"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

I always liked Luke--a bit rebel, a bit free thinker.

"And why behold you the mote that is in your brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye?"

Matthew I have never liked as much as Luke, but ymmv on that.

Any preacher has the obligation to draw attention to matters of scripture and probably morality--define that as you will. But no preacher has the right to espouse "Thou shalts." As has been said by many sharp people on this thread, on occasion 'people of the cloth' forget who wove it. Great teachers lead students to arrive at great questions, and when the students answer those questions for themselves, therein is found the best of education. Good teachers lead students to arrive at good answers with few arriving at wrong answers. Poor teachers tell students what the answers are and fail them for it.

Eliza is, imo, a very brave woman. She never did particularly like me when I posted with a regular guest name--something I will never do again for good reason--but she always was the same wonderful 'questioner' she is now. Great teachers would love to have a class of Elizas because it's people like her who make education fun and worthwhile. FWIW, Eliza, if you were giving the sermon I'd show up (if only to argue with you). Not so much your preacher. IMO, your preacher is wrong and there ain't NO use arguing with some people.

:-)