by David Smalley
“Now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians.” I couldn’t agree more! But I didn’t say this. Wanna take a guess at who did?
Although many of us have said it, this quote from two days ago wasn’t from Bill Maher or Barack Obama. It was Texas Senator Ted Cruz. It almost sounds like he’s anti-Christianity or against religious liberties, doesn’t it?
I know when we on the left say it, we’re deemed anti-Christian. So why does Cruz get a free pass? Because here’s the whole quote:
“For all the Democrats who are loud champions of the gay and lesbian community whenever there is a culture battle waging, now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians.”
Really? Now is the time? Because it would help you be anti-Muslim?
In November of 2015, Cruz attended an anti-gay conference with known “Kill the Gays” Pastor Kevin Swanson, who said on that very stage that gays should be “put to death.” Cruz happily walked on stage and shook Swanson’s hand, and gave his own “pro-traditional-family-values” rhetoric.
But now, Cruz wants to act like he’s “pro-gay” in an attempt to gather us around his Muslim-hating table. No thanks.
Christians like Cruz do an amazing balancing act in their minds when tragedies like Orlando happen. Conservative Christians attack Muslims and talk about what a hateful religion it must be, while liberal Christians blame the lack of gun control.
It’s so predictable, it’s sad.
Of course extreme radical Islamic views are to blame in this issue. So is mental health. So is a lack of gun control. (This killer was under investigation by the FBI for terrorist activities and still had access to buy guns.)
But Christians, this is your fault, too. Yes, even though the killer was Muslim. Why? Because your religion breeds hate even though you try your best to ignore it. Your religion has imprinted its brand of anti-gay rhetoric as normative on the United States’ culture, in which this killer was born and raised.
Your rhetoric of normalizing “that’s gay” as a pejorative, and “fag” as an insult, and “queer” as strange or weird, and “marriage” only being between a man and a woman, has perpetuated this hate.
You’ve told gays, lesbians, and transpeople for years that their family isn’t a family. That their love isn’t love. That their sexual behaviors aren’t moral.
This leads to a cult-like societal mindset that gays are somehow sub-human; less worthy of respect, less worthy of equality, less worthy of life.
When Nazi soldiers spoke of “exterminating” Jews, they didn’t speak of them as humans. They called them “rats.” How did it get that far? Public rhetoric for years and years that became normal language to demonize a minority. That’s how.
You can say that you’re a liberal Christian. Fantastic. Welcome to partial reality. But your ‘holy’ book, in both the Old and New Testaments, says that gays are worthy of death, just like this killer decided. Just like Islam teaches.
That’s why there’s blood on your hands, Christians.
You have it in your home, and you display it proudly and call it “The Good Book.”
You let Sunday School teachers lead your children in Bible Study, and feel good about what you’re doing.
You demand that Presidents lay their hands on the good book and swear to be honorable to our country.
You’ve cultivated a society in which we lay our hands on the good book before we are trusted to tell the truth in a court room.
You’ve done this. You’ve perpetuated this false “brokenness”of the LGBT community. You’ve created this sub-human culture.
This is why I blame you.
But it’s not too late. I have a request for you at the end of this writing that I desperately want you to take seriously.
But first, let me go ahead and address your comments before you make them:
“That was just the Old Testament!” Wrong. Romans 1:26-32 says gays, and anyone who supports them, are worthy of death. So if you’re a liberal Christian, God wants you dead just as much as he wanted gays dead in Leviticus 20:13.
“Jesus died for us, and we don’t live by that law anymore!” While Hebrews 8 does speak of the Old Law being “obsolete,” those weren’t the words of Jesus. In fact, they contradict him. He addressed this directly in Matthew 5:17-20:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Did you catch that last part? Not only should we continue to follow the Old Law, but those who teach the Old Law are righteous in the eyes of Jesus. Let that sink in.
“Jesus came to teach us love and peace!” Wrong. In Matthew 10:34-36 Jesus says:
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”
This whole concept makes Christians incredibly uncomfortable. And it should.
While it’s easy for you to blame “Extreme Islam” for this horrific tragedy, you’re glossing over the fact that you’re part of the problem.
You’re holding on to something horrific, and praising it as though it is wonderful. You’ve put on the jersey of a team you disagree with. You’ve taken on a label that makes you uncomfortable with a doctrine you disagree with. You don’t have to keep it.
You can still love your neighbor, help in society, put others first, join like-minded communities, sing wonderful songs, and make amazing differences in this world as a Secular Humanist. In the name of Equality. In the name of Love.
Please consider embracing real Humanist love over divisive hatred in sheep’s clothing.
Your religion is only peaceful if you ignore most of it.
Today, I plead with you, to let it go.
