phelps and his church are famous for publicly crying that "God hates fags." and then doing horrible, and contrived things to gain notoriety- like picketing soldiers' funerals when the US passes laws protecting LGBT citizens or the military makes moves toward making their gay soldiers comfortable and safe serving in the forces.
so, apparently fred phelps is dying. and this is one gay Christian blogger's approach to how he'd like to 'go after' him- as Jesus would, with profound love and forgiveness.
another interesting news item making the rounds right now (assessment of a set of statistics) popped into my awareness this morning. and that is this:
so, the conclusion is that people are leaving the church (or more worrisome than that- leaving God?) because of how they see the church treat lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
let's take a second to realize the first terrible crime the church is committing here. maybe now membership is being affected as ALL young people are being driven away from attending church because of the church's known issues with LGBT folks. long long ago, the church should have realized that LGBT folks were being driven away from the church because they felt condemned and unloved by the church. that should never have been acceptable. how many people has it hurt?
our mission as Christians is to introduce people to Christ. to give His love and acceptance, and welcome into His community. to everyone. always. remembering that Jesus showed us how to treat each other by His example- loving, serving, generously showing grace and acceptance to the people most condemned by society. if we're aiming to love how Jesus loved, we have to show grace and compassion, inclusion and fairness.
let's take a second to realize the first terrible crime the church is committing here. maybe now membership is being affected as ALL young people are being driven away from attending church because of the church's known issues with LGBT folks. long long ago, the church should have realized that LGBT folks were being driven away from the church because they felt condemned and unloved by the church. that should never have been acceptable. how many people has it hurt?
our mission as Christians is to introduce people to Christ. to give His love and acceptance, and welcome into His community. to everyone. always. remembering that Jesus showed us how to treat each other by His example- loving, serving, generously showing grace and acceptance to the people most condemned by society. if we're aiming to love how Jesus loved, we have to show grace and compassion, inclusion and fairness.
and when i say "the church," i'm not really talking about the psychos at westboro baptist. it's a small church and is clearly extremist and trying to be sensational....i'm talking about the average Christian church body and how they (we) treat LGBT folks.
i think it's true that a lot of mainstream Christians believe that the bible does encourage us to condemn homosexuals. or, if they're being REALLY generous, condemn the acts of homosexuality- 'hate the sin, love the sinner.' there is certainly A LOT of energy spent on the subject in the church community. the verses that discuss male-male sexual interactions in the bible are dissected and spewed out, often as weapons. usually without context.
(incidentally- doesn't it seem like homosexuality is given a disproportionate amount of air time in the Christian community? like somehow it's the 'super mega bonus sin' that trumps all the other ones? it's weird. i think it's because it's about sex. and that's titillating and confusing to people, scary, and personal).
i think it's true that a lot of mainstream Christians believe that the bible does encourage us to condemn homosexuals. or, if they're being REALLY generous, condemn the acts of homosexuality- 'hate the sin, love the sinner.' there is certainly A LOT of energy spent on the subject in the church community. the verses that discuss male-male sexual interactions in the bible are dissected and spewed out, often as weapons. usually without context.
(incidentally- doesn't it seem like homosexuality is given a disproportionate amount of air time in the Christian community? like somehow it's the 'super mega bonus sin' that trumps all the other ones? it's weird. i think it's because it's about sex. and that's titillating and confusing to people, scary, and personal).
the authority i turn to on the subject of what the bible says about homosexuality is justin lee and the gay christian network. they've done a lot of research and reflection trying to figure out what the bible actually says/how we should live by that. i strongly encourage you to go to the website and read the Q/A section on how God and gay can jive. and also, read justin's blog for the practical realities of living life as a gay Christian in a church that is still not all that accepting.
but the message is hopeful for change. and hopeful that through God's love and changing the hearts (and voices. and signs.) of Christians who have previously been dismissive or abusive toward their LGBT friends and family, we can save lives.
give people God. get the obstacles of hate and judgement out of the way. and give people acceptance. gay teenagers are still killing themselves because they think who they are is bad and wrong. and they are led to believe that even the most "loving" and "safe" places, like church communities and families, cannot love them and their actions. this just has to be breaking God's heart. especially as the hate is committed in His name.
so, again, i really encourage you to read/watch the videos from the compelling justin lee at the gay Christian network. and spread the word. and re-read the Word.
and if we do that, instead of doing what we're doing now, maybe we'll stop making God look bad and stop making the church the last place a lot of people would ever want to go.
but the message is hopeful for change. and hopeful that through God's love and changing the hearts (and voices. and signs.) of Christians who have previously been dismissive or abusive toward their LGBT friends and family, we can save lives.
give people God. get the obstacles of hate and judgement out of the way. and give people acceptance. gay teenagers are still killing themselves because they think who they are is bad and wrong. and they are led to believe that even the most "loving" and "safe" places, like church communities and families, cannot love them and their actions. this just has to be breaking God's heart. especially as the hate is committed in His name.
so, again, i really encourage you to read/watch the videos from the compelling justin lee at the gay Christian network. and spread the word. and re-read the Word.
and if we do that, instead of doing what we're doing now, maybe we'll stop making God look bad and stop making the church the last place a lot of people would ever want to go.
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