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05 May, 2012

Liberal Christians and Pastor Sean

Pastor Sean Harris, the very man who advocated beating the gay out of children, is pretending to apologize for his statements while at the same time defending them. It's one of those, "I'm sorry, but..." situations where the person isn't really sorry about anything. "I apologize for advocating child abuse of Gay children, but really, they are still an abomination," is what he's really trying to say. I'm not shocked by this and I wouldn't expect anything more from a fundamentalist preacher. What strikes me as odd is that Liberal Christianity, while condemning Pastor Sean's actions, simultaneously hold the same beliefs that Pastor Sean does about Gay people.

Pastor Sean gets his view on Gay people straight from the Bible. While Liberal Christians hang the "footprints" poem on their walls and spout off platitudes and beatitudes about helping others, feeding the poor and how God is Love so that they can condemn preachers like Sean Harris, they are also guilty of holding the same basic beliefs that Sean Harris does. The infallibility of the Bible as the Word of God, the idea of the New Covenant, the concept that if morality doesn't come from God, it is 'subjective' and even murder is okay.

These same Christians, while speaking about "tolerance" don't realize just how ignorant they sound. They'll "tolerate" Gay people because Jesus said to love thy neighbor, but they will never accept  their Gay friends or Gay relationships as equal to them or as anything other than living in sin. They justify it by calling themselves sinners, but when it really comes down to it, even a Liberal Christian will tell you that a sin is not a valid relationship in the eyes of God. Some will argue that it's okay if State Marriage recognizes Gay couples, but dig a little deeper and they will inevitably have to admit their God does not.

Why do they then accept that the rules about shellfish and mixed fibers are no longer valid? Because shellfish eaters and people who wear cotton blends are not a minority. Gay people are a minority and so it is still seen as different, foreign and abnormal to the larger population. There has also been two thousand years of cultural oppression of Gays. "Tolerance" is simply not enough. The fundamental idea that being Gay is deplorable to God needs to end.

The question then becomes, can it end? Can Christians get rid of this pervasive and deplorable "tolerance" and finally move toward "acceptence?" Because in reality, Pastor Sean is more "right" than the Liberal Christian when it comes to taking morality from the Bible. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10Nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
This verse supports the verses in Leviticus that condemn homosexuality as an affront to God. At least Pastor Sean is honest about his beliefs.  Liberal Christians hide behind a few popular Bible quotes about love while still holding the same core beliefs that moved Sean Harris to tell parents to "crack that [limp] wrist," "man up," and "give [a four-year old son who is acting girlish] a good punch."


This is true Biblical morality. This is what the Bible teaches. Christians can't pretend that Pastor Sean isn't one of their own lest they call the Bible wrong. And the Bible is never wrong.