You just cannot understand the depth of my loathing right now for the way those in the gay marriage movement think: I truly hate it. I sincerely wish I could live in a society without unbelivers and without gays.
They are self-righteous, arrogant and intolerant of other views. They think that they are the embodiment of all virtue. If anyone disagrees with them, then they are just wrong and headed for trouble.
I feel like I am locked into a gay, unchristian society with no way out and nowhere to go.
What if I had written those words as my own feelings (which they are most certainly not)?
Most likely, those statements would bring virtually everyone down on me. No one, but Fred Phelps, would defend what was said. I would even venture to say that most Christians bloggers would chastise me and distance themselves from this site. I would be labeled as hateful and bigoted for “spewing such hate speech.”
But what if those words were not written about non-Christians and gays? What if the thoughts were about someone else, would the reaction be the same? Would countless people from across the blogosphere be just as apt to condemn that type of speech or would it be just another day on the internet?
In fact, these same basic statements have been made about a group of people. They were even made here on this blog, but they weren’t made about non-Christians and gays. The thoughts were about Christians and straight people.
Christianists are just so self-righteous and arrogant: you are just right, and that’s it. The bible is true and anyone dissenting is just wrong and headed for trouble. There is no respect for alternate beliefs or different life-experiences. You guys just hold all the keys to life and the universe, and maintain a monopoly on everything true and good and beautiful. You just cannot understand the depth of my loathing right now for your religion and your way of thinking: I truly hate it. HATE IT. I sincerely wish I could live in a society without christianists, and, even, without straights. I feel like I’m living in a prison, with nowhere to turn.
Louis wrote those words in a recent post after an encounter with Christian people at his work. Their statements and ideas infruiated him so much that he lashed out here in the comment section to this post.
I do not bring that illustration up to condemn Louis for his reaction. He felt attacked personally, so he responded in that way. Louis doesn’t have to respond as Christ commanded and turn the other cheek. He is not called to love his enemy. But Christians are and we have done a poor job for the most part in our culture today.
There is no balance between truth and love. Liberal Christians stress the love aspect of the faith and seek to help those in need. Conservative Christians stress the truth aspect and seek to hold the culture accountable to it’s deviations from truth. Both of those can be accomplished in much better ways than what is currently the norm on both sides.
I was not present for Louis’ conversation with his co-workers, but I have been present for many discussion where straight Christians are unable to seperate the Gospel from being straight. We call gay people to come to “straightness,” more than we call them to come to Christ.
Today’s World Blog has an interesting post about many conservatives resembling pharisees in their attitudes and approaches to the “sinful.” The piece talks about those who “sit in judgment on welfare mothers, gang members and drug addicts, [may I add, gays] secretly grateful that we’re not like ‘those people.’ The Bible has a lot to say about gloating in our own goodness, and a lot of it isn’t very good.”
Christians can very easily, without meaning it, come across as judgemental and arrogant. We believe (know) that we have found Truth. We want to share that Truth and the experience we having in knowing Him personally. We so desire to see everyone come to know that same joy that we have that we are willing to cram it down their throats even if they don’t want or understand it.
Those of us who are Christians should know that we come to Christ “just as I am” warts and all. We don’t clean ourselves up for Him. We can’t make ourselves presentable beforehand. Those self-conscious gestures are just that – self conscious instead of God conscious. We can know and experience grace, yet too often we forget about that grace when talking with those who do not know Christ.
I am not concerned about a non-Christian gay person become straight, like I am concerned about that person experiencing the grace, forgiveness, love, peace, hope, etc. that comes from knowing the God of the universe personally and knowing that He cares for you, so much so that he sent His Son to die for them (and me).
My attitudes on what is and isn’t sin have not changed, but the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict of sin and change people’s lives, not mine. I will continue to work in the culture to point to what is absolute truth, but that should never get in the way of pointing others to the Truth.