SIN, POLITICS, CHURCH, PREGNANCY AND HOMOSEXUALITY: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO, BUT WHO DOES IT!

SIN, POLITICS, CHURCH, PREGNANCY, AND HOMOSEXUALITY:

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO, BUT WHO DOES IT!

"If you avoid sin, God will honor you!"

"God has something great for you! Just follow his teachings!"

 
In the 21st century, July 2025, and we still believe in motivational phrases and, worse, religious motivational phrases? We live in the real world, and in this world, it doesn't matter what you do. What matters is who does it.
 
A practical example of this can be seen in churches: the same 'sin' committed by different people has different consequences. For example: how many Christian girls, through carelessness, become pregnant before marriage and are beaten, abandoned by their husbands, and kicked out of their homes by their parents? On the other hand, there are Christian girls who get pregnant before marriage, and both their family and their church overlook this, perhaps because they are the daughter of a leader, or perhaps because they are part of an ‘elite family’.
 
Another example we can analyze is during election season. In 2018, extremism began to take hold in our country. And anyone who said they would vote for candidate X was automatically canceled by the voters of candidate Y. I had an acquaintance who said she would exclude everyone who voted for Bolsonaro. I, of course, was excluded, and so were others. But do you really think she excluded everyone who voted for Bolsonaro? Of course not! She acted like a "badass" (excuse the vulgar term!) to some and gave in to others. In other words: it all depends on who speaks, not what is said/preached.
 
[In fact, this is very common in our tragic Brazilian politics, especially from the left. Bolsonaro is a jerk, and part of his defeat in the 2022 elections is due to his idiotic statements. And, of course, the left is all over him, shining a spotlight on these statements. But what about when Lula says/does things that are incoherent? Obviously, the left covers it up and defends it.]
 
Another classic example is the 'friendship' between a straight man and a gay man. If a straight man makes a joke about another straight man, he'll take it in stride. At most, he might not find it funny and tell his friend what he thought. Conversely, if a gay man makes the same joke about a straight man, he won't even warn you: you'll be completely excluded from his life, regardless of the length of your friendship, regardless of any circumstances. [After all, a straight man will almost always be wary of a gay man. This is reality! And a straight man often doesn't set boundaries and lets things flow. But when the gay person 'crosses the line' (which only exists in the straight person's mind), the gay person will be eliminated from their life. (But this is a topic for another post.)]
 
Anyway... in the real world, it doesn't matter what you do/say. What matters is who does/says it!
 

Rio de Janeiro, July 17th, 2025

Raphael Paiva

 
*Image: https://ibrateo.org.br/teologia-crista-e-a-relacao-do-pecado-com-o-fim-ultimo-do-ser-humano/