Jamey Rodemeyer is a 14-year-old kid from
Buffalo, N.Y., who earlier this week, after years of being bullied for being
gay, committed suicide.
If you're a Christian who believes that being
gay is a morally reprehensible offense against God, then you share a mindset,
worldview and moral structure with the kids who hounded Jamey Rodemeyer,
literally, to death. It is your ethos, your convictions and your theology that
informed, supported and encouraged their cruelty.
We Christians who believe that God created gay
people as much in His own image as he did straight people are begging you to
reconsider your theology -- to do nothing more than be open to an alternative,
fully credible, scholastically sound interpretation of one or two lines from
Paul.
How can you be unwilling to do something so
simple, when you see the horrible ultimate cost of that refusal?
Christ died so that you could love more. And now
you're part of a system that allows that same Christ to be used as a moral
justification for the most vile kind of abuse. How could that have happened?
How could something so right have gone so wrong?
Turn, friend. And when you do, open your arms.
Discover waiting to embrace you a new Christ behind the relative shell of the
one you inherited. Jesus Christ died for your sins. That was unthinkably
beautiful. Now Jamey Rodemeyer has died from your sins. That is not. That is
the very hell that, awfully enough, you've somehow tricked yourself into
believing your life refutes.
15 comments:
Vajda Oakstone:
Dear Sven Ljungholm, we belong to the radical Bible and confession faithful evangelical Christians who refuse to compromise with, or infringe upon God's Holy Word and Will for a hallowed and complete assigned Christ's life. I grew up with the Salvation Army Office Rares preaching and catechesis since the 1950's when my parents went to the Salvation Army meetings every Saturday and Sunday, and when I got saved in autumn 1969 so did I sin, and decided radical Biblical and confessional allegiance against the Lord and the Lord sacred words whatever the cost like, and I have kept, and intend to keep as long as I live.
Vajda, my exegesis (critical interpretation of a text in scripture) differs from yours, and countless others.
You may prefer the term hermeneutics the interpretive study encompassing all forms of communication: written, verbal and nonverbal, while exegesis focuses primarily on the written text. If that's the case you must allow for a great many nuances, including the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We welcome your response.
This is really a step too far. Kids commit suicide for all sorts of other reasons as well - for being bullied for being fat, for being ginger-haired etc, etc. To put the burden of responsibility for this particular boy's suicide on people like me, just for the views I hold on the subject of LGBT - sincerely-held beliefs, due in part to my reliance on God's Word as I interpret it, and also the deep schisms caused by this never-stopping assault on traditional beliefs - is reprehensible indeed, and as a fellowship of God's people you should be thoroughly ashamed. Perhaps you should have called for the lad's psychological reports before printing this article? There may be deeper-seated issues which contributed to his sad suicide.
Most of us viewing here have never met the boy, never heard of him until now - and I for one will not accept any blame for his death.
Bullying of LGBT people is carried out by non-Christians in the main, so to state on a Christian website that other Christians are responsible is a sad attack on the church from within, and simply not true. Many of us who hold opposing views would not dream of harming anyone for their gender, and I feel quite sick that by publishing this article you would suggest otherwise.
None of us has the monopoly on truth, and this modern trend of inclusion could be just plain wrong. Not one of us - liberal or conservative Christians - can know the mind of God, and NONE of us will know for certain whether our biblical interpretation of this very divisive subject is correct until we get to the pearly gates, no matter what our inner convictions tell us. Until then, we are left with our consciences, which differ considerably - so to say 'turn, turn' in such an accusing way is appalling.
"Bullying of LGBT people is carried out by non-Christians in the main, so to state on a Christian website that other Christians are responsible is a sad attack on the church from within, and simply not true." Your source? And if not Christians who might they be? And, 'other Christians are responsible', so you mean they ARE Christians but not proper fundamentalist correct acting Christians?
"None of us has the monopoly on truth"; you got that spot on.
"Perhaps you should have called for the lad's psychological reports before printing this article? There may be deeper-seated issues which contributed to his sad suicide." Why don't you address this to the Huff Post.
In just 5 years the comments will be seen as hardly credible of a Christian.
Buffalo
'Why don't you address this to the Huff Post'
Because it was chosen to be included on this website. I don't read the Huffington Post.
None of us can know the mind of God? If you're going to use the Bible to oppress / bully / ostracize / jail and or kill a group of people, you better be damn sure you've got it right, otherwise you're just throwing witches into the river to see if they sink.
Dear Anonymous Third Commenter (and anyone else who may want to second his/her protest!)
Methinks thou dost protest too much! (I would've used the actual quote from W.S. "The Lady dost protest too much, methinks" but it might upset you if you're a male and I certainly wouldn't want to upset you any further, in the same way that 14 year old Jamey was upset.)
From the anger you're expressing, me also thinks that, that kid's face is really getting to you, bub. Since you're so religiously inclined have you thought of the possibility that the Holy Spirit just might be speaking to you through that face and that someone just might need to take a trip down to the Mercy Seat next Sunday?
