And Other Thoughts

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Homophobic Myth of Christians

Do I hate gay people?

That’s like asking me if I hate TV. I like certain shows, but there are many I dislike. Be more specific.

Because I’m a Conservative Christian, that has automatically lumped me into the homophobic category of hate mongers. This is a homophobic myth of Christians.

There are three types of Christians in the world:

  1. Those who live in Old Testament Law abiding rituals
  2. Those who have taken it upon themselves to act on God’s behalf as Judge and jury
  3. Those who throw all of that out the window because they understand grace

I fall into category three. However…

I do not hate gay people. What I do hate is when gay people accuse me of hating them and go out of their way to somehow prove their point that I hate gay people.

One day on the city bus in Chicago on my way to work, a black man sat next to me on the empty bus and he started to talk to me. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying because he spoke like he had rocks in his mouth and the bus was loud. I kept saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand you.” With that, he stood up and pointed his finger in my face screaming, “It’s because I’m black!” and other horrific obscenities he felt he needed to spit at me, most of which consisted with the color of my skin.

I don’t hate black people, but I didn’t like that guy much at all.

Once on friend’s facebook status, a gay man accused me of being homophobic because I was talking about Christ. No matter how nicely I tried to explain to him that I didn’t feel that way, HE continued to harass me with vulgarity. At one point, when I stated that Jesus loves everyone, he shot back with, “I hope your son turns out to be gay so you can hate him in the name of your God.”

I don’t hate gay people, but I didn’t like that guy much at all, either. I did, though, pray for him and hoped that whatever hate he had for Christians would be healed.

I run a group discussion on CBN.com, and there is a young gay man who joined the group specifically to taunt everyone. Without really ever reading my blog postings, he would pick and choose what he wanted to pull apart and accuse me, and others, of spreading lies and hate. No matter how nice we would try to be to him and tried to share the love of Christ with him, he would ignore that and focus on his own misconceptions of who we are in Christ. He believes the homophobic myth of Christians.

I don’t hate gay people, and I don’t hate him, but I surely don’t like how he treats Christians. How, then, is gay people’s hate toward Christians any different than the very hate they are raging about?

Somehow these particular gay people need to justify their own anger. They are always looking for fights. I guess I could then in turn say that all gay people hate ME because I’m a Christian. But I’m smarter than the average bear. I don’t follow that rule of thinking. As a matter of fact, I have a very dear, wonderful friend who is gay. She is like a sister to me. I adore her, and she cherishes me. So that theory then, is shot right out of the water. Not all gay people are mean spirited and hate Christians, but those who do are the ones I don’t care for. Not because they are gay or black or whatever, but simply because they are cruel and close-minded human beings.

Many Christians have falsely taken it upon themselves to scorn gay people. That’s the sad truth, and I hate that many gay people have felt the pain of this kind of disgraceful behavior. I know what the Bible says about being gay and that it’s deplorable to God. I know that we are not to act in such ways. But I  know that Jesus told us to love one another. I also know that Jesus died for them just as much as He died for me.

As a follower of Christ, I know the difference between between right and wrong. And although many Christians think they are right in accusing and scorning gay people, I know that the Bible says that’s very wrong! We are to hate the sin but love the sinner.

Let’s not forget that Christ told the Pharisees, “Those without sin cast the first stone.” If you have a stone in your hand, you better put it down.

2 comments:

Love love love this....it has always been my take on this....hate is hate...no matter who it involves...my sin is no better than anyone elses....that being said, who did Christ hang out with while he was here...it was not the religious, but the sinners! Hmmm something to think about! Thanks Tristine...well put! ♥
 
Thanks for sharing, Mariah!
 

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