Mere Months After Orlando, Evangelicals Declare New Commitment To Rejecting LGBT People

[Deborah]

Mere Months After Orlando, Evangelicals Declare New Commitment To Rejecting LGBT People

By Zack Ford

https://thinkprogress.org/evangelical-christian-lgbt-middle-ground-cc5b0949062e#.ki3jkif1n

Travis Weber, Director of the Family Research Council's Center for Religious Liberty, encapsulated this new conversation on the right in a post he published Wednesday on FRC's blog entitled, "How can Christians oppose same-sex marriage and yet pray and care for the LGBT victims in Orlando at the same time?" He answered the question in his opening line: "In a word: Love."

After rehashing his beliefs about the evil of sin, Jesus' sacrifice, and God's plan for sexuality — no sex except in marriages between one man and one woman, of course — Weber eventually arrives at his core premise:

"When we decline to agree that same-sex marriage (or any sexual conduct at odds with God's standard) is okay, we are doing this for the good of those who may engage in that conduct which is harmful to them."

Christian ethicist David Gushee spurred this debate when he wrote last week, "Middle ground is disappearing on the question of whether LGBT persons should be treated as full equals, without any discrimination in society — and on the related question of whether religious institutions should be allowed to continue discriminating due to their doctrinal beliefs." Siding with the advance of LGBT equality, Gushee warned that there is no room left for "polite half-acceptance," nor for "neutralist, avoidist, or de facto discriminatory" responses — let alone outright rejection. "Sometimes society changes and it marks decadence. Other times society changes and it marks progress. Those who believe LGBT equality marks decadence are being left behind."
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Dear God, Show me your Love.  Defend me from my enemies and from the love of Christians!
Amen

For anyone outside the USA, the religious people that oppose our existence are not an insignificant force.  They comprise at least 50 percent of this country's population.  The Christians not opposed to us, less than 15 percent of the population.  Fortunately for some and unfortunately for me, that 50 percent is heavily concentrated in one region; the region where I live.

[becky.rw]

I guess all I can do is sigh, they are past rationale argument I think.   Their bitter hatefulness will not stand well before the gates of heaven, no matter what words they wrap them in.  The violence in their mind, call it love or not, can not be justified.

[Eva Marie]

I know that there will always be some people that interpret scripture to mean that being LGBT is a sin, but I believe that they are getting fewer and fewer in number with each passing day. I think that a majority of the people that have that belief today are older people from a previous generation; a generation that simply refuses to understand or believe that people are born this way and that it's not a choice. That generation is dying off.

The younger generation grew up around LGBT people so they consider it no big deal. They are also apt to look at religion with a critical/cynical eye. These anti-LGBT beliefs strike them as bigotry and that view is being rejected - look at today's church attendance statistics and you'll see that. The younger generation will be far more accepting than their parents were of us.

What we are seeing with evangelicals is a reaction to the marriage equality law - that law passing was a huge loss for them. Their new push to marginalize LGBT people and roll back our rights is an attempt to reassert their religious beliefs in society. It is said that gaining equality for some feels like a loss of privilege for others and for the evangelicals it is clear to me that they are feeling this loss; they know that they are not the mainstream belief system any longer, and they know that they are losing the power that they once had. This feeling of loss of privilege is where their claims of "religious persecution" are coming from.

David Gushee is (or was, before he wrote this book) a well respected Christian ethicist in the evangelical world that previously held these anti-LGBT beliefs. After spending time examining his beliefs he changed his mind about Christians accepting LGBT people and he wrote a book called Changing Our Mind that describes the process he went through to arrive at that conclusion. I believe that he is absolutely correct when he said "Those who believe LGBT equality marks decadence are being left behind.".

As Bob Dylan once wrote - The times, they are a changin'

[RobynD]

I believe Eva Marie is right. That means the remaining people that hold these unfortunate beliefs will dig their heels in more and try and be as disruptive as they can.

I know evangelicals that when hearing of any people/pastors etc changing their mind on these issues and become accepting say things like " This is the great falling away from the faith that was predicted in Revelations, another sign of the end times etc. " The strange thing is many of them believe that even espousing doubt in their versions of the faith is a one way ticket to eternal hell fire. Such an odd concept for a faith that calls on the individual to work things out for themselves.

[Deborah]

I believe Eva Marie is right. That means the remaining people that hold these unfortunate beliefs will dig their heels in more and try and be as disruptive as they can.

I know evangelicals that when hearing of any people/pastors etc changing their mind on these issues and become accepting say things like " This is the great falling away from the faith that was predicted in Revelations, another sign of the end times etc. " The strange thing is many of them believe that even espousing doubt in their versions of the faith is a one way ticket to eternal hell fire. Such an odd concept for a faith that calls on the individual to work things out for themselves.

I get really irritated when they start with all the end of the world stuff.  The thing is, I used to be one of them and I was hoping for the end of the world to solve my trans problem, along with some others.  That's probably one reason I get so passionately mad about them; because I'm mad at myself for letting them convince me of their foolishness in the first place instead of dealing with my issues a lot earlier.  I also hate that they continue to dupe new people with their cult like beliefs.

[RobynD]

It is truly cultish i do feel sorry for them. (at times)