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.
|
|
|
Army of a False God
A group called
the “Army of God” openly promotes violence against those who disagree with
them. Not only do they preach that violence is good, when it is done for
their concept of God, but they celebrate those who have commit acts of
terrorism. At their fifth annual banquet this year they honored a
minister from a small Lutheran Church for his years of bombing clinics. This
group doesn’t operate out of the mountains of some foreign nation, but from
the shadow of the United States Capital in Maryland.
These are
people who claim to believe in Christianity, but believe that hate is a good
thing when it is targeted against certain people. While the group admits to
violence against abortion clinics and providers, they are also open about
hatred toward gays. One speaker, Chuck Spingola, is renowned for tearing down
a rainbow flag from the Ohio State Capital. He openly proclaims hatred of
homosexuals. Yet, he doesn’t believe all gays should be killed, but, “you get
about half a dozen of the activists, you kill them, and the rest of them will
go back in the closet.”
It is a
travesty when people use the rhetoric and symbolism of Christianity to bring
hatred and harm on others. One thing must be clear however, this army is not
of the Christian God. It must be some other God that they serve with such
emotive power. To be Christian is to be like Jesus, and Jesus brought a
message of love, honor, and acceptance. He condemned those who would use
violence openly. Christ lived under a horribly oppressive government, but
taught his followers not to give in to the desire for revolution, but to focus
on spiritual things.
The modern
“Army of God” says that they love God by hating those they disagree with. The
Bible teaches that we love God, by loving those around us. Jesus said that we
are to love our enemies and do no harm. Even perhaps one of the most
outspoken zealots in the early church said that, ”The weapons of our warfare
are not of this world.” Apostle Paul taught that only the government has the
God-given right to use force.
It is easy to
become confused with what Christianity is all about when there are so many
conflicting messages, but the messages that come from Christ and the New
Testament are only messages of love and non-violence. The easy road is for
gay believers to give up on the church and walk away. However, I believe that
the resources of Christianity are powerful and relevant to our lives, not to
spread evil and hate, but to spread love and acceptance. These are the
weapons of the true Army of God.
I think I know
the identity of the so-called god that spreads violence and intolerance. That
god is called Fear. The God of the Bible is Love
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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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