-Patheos
“Now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians.” I couldn’t agree more! But I didn’t say this. Wanna take a guess at who did?
Although many of us have said it, this quote from two days ago wasn’t from Bill Maher or Barack Obama. It was Texas Senator Ted Cruz. It almost sounds like he’s anti-Christianity or against religious liberties, doesn’t it?
I know when we on the left say it, we’re deemed anti-Christian. So why does Cruz get a free pass? Because here’s the whole quote:
“For all the Democrats who are loud champions of the gay and lesbian community whenever there is a culture battle waging, now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians.”
Really? Now is the time? Because it would help you be anti-Muslim?
In November of 2015, Cruz attended an anti-gay conference with known “Kill the Gays” Pastor Kevin Swanson, who said on that very stage that gays should be “put to death.” Cruz happily walked on stage and shook Swanson’s hand, and gave his own “pro-traditional-family-values” rhetoric.
But now, Cruz wants to act like he’s “pro-gay” in an attempt to gather us around his Muslim-hating table. No thanks.
Christians like Cruz do an amazing balancing act in their minds when tragedies like Orlando happen. Conservative Christians attack Muslims and talk about what a hateful religion it must be, while liberal Christians blame the lack of gun control.
It’s so predictable, it’s sad.
Of course extreme radical Islamic views are to blame in this issue. So is mental health. So is a lack of gun control. (This killer was under investigation by the FBI for terrorist activities and still had access to buy guns.)
But Christians, this is your fault, too. Yes, even though the killer was Muslim. Why? Because your religion breeds hate even though you try your best to ignore it. Your religion has imprinted its brand of anti-gay rhetoric as normative on the United States’ culture, in which this killer was born and raised.
Your rhetoric of normalizing “that’s gay” as a pejorative, and “fag” as an insult, and “queer” as strange or weird, and “marriage” only being between a man and a woman, has perpetuated this hate.
You’ve told gays, lesbians, and transpeople for years that their family isn’t a family. That their love isn’t love. That their sexual behaviors aren’t moral.
This leads to a cult-like societal mindset that gays are somehow sub-human; less worthy of respect, less worthy of equality, less worthy of life.
When Nazi soldiers spoke of “exterminating” Jews, they didn’t speak of them as humans. They called them “rats.” How did it get that far? Public rhetoric for years and years that became normal language to demonize a minority. That’s how.
You can say that you’re a liberal Christian. Fantastic. Welcome to partial reality. But your ‘holy’ book, in both the Old and New Testaments, says that gays are worthy of death, just like this killer decided. Just like Islam teaches.
That’s why there’s blood on your hands, Christians.
You have it in your home, and you display it proudly and call it “The Good Book.”
You let Sunday School teachers lead your children in Bible Study, and feel good about what you’re doing.
You demand that Presidents lay their hands on the good book and swear to be honorable to our country.
You’ve cultivated a society in which we lay our hands on the good book before we are trusted to tell the truth in a court room.
You’ve done this. You’ve perpetuated this false “brokenness”of the LGBT community. You’ve created this sub-human culture.
This is why I blame you.
But it’s not too late. I have a request for you at the end of this writing that I desperately want you to take seriously.
But first, let me go ahead and address your comments before you make them:
“That was just the Old Testament!” Wrong. Romans 1:26-32 says gays, and anyone who supports them, are worthy of death. So if you’re a liberal Christian, God wants you dead just as much as he wanted gays dead in Leviticus 20:13.
“Jesus died for us, and we don’t live by that law anymore!” While Hebrews 8 does speak of the Old Law being “obsolete,” those weren’t the words of Jesus. In fact, they contradict him. He addressed this directly in Matthew 5:17-20:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Did you catch that last part? Not only should we continue to follow the Old Law, but those who teach the Old Law are righteous in the eyes of Jesus. Let that sink in.
“Jesus came to teach us love and peace!” Wrong. In Matthew 10:34-36 Jesus says:
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”
This whole concept makes Christians incredibly uncomfortable. And it should.
While it’s easy for you to blame “Extreme Islam” for this horrific tragedy, you’re glossing over the fact that you’re part of the problem.
You’re holding on to something horrific, and praising it as though it is wonderful. You’ve put on the jersey of a team you disagree with. You’ve taken on a label that makes you uncomfortable with a doctrine you disagree with. You don’t have to keep it.
You can still love your neighbor, help in society, put others first, join like-minded communities, sing wonderful songs, and make amazing differences in this world as a Secular Humanist. In the name of Equality. In the name of Love.
Please consider embracing real Humanist love over divisive hatred in sheep’s clothing.
Your religion is only peaceful if you ignore most of it.
Today, I plead with you, to let it go.
-Patheos
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