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Dec 19

The Illogicacy of Christian Homophobia

Used with permission from WikiCommons

Ah, it’s that time again. That magical time of the year when conservatives can unite around a cause in order to circle the wagons against a phantom onslaught against conservative values and perhaps Christianity. No, it’s not the annual war on Christmas, but this has to do with the supposed war on Christianity. Recently Phil Robertson, of the Duck Dynasty Show gave an interview to GQ magazine, in which he went on an anti-gay tangent. (Click Here to Read it)

After receiving a negative backlash from the public, and advertisers, A&E has suspended Phil Robertson indefinitely. Now the airwaves and social media pages are filled with people from the anti-gay and pro-gay camps weighing in.

I think it is odd that the same people who called for a boycott of Macy’s when they hired Ellen Degeneres, are now up in arms about Phil Robertson being suspended for anti-gay remarks. So when Macy’s hires a gay person as a spokesperson, the anti-gay crowd feels the need to exercise their God given right to free speech and expression by boycotting. However, when advertisers threaten to pull advertising from Duck Dynasty (essentially an advertising boycott), then the same anti-gay crowd cries out that Robertson’s free speech being violated? Yes, Phil Robertson had a right to say whatever he wants under the constitutional right to freedom of speech. He’s not going to go to jail over it (that’s what freedom of speech means: you can say what you want, but it does not preclude social or economic forces reacting). And yes, A&E and advertisers also have the right to pull advertisements, suspend him, etc. And yes I know the pro-gay crowd has done boycotts in the past. Freedom of speech goes both ways.

What disheartens me the most, is that much of the anti-gay crowd is made up of Christians. Christians who say that they love everyone, and don’t judge, yet for the LGBT segment of society, they openly judge and seek to have prejudicial and bigoted laws enacted and/or enforced. Many Christians cite to the Old Testament to provide validation that homosexuality is a sin. However, if you are going to throw around Old Testament laws to justify inequality, then you better also be following the other 613 Old Testament laws (Mitzvot), yes there are more than just 10 commandments… (Click Here for the Complete List) So if you eat pork, shellfish, meat and cheese together, touch a woman who’s on her period, have a tattoo, etc. you are going to hell as well. You can’t pick and choose, either you take them all, or you take none, to say otherwise is illogical.

I am also flabbergasted that I have friends who are clinging onto the “traditional marriage” and “slippery slope”  (we will start marrying animals, our sisters, etc.) arguments to justify inequality when it comes to LGBT marriage and relationships, when they themselves are in or have had interracial relationships. The Bible was used to justify slavery, and the Bible (specifically stories about God punishing the Jews when they intermixed), and the traditional marriage and slippery slope arguments were also used to uphold laws against interracial marriage and relationships.

For Christians, I think the choice is clear, either all of the 613 Mitzvot are still in place, or Jesus brought about a new order where the only important laws were to love God, and love your neighbor as you love yourself, or he didn’t. (Matthew 22:34-40).

Love is the true message of Christianity, not bigotry or hatred. During his ministry Jesus taught to, blessed, and healed people of all races and religious and social backgrounds. He did not discriminate, and so long as Christianity continues to discriminate and promote bigotry, people who identify as Christians, and church attendance as a whole, will continue to decline.

However, I think that if Christians will begin acting Christ-like, by showing love and compassion to all people, in an honest fashion (don’t just say “we don’t judge” while in the very act of judging), then Christianity can not only fulfill its true mission, its true purpose, but it can actually start growing again.

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Also, please check out my book, “The Path: Using the Religions of the World as a Guide to Personal and Spiritual Development.” (Click the Book Cover to view on Amazon.com)

7 comments

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  1. Morgan Mussell

    Great post. It’s more than illogic, it’s willful blindness. Jesus went out of his way to minister to the disposed and the culture’s outcasts. Now who would that be today…hmmm?

    BTW, I just heard of this Duck Dynasty episode tonight on the Colbert Report. Stephen did a hilarious riff while wearing a Dynasty style beard.

