A series of articles by Robert Buchanan, D.Min., on gay prejudice and
Christianity in order to challenge the church and help provide for the
spiritual needs of sexual minorities
Please bookmark this page and come back.
|
A series of articles by Robert Buchanan, D.Min., on gay prejudice and
Christianity in order to challenge the church and help provide for the
spiritual needs of sexual minorities
Please bookmark this page and come back.
|
|
|
Some People Are Just Too Ignorant
It really
doesn’t come as a surprise to me that a group of teens who visited the Florida
State Legislature supporting gay rights legislation were met with hateful
condemnation.. Legislators are only there because people put them there and
people just seem to be ignorant sometimes.
A group of
Florida gay and lesbian teens were visiting the legislature to seek support
and met with Rep. Allen Trovillion who represents part of suburban Orlando.
Rather than offer any support, Trovillion lectured the students on how they
were bringing out the destruction of American society and that God would
punish them for being gay. He said that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and
that God would destroy them too.
Trovillion is
obviously a very ignorant man at best. He is ignorant to the idea that he is
in his position to represent all of the people of his constituency and this is
a very diverse group. He is ignorant that, as a representative of the State,
he was probably violating these young people’s constitutional rights by
imposing his religion on them in a way that denied them equal voice and
protection. He is ignorant that to spew forth his prejudicial hate means
abusing his power and being a bully toward a group (young gays and lesbians)
who are bullied way too much in this culture. I would think even a legislator
would know that adults are not supposed to pick on kids.
Trovillion is
also ignorant in the one area where I imagine he thinks he has some knowledge
– The Bible. Since he wanted to quote Scripture to justify his prejudice, he
probably thinks he is on solid ground. The problem is that his view of
Scripture doesn’t fit with the truth. The Bible never condemns two people of
the same sex for loving one another. The Bible never says gays and lesbians
are going to hell and worthy of some special judgment from God. The Bible
doesn’t say God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah because they were attracted to
the same sex. What Trovillion and others like him think the Bible says simply
isn’t there.
The Bible does
say some things very clearly that Mr. Trovillion should pay attention to. In
Isaiah those who would not defend the powerless are warned lest they face
God’s judgment. Leaders who do not uphold the weak members of society and the
outcasts are particularly singled out for God’s judgment. The New Testament
states quite plainly in the Epistles that “there is neither Greek nor Jew,
bond nor free, nor male nor female in Christ Jesus.” The early church
believed in tearing down the walls of sexism. It wasn't until hundreds
of years later that the church decided homosexuality is sin. Like Trovillion,
they missed the point and began to spread a great deal of ignorance.
Rep. Trovillion
should be ashamed for what he did to those kids, and I believe he has
disqualified himself from leadership. Some people are just too ignorant, so
much so that it is hard to believe it is just ignorance after all.
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Robert Buchanan is a minister of the Ecumenical Catholic Church and a psychotherapist who lives with his partner of many years in Durham North Carolina. He is the author of Love, Honor & Respect: How to Confront Homosexual Bias in Christian Culture and serves as director of the Institute for Inclusive Christianity. a training program for ministers and clergy who do not discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or because of financial, familial or social status. Additional resources for inclusive Christians can be found at our Resources page.
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