Seed to Tree

There are many ways that people chose to express their negative opinion about homosexuals and homosexuality, ranging from the superficially polite (homosexuality is inconsistent with Christianity) to the brutal (God hates fags). People who employ the more polite appearing language frequently defend their position while vigorously rejecting the more brutally phrased variations.

But all of it, from "inconsistent with Christianity" to "God Hates Fags" are derived from and express the same basic concept, one developed from the same assumptions and interpretations of the same handful of texts ripped from their context.

Fred Phelps, progenitor of the "God Hates Fags" meme, employs Romans 1 as key element of his theology of hatred for GLBTQ human beings. Any person, from any denomination, who believes that Romans 1 condemns homosexuality, has that key foundation in common with Rev. "God hates Fags".
Fred insists that the story of Sodom is about homosexuality, though it is not according to Jesus and Ezekiel, so anyone who believes Sodom is about homosexuality, shares that belief with these people.

Fred and his congregation use both of the Leviticus verses, though Fred at least has the honest to quote Leviticus 20:13 completely, while others conveniently ignore the second half: "they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Anyone who quotes Leviticus Leviticus 18:22-23 and Leviticus 20:13, together or separately, and interprets them as a condemnation of homosexuality, is teaching the same thing Fred Phelps teaches, basically.

If you use these passages, and Romans 1 24-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9, to construct a condemnation of homosexuality, you are in the same school of belief that Fred Phelps is.

Fred is just using the most dramatic and blunt language he can get away with.

At one end of the continuum of condemnation, "inconsistent with Christianity" or "is sin";

at the other end, "God hates fags". And no amount of sugar-coating or good intentions will change the fact that both are expressions of the same thought.

Not that Fred Phelps is the only person to arrive at horrendous ways of expressing the traditional interpretation derived from these same passages. The Catholic church declares that same-sex parents do violence to their children just by being same-sex couples.

The Catechism describes homosexual acts as "intrinsically disordered": "They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."

Intrinsically disordered is really not that far from from Fred declares:

Fags live filthy, unhealty, dangerous, unhappy, and in many cases, violent lives.

Just slightly more clinical. And the charge 'do not proceed from a genuine affective complentarity' is just polysyllablic way of saying that our love for each other is not real.

Dr. Mohler, who writes,

"And that compassionate truth is this: Homosexual acts are expressly and unconditionally forbidden by God through His Word, and such acts are an abomination to the Lord by His own declaration. - - - Essential to understanding this reality in theological perspective is a recognition of homosexuality as an assault upon the integrity of creation and God's intention in creating human beings in two distinct and complementary genders. - - -The biblical witness is clear: Homosexuality is a grievous sin against God and is a direct rejection of God's intention and command in creation. All sin is a matter of eternal consequence, "

Is not saying anything that is essentially different from Fred Phelp's message, and Dr. Mohler's position is the standard Southern Baptist position on homosexuality. Dr. Mohler inflicts on humanity the same message as Fred's, couched in less brutal language but with the same brutal consequences.

Christian denominations, churches, clergy and laypeople who teach any expression of 'homosexual lovemaking is sin' are teaching the exact same concept that Fred Phelps is.

The consequences of that teaching are horrific for GLBTQ people. I've covered some examples in past posts here. But the very idea itself is intrinsically violent and horrific.

Much of Christianity, especially its conservative or literalist sects, teach that the 'wages of sin is death', that all sins are equal, that even one sin is sufficient for damnation. The prevalent understanding of damnation is, in essence, eternal torture and torment.

So, to declare, in one phrasing or another, that the lovemaking between two people of the same gender is 'sin' - is to declare it deserving of death, damnation, eternal torment. Eternal consequences, Mohler declares.

That is what it means to declare 'homosexuality is sin' : deserving of death, damnation and eternal torment.

There is no love in such a thought.

Think about what that really means, on a gut, personal level.

If you are heterosexual, really imagine what it would be like to be told that your most intimate, beautiful, loving act of intimacy, vulnerability, is, in the opinion of other people, something so horrible, so vile and disgusting, that you deserve to be put to death, and suffer eternal torture thereafter.

That is what some heterosexuals have been saying to GLBTQ people, for centuries. If you really take that in personally, apply it right to your life, it is uglier than any quote I've yet provided from Fred Phelps.

Here's another source of hate.

"God doesn't recognize these so called "gay" marriages. They are an abomination to Him and a putrid stench in His nostrils."

Yeah, it is from a couple of years ago - but watch and see how it syncs up with current events.

I'm kinda curious just how it is that Stephen Bennett decided that he speaks for God. The Bible says nothing about same-sex marriage, for or against. But that is not the most interesting part:

"America has arrogantly declared war against the God of all creation and I'm sure it will draw a quick and appropriate heavenly response. "

Stephen is writing on behalf of the American Family Association. He makes many, many false claims that bear refuting, lies for which he owes millions of people repentence. One more quote from Stephen Bennet on behalf of the AFA:

"Now as a prideful America thinks we are different in some way from the rest of these defunct civilizations, it just goes to show how true the biblical proverb is - "...a dog returns to his own vomit."

Considering then all of the above, please take a look at this video from Fred Phelp's congregation:

This declaration, from Fred Phelp's congregation, is derivable result from their belief that homosexuality is sin. It just isn't that big a step from condemning millions of people for making love, to condemning the entire creation.

In IT, it is called scope creep. Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, Stephen Bennet all have manifested it. What starts out as hatred of one group of people, and a voiced desire for those people to be destroyed, grows and grows, including more and more people. For Fred, its the whole world that he wants to see punished.

This is important, because it indicates that the root cause is not some response to homosexuality, nor is it Scripture.

Another example:

"A religious group that staged a protest at Kutztown University today drew hundreds of angry students after members of the group told them they would burn in hell if they were gay, Jewish or Catholic."

Seek dominance by harming others for personal gain

Whether the target is GLBTQ people, or women, or people of color, Jews, etc - it is all the same phenomena. The fact that anti-gay groups will openly turn on other decidely anti-gay gay groups, like the Catholic church, demonstrates how little it really has to do with anyone's life or afterlife.

It is about domination.

The question then is, who wants to be part of a continuum of belief that leads to "God hates the World"?

Not Jesus Christ, for He said:

John 3

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."[h]

I think it would be great to see a couple hundred congregations and choirs and just groups of friends post their own videos to YouTube, videos of people singing "Jesus Loves Me" or "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" or the one I guess Fred and Stephen and Albert et al never learned,

"They'll Know We are Christians by Our Love".