Which side are you on anyway?

Exodus 32:21-34

       God did not gives us hearts of hate and minds of ignorance. We are to love as Jesus, and the prophets of many religions have called us to do. God gave us brains and intelligence so that we could not so easy get away with exercising our faith by mindless strict obedience to ten commandments. Our brains must be used and exercised in seeing how those ten commandments are lived by His two Great Commandments.  No, we are not meant to be people of ignorance.

         When people of good 'faith' disagree on who is saved and who is going to hell; when people of good 'faith' condemn others based on spurious translations of cherry picked passages, we cannot sit idly by. We are in fact called to educate, love and correct bad behavour.  So what is the difference in the 'sides'  that are currently so vehemently engaged?  Is one 'side' as bad as the other?  

        I ask myself, which 'side' can come up with real facts and data, intelligent, factual and literate translations of scripture to back up their position?  When we see ignorant religious zealots like the Westboro Baptist Church, we are called to fight back. Not in the same evil ways they do but in assertive, educated retaliation and love. That last one is the clincher.

        I've note occasional 'infomercials' on Facebook that note 'if your religion calls you to hate, despise or be  unloving to anyone, it really isn't a true religion'. God is not of evil. God is of love. God always calls us to love. Our brains are not be used to come up with circular logic to justify hate or unloving positions towards others.

        If our positions are based on hearsay, fake facts and innuendo, we have to judge by the use of our God given brains and hearts of love: that position is wrong. 

Moses said to Aaron, ‘What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?’ And Aaron said, ‘Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent on evil. They said to me, “Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So I said to them, “Whoever has gold, take it off ”; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!’

When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!’ And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbour.” ’ The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day. Moses said, ‘Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.’

On the next day Moses said to the people, ‘You have sinned a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ So Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, blot me out of the book that you have written.’ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin.’