For the record, the rest of the story is that Jamey left his parents a suicide note stating that after only one week of high school he was tired of being beaten, harassed, thrown into lockers, called faggot and told to die by other students. If he was going to have to experience this cruelty for another four years that certainly might be enough to drive a 14 year old kid to suicide, don't you think? What don't you understand about it that you believe requires psychological testing to get to the bottom of it?
As for your premise that (born again?) Xians don't do such things, you've got to be kidding---especially at that age. He didn't even have to be gay, just be perceived as gay and he would've gotten it along with laughter and smirks from some of his teachers.
Several years ago when I was in the throes of researching my archive I ran across a statistic that people were more likely to bash gays in direct proportion to the amount of church they attend! And though as adults they may feign more tolerance and not be so prone to start harassing and beating someone up themselves, they still pass on their true attitudes, based on supposed biblical authority, to their immature offspring.
At the time I also ran across a story about a young gay man who was a waiter at an Olive Garden down the street from D.
James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Church in Ft. Lauderdale. He had effeminate mannerisms and was just trying to make a living but was constantly being mocked and imitated by Kennedy's parishoners when he waited on them every Sunday after church.
In my own neighborhood about 15 years ago a teen-age boy jumped off a bridge. It was discovered that the homophobic Xian kid across the street was constantly mocking and threatening him too. The father of the bully could be seen sitting on his steps reading the Bible every evening throughout the spring and summer.
If you think these are isolated incidents you're off your rocker.
As for disturbed people with baseball bats, etc. who aren't born again Xians, when they're questioned, (usually after a murder) they almost to a T justify their actions with church teachings and the Bible even though they probably never even actually read the Bible in their whole lives!
And lastly, btw, the nature of the mind of God is unconditional love. Just what's so hard about knowing that?
Daryl Lach
USA Central
P.S. For all of you other 21st Century Dr. Thornton Stringfellows (look him up on the internet if you haven't already done so due to my other postings), keep looking at that kid's face and do what the Spirit speaks to you to do.
"You Must Go Home By the Way Of the Cross, To Stand With Jesus in the Morning!"
Why should I address my question to the Huffington Post - it was reproduced on this website. I have no desire to read the Huff Post, and I'd rather have not read such an accusatory blog on this Christian website either. The tone of the article is hardly Christian in content, and its sentiments are definitely not so.
Also, how come my contribution was replied to without it appearing on the website first? They both appeared together. Very strange - or has someone from the FSAOF just responded with a personal view without publishing it first?
And the '5 years' sentence seems to be just a tad biased and nasty. We are all entitled to our views, we all will have to give an account of them one day. I am content with that.
But - like some previous commenters before me, I'm tired and really fed up with the groundhog day nature of this very one-sided debate, which is just going round and round in increasingly intolerant circles. It was allegedly (I believe I read it somewhere by one of your spokespeople) supposed to be a one week pro and one week anti presentation, which would have been fair enough. Alas, there is more desire to present a pro angle than anything else. We're hardly on a level playing field here. And it's absolutely too long - saturation point was reached a while ago.
To; Saturation point, the series is far from finished. And, I'm at a loss as to whom to believe: fair and balanced, too pro, too con?
So I'll just settle for the doubling and sometimes trippling in the number of daily blog visitors since we began this third series on the LGBT issues.
Daryl
'For the record, the rest of the story is that Jamey left his parents a suicide note stating that after only one week of high school he was tired of being beaten, harassed, thrown into lockers, called faggot and told to die by other students.'
My question is - what has this got to do with Christianity? It's not so long since I was in school, and I was probably one of the very few Christians there. I grew up in a district where Christianity was definitely NOT the norm, apart form my own household, and I had to learn to stand by my Christian principles. It wasn't easy, lest you think you and yours have the monopoly on persecution. It was pretty miserable at times, being the odd one out, but I persevered. Life has become even more secular today, so unless you can name actual Christians for causing this child's suicide, I doubt if even you could lay it at any christian's door.
The tone of this article has no basis in fact. It is sensationalising a tragic situation for its own ends, trying to lay responsibility for it at the door of people who definitely are not responsible for it.
And there you are - assuming again - the kid's face has not got to me, sad though it is. My anger is purely for those who have reproduced this article just to 'bad mouth' those of us who are living by our own equally sincere, though opposite, spiritual convictions. I think the FSAOF has done itself a great disservice by printing it, and alienated a whole group of sincere people. That is my main gripe.
I, too, have noticed that comments have diminished from people who don't favour this cause, so even if this series goes on ad infinitum, it won't reflect an actual balance of views because the only comments you'll have will be favourable ones.
And by saying 'Since you're so religiously inclined have you thought of the possibility that the Holy Spirit just might be speaking to you through that face and that someone just might need to take a trip down to the Mercy Seat next Sunday?' - if you don't mind me saying so, and even if you do, I think that's a breathtakingly arrogant thing to say. You have a nerve, acting as judge and jury on what I and others like me should be thinking and doing. You have no idea of my life, so please don't assume or become personal. It's unseemly and completely unnecessary. I've replied to your comments many times in the past, and have never, ever, presumed to comment on you personally. Please afford me the same treatment.
