Keep YOUR Gospel to Yourself.

On Monday we began hearing stories about an “anti-gay day” organized by some of the students at McGuffey High School in Claysville, Pennsylvania. Since then there have been so many news reports, article, and blogs. The district administration has also supposedly initiated an investigation into allegations of harassment that accompanied some of the “protest.”

The fact that these kids organized a protest doesn’t bother me. I spent two decades in the military to help ensure people are able to freely voice themselves, no matter how narrow minded and bigoted it is. What bothers me is this:

Anti-gay day pic

The fact that they used the cross as a symbol of being anti-gay. I’m kind of getting tired of writing this, mainly to people that call themselves Christians. The fact that this ignorant kid used the cross as a symbol of hate, infuriates me. The cross is a symbol of forgiveness. It’s on the cross that Jesus died to destroy the very thing that this kid is using it to represent: hate.

WHERE’S THE LAW THAT PROTECTS MY RELIGION FROM HATEFUL PEOPLE RUINING IT? ~ TWEET THIS ~

If you read the buzzfeed.com article, it even says that the participating students Instagramed scripture verses and tagged students that they knew are gay. I couldn’t find that anywhere else, but if you can’t believe BuzzFeed, who can you believe? Regardless, even if there’s a sliver of truth to that, this picture still remains. I’m absolutely exhausted from the amount of anger and frustration caused by people, pretending to be Christian, using the Word of God, that was meant to draw people to Him, as a tool to perpetuate their hate. Where’s the law that protects my religion from hateful people ruining it.

To the LBGTQ students at McGuffey High and every other high school that will no doubt have idiots that pick up this idea,

I’m sorry. That’s not my Jesus. That’s hate and Jesus isn’t hate. In fact He’s love. He not only loves you, He IS love. I know there are some harsh verses in the bible and people use them to call you all sorts of horrible things, but they’re ignorant and not taking the whole of the bible for what God said or intended. They’re cherry picking what suits their cause, not God’s. What these students did is the youth equivalent to the Westboro Baptist bullies and it’s disgusting.

Jesus would NEVER condone this type of behavior. I wonder what might happen if Jesus were still walking the earth and a group of people threw a gay man or woman at His feet. I imagine it would probably gonthe same way it went with the adulteress. He would say, “Whoever here is without sin, throw the first stone.” Then He would eat with them, at the disgust of the religious. I’d go to that dinner party.

Please, for the love of my God, if you’re anti-gay, stop using my religion as a means of hurting and hating people. Figure out another way and leave Jesus out of it. Because, when it comes down to it, you’re not really Christians. If you were, you’d know the bible is pro-God and God is pro-people. If He wasn’t, there’d be no cross.

4 Comments

  1. Jeff

    The author of the article says,”The fact that this ignorant kid used the cross as a symbol of hate, infuriates me. ” Isn’t that being rather judgmental and hateful? Can not the author be more forgiving of these students? The author also wonders what Jesus would say to this “anti-gay” group, but does not give a thought to what Jesus would say to those bearing God’s very image while engaging in perverted acts with one another? Do you not think that behavior is a personal affront to God? Without citing scripture the the author then speculates quite a bit about a more or less accepting of homosexual stance by Jesus. Really? I skeptically wonder if the author would also turn his hateful judgmentalism toward Christians gathering for anti-abortion? Or anti-child molesting? Or anti-drug abuse? Or anti-anything else other than homosexuality?

    • B. Pagano II

      Hey Jeff,
      Thanks for taking the time to comment. I mean that sincerely.
      I do want to make some distinctions here. Being anti-abortion is a “sanctity of life thing”. I’m for life. Anti-child molesting is a protection of children thing. I’m also for that. Oh, by the way, that’s a very close issue for me, as I was actually kidnapped and raped when I was 10. To suggest that homosexuality is in the same scope as those things is reckless at best. Killing a baby and hurting children isn’t the same as claiming to love someone of the same gender, and it’s a consenting situation, which the other two are not. Even the anti-drug thing is a far stretch, as that often affects others in very negative and hurtful (both physical and emotional) ways. I don’t actually remember the last time that a homosexual person went on a gay induced rage and beat their spouse. I will say this, if a Christian uses hate and violence to get their anti-abortion message across, they’re far worse off than the person getting the abortion; mainly because they supposedly know the truth and claim to live in that light. Hate and violence doesn’t exist in the light of Jesus.
      As far as being judgmental, that’s subjective. Was not the whole of the New Testament written to Christians that either missed the mark on or were unsure of what Jesus taught? There are a number of times that Paul and Peter not only seem judgmental toward other Christians, but flat out say that if they continue to act that way they aren’t actually Christian. We’re called to challenge each other, not the world, to a higher standard. As far as the unbeliever, we’re called to be His witness to their unbelief. If it seems harsh to call out someone that claims Christ, but uses hate as their method, then we have to condemn all the Apostles for anything written from Acts to Revelation.
      I don’t think I speculated that Jesus accepted homosexuality. What I did do is note that Jesus is pro-mercy and pro-grace and I referenced the story about Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Based on that, I absolutely believe that Jesus would take the same stance and response to anyone that threw a sinner (and by sinner I mean anyone the religious seem deserving of judgment) at His feet. That’s Him, not me.
      As far as it being an affront to God, you’re right, the bible does say it’s an abomination, but read Proverbs 6:16-19. If you’ve ever lied, you’re an abomination, too. And so am I.
      If you want to view what I wrote as “hateful judgmentalism” that’s fine, but here’s some scripture, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Cor 5:12-13) What these kids did was hateful. They could have been peaceful in their protest, but they chose otherwise.
      In regards to what you wrote, am I to understand that you view Westboro Baptist’s tactics as acceptable? Because they’re NOT following Christ the way I read it in the Bible and what they’re doing is far greater an affront to God than a homosexual person that is looking to be loved. I want to be the reason that people meet Jesus, not run from Him while flipping His bride the bird.

    • tomminkler

      Jeff i think we have to look at how Jesus treated the Pharisees, who were the “haters” at the time (according to our new testament at least). Was it OK for Jesus to “judge” them or “condemn” them? Remember they asked “why does your teacher hang out with sinners and whores”? Jesus called the Pharisees “fools” and “sons of snakes” right? (I’d look up the scriptures but sorry too much trouble on the phone.) I think religions tend toward the same thing, often the mainstream becomes hierarchical and judgmental, Christianity can fall for it similar to the way the NT describes the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, and Islam has that issue too.
      Also, as far as “perverted acts,” oral or anal sex between heterosexual people is also “sodomy.” Is it my business what consenting adults (including you) do in private? What if i tried to tell you who you could marry? You’d think i was nuts, right? B. is right that what consenting adults agree to do with each other is different than when people hurt others. Bigamy, gambling, sex with children, prostitution are banned because they are “exploitive” and unequal. (Although one could argue that under the Deist concept of God-given “free will,” people should be able to consent to those behaviors and face their own consequences, not counting the chldren because they are not able to “consent” to many things including drink or vote until certain ages). Not only did Jesus make it clear not to judge others (and i don’t think it just means not being “judgmental” it could mean that we aren’t even supposed to judge or even DECIDE what behaviors are right or not for other people), he NEVER says to pass laws regulating others’ behavior. There is so much more but texting all this is strenuous. I suggest checking out religioustolerance.org (im not affiliated, is it ok to post links here?) for expansive explanations (served in bite-sized chunks) of different viewpoints of different religions incl. Christianity on many different issues, with scriptural references.

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