Every once in a while an article comes along that blows my socks off. today on Box Turtle Bulletin was just such a post relating to conservative Christianity and the gay community. I found it to be so clear and powerfull in its message that I have asked, and recieved, permission to reprint it in its entirety. Whether or not you agree with it. It may give words to feelings we sometimes can not express. Even with my beliefs and religious upbringing, I resonated with this article. I hope it will be of value for you as well. Without further ado:By: Timothy Kincaid
With the growing openness of gay men and women and as they become more incorporated into the fabric of the culture, conservative Christianity has been challenged to rethink their position.
For years the only visible response was “it’s a vile sin”. As gay people slowly became visible, up sprang vitriolic “family” groups dedicated to fighting for the civil subjugation of gay people and the denial of social equality or even basic civil rights.
Although this approach was often phrased as “love the sinner, hate the sin”, there was little evidence that the “sinner” was much loved at all. Rather, she was reviled as being immoral, militant, radical, anti-family, and a threat to children, the church, and all of Western civilization. Advertising campaigns, legislation, rallies, and political movements were generated to take away his children, deny his employment or housing, ban him from civil service, tax him more heavily, incarcerate him if he dare fight back, and in all ways keep him a second class citizen.
But over time, secular voices were joined by mainline Christians in calling such treatment barbarian and un-Christian. And some of the younger conservative Christians had a hard time aligning the “evil homosexual” image with those gay men and women they know.
So a new face of conservative Christianity is arising calling for more tolerance and seeking to share a loving God with their gay neighbors, to welcome them and love them rather than loudly condemn them.
And almost without exception, they get it entirely, completely, and miserably wrong.