    1. Jason E. Marshall

      I saw that tonight, and thought that was spot on and hilarious! (As usual)

  2. Morgan Mussell

    Great post. It’s more than illogic, it’s willful blindness. Jesus went out of his way to minister to the disposed and the culture’s outcasts. Now who would that be today…hmmm?

    BTW, I just heard of this Duck Dynasty episode tonight on the Colbert Report. Stephen did a hilarious riff while wearing a Dynasty style beard.

    1. Jason E. Marshall

      I saw that tonight, and thought that was spot on and hilarious! (As usual)

  3. imconfident

    No, we are not supposed to judge people but Christians are supposed to follow God’s laws and if someone is going against His word we should not just accept it because society wants to force us into changing our beliefs. We are to love God and our neighbour as we love ourself, but this is not referring to sexual love. We should love everyone, but not their sins.

    The references to sexual behaviour are not only in the old testament before Jesus came, but also in the new testament. In 1 Timothy 1:10 ……for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine. In 1 Corinthians 6:9,10…… Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

    Ultimately is it up to God to decide who is right or wrong. Choosing desires of the flesh against what the Bible tells us does not seem to be a wise choice.

  4. imconfident

    No, we are not supposed to judge people but Christians are supposed to follow God’s laws and if someone is going against His word we should not just accept it because society wants to force us into changing our beliefs. We are to love God and our neighbour as we love ourself, but this is not referring to sexual love. We should love everyone, but not their sins.

    The references to sexual behaviour are not only in the old testament before Jesus came, but also in the new testament. In 1 Timothy 1:10 ……for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine. In 1 Corinthians 6:9,10…… Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

    Ultimately is it up to God to decide who is right or wrong. Choosing desires of the flesh against what the Bible tells us does not seem to be a wise choice.

    1. Jason E. Marshall

      I really think that the “love the sinner, hate the sins” message towards LGBT people is a nonsensical argument. I do not believe that being LGBT is a choice. I have a family member who is gay, and my family has known that he is gay for the entirety of his life. No doubt about it, even when he was very young, there was no doubt about it. However, given my family’s very conservative background and religious beliefs he had a very isolated, depressed, and painful childhood due to his attempts at repressing who he truly was, and my family’s refusal to accept it. Now that he has formally “came out” he is on the difficult road of recovering from his painful childhood; however, I have family members that now treat him like a leper, and they use the same refrain, “I don’t hate ______, I just hate his sin of being gay”. My family member didn’t choose to be gay, and trust me, he tried simply “not being gay”, and if it were just a “choice” he would have gladly chosen otherwise. Therefore, if someone cannot simply choose to not be gain, and being gay is a sin, and you hate the sin of being gay, then by logic you must hate the gay person as well, because they are one in the same and cannot simply be put into separate categories.

      Another argument I have ran across is people who say that even if you are born gay, that you should somehow repress your desires, because to act out on your homosexual tendencies is the real sin. I think under this argument, people are essentially saying that God cursed someone at birth, and because you are cursed you should not have the same pleasures, opportunities, and relationships available to everyone else. I don’t think that God makes mistakes with his children, and I don’t think God would curse someone with a “sinful sexuality” that they didn’t choose for themselves.

      As to the New Testament references, Timothy and Corinthians were written by Paul, who was not one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Although perhaps a subject for a completely new post I have often wondered if modern Christianity is really based off of the words and teachings of Jesus contained in Matt, Mark, Luke, and John, or if it is instead Paulianity, and based off of Paul’s interpretations of Jesus’ actual words and teachings. Paul takes a much more hardline approach in regards to those who are clean and unclean, whereas Jesus preached to, taught, loved, and spent time with the lowest of the low of society, including prostitutes, which is pretty much the epitome of sexual promiscuity, and he truly loved them all.

      Thanks for your comments. I hope that within my lifetime we will move past this issue. To me, you cannot love someone with a side of judgment or condemnation. I also don’t understand why so many people are so concerned with what others do in their bedroom. 😉

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