Organized Christian Religious Leaders Attack LGBTQ People

[MineralMan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/01/opinion/nashville-statement-lgbt-christians.html

The Nashville Statement Is an Attack on L.G.B.T. Christians
By ELIEL CRUZSEPT. 1, 2017

This week, an influential group of evangelical Christians publicly doubled down on intolerance in a message about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people that represents a renewed commitment to open bigotry.

The Nashville Statement, released by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on Tuesday, says that only heterosexuality is permissible, calls people born with intersex conditions “disordered,” derides transgender identities as “transgenderism” and makes clear that anyone who is an L.G.B.T. person is immoral.

While sentiments from a group like this, which describes itself as a “coalition for biblical sexuality,” are nothing new, the statement sent a particularly dangerous message to the approximately half of L.G.B.T. people who, according to the Pew Research Center, identify as Christian: You don’t belong in our religion. And anyone who so much as accepts you isn’t Christian either.

The statement can’t be written off as the regressive stance of a fringe group: More than 150 influential conservative evangelical leaders, half of whom belong to the Southern Baptist Convention, signed the statement. Steve Gaines, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and member of Donald Trump’s faith advisory board, endorsed it. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm, also signed on. Presidents of seminaries, editors and writers at the largest conservative publications, as well as presidents and directors of conservative think tanks added their names.

What are we to make of this, I wonder? These folks are leaders in the US Christian community. They're all supposed to be Christians, and are recognized as such. Where is the condemnation of their lack of tolerance and "Christian" lack of judgment of others? Some are advisors to the President of the United States. Is this American Christianity? Is this Christianity at all?

Screw all that. I'll condemn them. I'll judge them. I don't mind. Who will publicly join me in this condemnation?

[Cartoonist]

1. They're literalists

God tells them to be assholes, just like Him.

[DBoon]

2. their god is a mean angry father

nt

[MineralMan]

3. Yah, well, they don't seem to be literalists when it comes to

following the supposedly recorded teachings of the man their religion is named after, now, do they? I'm familiar with those teachings, and Jesus never said a damned thing about LGBTQ people not being covered by his rules of salvation. Of course, we don't know if there really was such a person or if he said any such things, but those people claim to believe that he was and did.

They're not literalists. They're bigots. They either don't know the words or they don't bother to follow any but the ones they like.

They are hypocrites. Their Jesus had something to say about hypocrites, even if he didn't mention LGBTQ folks. Yes, indeed, he had something to say about people like them. I wonder if they've read that part.

[Cartoonist]

4. You missed the memo

Unless Jesus specifically condemns something, you can default him to what is written in the Old Testament.

[MineralMan]

5. Yeah, no.

No, you can't, really. They apparently can.

What I wonder is where all the other Christians are condemning this kind of bigotry? Nobody ever seems to answer that question.

I take it as tacit agreement with the morons in the article. I don't know how else to take it.

[Mariana]

9. " ... they don't bother to follow any but the ones they like."

That's just about every Christian, MineralMan, and probably just about every religious person of every variety. I'm sure these Christian leaders don't see themselves as hypocrites at all, and can explain in excruciating detail how Jesus's condemnation of hypocrisy doesn't apply to them and to what they're doing.

[MineralMan]

10. Oh, there's lots of rationalization and deliberate ignorance

in even those "high" circles of religious leaders. It appears to come with the territory. It also makes me wonder whether those people really believe any of it.

[MineralMan]

6. Look: I know there are Christians in the Religion Group.

I'm waiting to hear from them about this. Do they condemn this? Publicly? Simply and plainly? Are they willing to say that these morons are not actually speaking as Christians? That seems clear to me, as an atheist who understands Christianity pretty darned well.

So, everyone. Speak up. It's your turn.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

7. I would expect no less from these ignorant, hypocritical bigots. Fuck 'em!

[MineralMan]

8. And still it's crickets from the Christians in this group...

Please. Speak up. Let's hear from you. Do those people represent US Christianity? Do they represent you? Lacking any objection to what they said from other Christians, what I'm I supposed to think?

[Iggo]

11. There's two outs they generally use: Fake Xian or Mental Illness.

Not sure how they can call these guys fake xians.

And, even though it's called The Council For Manhood (lol), it'd still be hard for them to call all of these guys mentally ill.

(Easy for me, though. Them vatos is nuts!)

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Don't worry the apologist will be here shortly with a frame to stuff it into.

[Permanut]

13. Their bigotry is a constant theme..

So many examples, but the one that always comes to mind for me is the hatefest between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell while discussing the causes of 9/11.

"Throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools," he said. "The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad.

"[T]he pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America," Falwell continued, "I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

"Well, I totally concur," responded Robertson.

Robertson is a former Southern Baptist minister turned TV shyster. Falwell was founding pastor of a Baptist church in Virginia.

[MineralMan]

14. It is, yes.

It is rarely challenged by other Christians, either. Which raises questions in my mind. I know all of the teachings of the person they claim to worship. I know them well. I call on Chistians to call their bigoted co-religionists to account, but most demur.

It is one reason I cannot believe. If neither their supposed deity nor they will call the charlatans to account, of what use is their belief? Both are apparently impotent. No omnipotence is in evidence whatsoever.