not judge. He did not shame them. The woman accused of adultery was LITERALLY saved - her life spared, her sins forgiven, gently told to go, and to not sin again.
And that love changed people. It made the woman of ill repute cry tears of joy, and wash Jesus feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair, so thankful, humbling herself so deeply before him.
Simon, by contrast, looked at the woman in scorn, and even judged Jesus, thinking that no son of God would allow such a woman to approach him.
The Pharisees wouldn't even acknowledge or look at the "sinners." Jesus ate with them, got to know them, loved them. He loved them as people, saw them as children of God, not "sinners", because we are all sinners, and because of that, because probably for the first time in their lives, they heard and understood that God loved them, cared for them deeply, and loved them right now, as they were, rather than needing to change, do "earn" the love, as the Pharisees probably told them, they changed. Zaccheus changed. Jesus inspired them. People were drawn to him - crowds of people, being freed by Christ, instead of burdened by the Law and the Pharisees who didn't keep the Laws they gave others. They made people suffer to show their love to God, because it gave them power. They humbled others and enjoyed positions of power, and were honored before men, thought to be holy, but Christ turned the power structure upside down, the first being last, the last, first, those thinking they deserved a place of honor being asked to move down to make way for those who humbled themselves before God, and were given places of honor.
He was a threat. So, they killed him.
That is the God I honor. That is the God I love and worship. That is the God that, if I can forgive, know is much, much more forgiving than I am. If I can have hope that all people return to God, because I want that for God, I want that for me, and I want that for all people, and know that deep down, that is all anyone really wants - to be truly and purely loved, and happy, I am sure that it is put there by a God who desires it far more than I can even imagine. If, through speaking in tongues so much recently, has led me to spend long hours praying for God's love to grant others, acknowledging my loves limitations, it is thanks to the Holy Spirit's intercession, and my only part in it was submission to God's will.
It is my prayer that Christianity will either die and by reborn anew, or that it will be healed from the anger, bitterness, divisiveness, judgement of who is and isn't a Christian, who is and isn't worthy of Christ's love, and rather, understand that our goal is unity of mankind through love, which comes from God above. It is my prayer that the issue of homosexuality be seriously studied and examined and prayed for in private conversation with God, in a time where one listens even more than they speak, and really understand God's view of this, especially those that speak of it so frequently. It is my prayer that the Christian body submit to God, to admit our humanity and imperfection, admit to God in prayer privately that we may be wrong, and I personally often am, and ask God to help us see the Light much clearer, to help us put aside our egos, our need to be right, to help us embrace humility, in order to help us listen to Him, and not our own prejudices, our own hatred, our own selfishness, our own insecurity, that we may let go of such things, and walk a little closer to Him, step a little closer to perfection, as God is perfect.
I often lose faith in Christianity. I often come here and leave disheartened, frustrated, angry, but most often, depressed. It has nothing to do with "what I probably know in my heart to be true." It is that I often feel that my service to God is to speak to the "saved," to wake them up, to show them how they have strayed from the path. I have been here, and argued with Christians, asking that we stop being catty and just try to act a bit more civil, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, with a response of, "Why should I???"
Because Christ commanded it.
I have pointed out that all men will know that you are Christ's disciple by the love you have for one another. Unfortunately, most people think Christian is synonymous with condemnation, angry, spiteful, deceitful, and condemning others to hell. The Christian poster snapped, "What do I care what some nonChristian thinks?"
What should you think about what Christ said at the Last Supper to his disciples????
So, I lose hope. I don't know what happened to the love. I have had someone quote Romans 9:12 as a command to hate (in the name of God.)
I lose faith in humanity, and I even lose faith in myself to make any difference, seeing the same arguments over and over.
But I have faith in God, and through God, all things are possible.
That is the God whom I serve.
