17th June 2022
A pastor in `Texas has sparked outrage recently by saying gay people should be lined up and shot in the back of the head.
Reading the commentary on this on the internet I noted how quick those who believe that being gay is sinful were to distance themselves from this guy, with cries of ‘He’s not a real Christian.’ I noted their outrage that anyone could suggest such a thing and of course their desire to still point out that gay people are sinning but that we must “love the sinner, hate the sin” eye roll
It reminded me of how quick those who believe that men should have authority over women are to distance themselves from domestic abuse and sexual abuse. How they respond with faux outrage and cries that God will deal with these men, whilst making no effort to examine their own theology at all.
What those people seemingly fail to understand is that our behaviour is a direct result of our beliefs. The guy who says gay people should be lined up and shot in the head thinks this primarily because he believes that gay people are doing something wrong and he feels emboldened to say it because so many other people voice the view that being gay is a sin.
Just like the domestic abuser, at his core, believes that women should submit to men, and he feels emboldened to act on that belief because other people agree with it, even if they don’t agree with abuse.
Violence exists on a spectrum, those who take six passages from the whole bible, remove them from their context and turn them into weapons with which to hurt LGBTQ+ people may not be at the same place on that spectrum of violence as the pastor who says they should be shot or the terrorist who blows up gay nightclubs, but make no mistake, they ARE on that spectrum and they do destroy lives.
It’s about time those who hold to abusive theology took responsibility for the violence carried out in the name of their beliefs.