I don't know why this subject raises so much bigotry on both sides, but it's about time it stopped. I shan't be commenting again - it's too painful.
Dear; 'I, too, have noticed that comments have diminished from people who don't favour this cause, so even if this series goes on ad infinitum, it won't reflect an actual balance of views because the only comments you'll have will be favourable ones.'
The very fact that the series is drawing a record number of visitors alone, warrants extending its life.
1. No comments are ever edited- And perhaps people simply avoid echoing what's already been said. And many simply read the blog, reflect and are better informed…
2. All posts are submitted by blog readers and posted without prejudice - how else can we express our fairness and gratitude? And none are sought out for their slant or sensationalism.
3. And all posts are linked to a religious blogger or website.
4. There are millions of blogs out there - there must be a few that appeal to persons who find ours boring… surely!
I've counted 32 articles on this subject (quick count - may be one or two out either way - time restrictions)
18 are 'Pro' this subject
8 are 'Anti'
6 I couldn't decide.
Is this balanced? Just asking - no offence intended.
No offence taken- whatever we receive we publish. Many I deem neutral whereas some might not. We've got another batch to go and hopefully their intent will be easier to garner and bring the balance a bit closer.
Please send me your address- I've got a gift for you!
Dear Anonymous,
I got laughed at and made fun of at times for being a Xian and a Salvationist in high school too---who didn't?
But with that said, I was never beaten, pushed into lockers and told to go die. Nor did I ever feel completely alone and isolated. There were always others who lived similar lives to mine and I had several friends in Concert Band whether they made any profession of faith or not. We were engaged in an activity (music making) that made us stand out among our peers and thwarted the efforts of any insecure types looking for scapegoats. We represented and could do something rather well that 98% of the rest of the student body didn't/couldn't do.
Jamey was in his first week of high school and saw nothing but Hell in front of him along with being the target of bullies for four more years.
And whether you or anyone else thinks so or not, cold reading, fundamentalist interpretations of scripture are the basis for what that poor kid went through.
Also, I never said you should go to the Mercy Seat. I asked you to consider the possibility that your anger might have been borne out of having to see Jamey's picture, thus tangibilitating the suffering that such unmovable fundamentalist beliefs have caused in this world---and to also consider whether or not the Holy Spirit might be telling you something through that picture?
If you say no, then I guess it's no. If his picture and his suffering doesn't effect you to "turn" as the (straight, married and Xian)author suggests, then it just doesn't effect you. But if I were you I wouldn't exactly be proud of it either.
God speed to you anonymous. I have nothing against you personally, just the type of thinking you and others so proudly represent and mistakenly think is Godly. I wish you wouldn't give up and leave the site. It's what keeps the site going and as Hegel the philosopher said: Thesis versus Antithesis eventually always spirals upward into Synthesis. And then of course, there's always that other one by MLK about the long Arc of history always bending toward justice.
Daryl Lach
USA Central
"You Must Go Home By the Way of the Cross, to Stand With Jesus in the Morning!
WASHING OF WATER? EPHESIANS 5:26 BY STEVE FINNELL
What does the washing of water found in Ephesians 5:26 mean? Should you, as a believer in Christ, look to creed books and Bible commentaries for the answer to that question or should you look to translations of the Bible for truth? Do you want to trust men or do you want to trust God's written word?
Ephesians 5:25-26...just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (NKJV)
How did Christ sanctify and cleanse the church? The church is the body of Christ. The church is comprised of Christians. How did Christ sanctify and cleanse the church?
Ephesians 5:26 to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's word;(The Living Bible- Paraphrased)
Ephesians 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, (KJV)
Ephesians 5:26 in order to make her holy, cleaning her with the baptismal water by the Word. (Weymouth New testament)
Ephesians 5:26 He did this to make her holy by washing her in a bath of water with the word. (Common English Bible)
Ephesians 5:26 He made the church holy by the power of his word, and he made it pure by washing it with water.(Contemporary English Version)
Ephesians 5:26 In order that he might sanctify it, purifying [it] by the washing of water by [the] word, (Darby Translation)
Ephesians 5:26 He died to make the church holy. He used the telling of the Good News to make the church clean by washing it with water. (ERV-Easy-to-Read-Version)
Ephesians 5:26 He did this to make the church holy by cleaning it,washing it using water along with the spoken words. (God's Word Translation)
Ephesians 5:26 He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water, (Good News Translation)
Ephesians 5:26 He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water alone with the spoken words. (Names of God Bible)
Ephesians 5:26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, (New American Standard Bible)
Ephesians 5:26 He did that so that he might make the church people holy, when they were washed with water by God's word. (World English N.T.)
Do you really want leave the interpretation of Ephesians 5:26 to others,why would you not read it and believe what it says?
Is God smart enough to guide men to accurately translate the Bible?
Two choices: 1. Trust God's written word, the BIBLE. or 2. Trust preachers, priests, pastors, Bible commentators, the man on the street, your friends and relatives or creed books, for the truth and nothing but the truth.
Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved....(NKJV)
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http//:steve-finnell.blogspot.com
Post a Comment