Love the Sinner?

A Comparison of Various Commands of Scripture and the Public Statements of Christian Anti-Gay Activists

[Offered for your consideration without additional commentary from me]

1 Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

This is how these folks think—not with reason, but like two year- olds throwing a tantrum....Go back in the closet until you shed this behavior. Leave our kids alone. Leave faithful churches alone. Leave our streets in peace. And please, get out of our faces (Linda Harvey, President and Founder, Mission America, November 2008).

Love is patient,

And then there are the morons at Newsweek....What Bible are these doofuses reading? I don't know about you, but I am absolutely fed up with idiocy like this. (Joe Kovacs, Executive News Editor, WorldNetDaily.com, "Newsweek and Bush: Bible morons," December 11, 2008).

love is kind.

In what amounts to a sort of soft racism, self-styled "queers" have disingenuously and ignobly hitched their lil' lavender wagons to a movement which, by contrast, is built upon the genuine and noble precepts of racial equality and humanitarian justice. An illegitimate offspring of the '60s sexual revolution, the newfangled "gay rights" cult is today's postmodern, sex-centric cause célèbre. Its core tenets include, among other things, mandated moral relativism, social androgyny and forced acceptance of a pleasure-based, though demonstrably destructive, lifestyle. Apart from practitioners of "the sin that dare not speak its name," its devotees are in large part institutional fringe elitists confined to blue-state America who almost universally suffer the insufferable pangs of white guilt. Like an addict jonesing for a hit, they long for that rush of self-righteous affirmation associated with belonging to something perceived as larger than themselves. (Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs, Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action, and Associate Dean, Liberty University School of Law, November 14, 2008).

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude,

[In an unsolicited response to two gay men's announcements on their blogs about their upcoming marriages to their partners]: Now, I’m not a party pooper but one would think that if the upcoming “marriage” was so important to [gay couples marrying in Massachusetts and California], they would take more time to plan their wedding. When Randall and I got married we had an 8 month engagement and planned out all the details to our wedding. We had about 200 people come, flowers, balloons, a nice reception, church ceremony, rehearsal dinner, bridal shower, bachelor party - in other words, the whole works. It seems to me that Dr. Kevin here is rushing into his marriage without all the necessary preparations that make a wedding special. How boring to get “married” in city hall with 4 friends and Doug’s parents. What about his parents…? Don’t his parents think this event is important enough to fly from Michigan to California to see their son “marry” another man? And of course, what about the CAKE? The cake is the best part of the reception. I remember my cake, it was delicious. And then of course, there is Joe Brummer, who just announced today on Twitter that he and his partner Rick are going to get “married” this coming Tuesday at 9 AM....Again…what’s the hurry here? Don’t you guys have time to make proper plans for a nice wedding. After all, isn’t this something you’ve fought really long and hard for? If it was me, I would be making sure I had a HUGE party and wedding. I’d invite hundreds of people (well, actually I did do that) and make sure the whole world knew I was one million percent committed to my man. So my point - the point is obvious, and I think you can see it clearly. (Stacy L. Harp, Founder and President, Active Christian Media, July 10, 2008).

it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,

God hates soft men....God hates effeminate men....If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I'd rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end. (Pastor Ken Hutcherson, Antioch Bible Church, Kirkland, Washington, quoted by Anthony Robinson, February 22, 2008).

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Isn't this Movement Obnoxious? Yes, the homosexual activists wear us all out with the non-stop militancy....Enough already. I don't think the self-styled "queers" will stop agitating until every day of the year is devoted to some sort of belly-aching that aims to normalize that which is aberrant (Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans for Truth about Homosexuality, December 10, 2008).

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (Colossians 4:5-6)

[Homosexuality] is the culmination of man's apostasy and hostility toward God and His Church ....Officials and judges are not only anti-Christian by approving of homosexuality, they make the civil government a vile cesspool from which the abominations vomit out across the land....Christians should be demanding the strongest laws and punishments against homosexuality be put into effect so as to cleanse the pestilence from our society....Those who engage in homosexuality are so vile that their very presence defiles the land....God gives the civil officials the authority to prevent society, the land, from being defiled. The civil officials swing the sword to "...execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:4) -- and in this case sodomites -- "...shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them" (Lev. 20:13). (Jim Rudd, editor, The Covenant News, December 9, 2008).

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth....Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy....Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:5,7,9)

Homosexuals are out of the closet and parading their perversion in the streets. They are highly motivated, well financed, politically astute, effectively organized, and dedicated. To underestimate the capacity or goal of this enemy is to guarantee defeat. They have thrown down the gauntlet, hurling their deadly agenda directly in the face of this nation’s democratic institutions, constitution and family values. We are under attack and will not survive unless we fight! We have been ambushed on all major fronts and our ability to prevail has already been severely sabotaged. How did this happen? In what way have we nurtured the enemy we now must defeat? (Rev. Lee Taylor, commentator, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, "Gay Pride: Tactics of Tyranny," May 5, 2008).

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

Every day since [the election] a few hundred geniuses have gathered in West Hollywood, and in one place or two in San Francisco to scream at the wind, bark at the moon, and demand that the stupid damn people of California weren't so... LITERAL (Kevin McCullough, Christian radio talk show host, "What the Genius Gay Protesters of LA Don't Get," November 7, 2008).

Now the overseer must be above reproach...temperate, self-controlled,... gentle, not quarrelsome. (1 Timothy 3:2-3)

You people are undoubtedly the most whining group of people in all the world. You sound like spoiled kids when something does not go your way....No wonder most people don't like you and your kind (Pastor Marvin Suitt, Living Word Baptist Church, Forest, Virginia, December 19, 2008).

The Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone....Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

How ludicrous....Grow up, [—–] I’m not really interested in...your prayers because they are nullified by your deep rebellion against God (if you are indeed a practicing homosexual).... One thing I find so annoying about so many “queer” activists is they want to have it both ways: they want to practice and/or defend sodomy and homosexuality — revealed throughout Judeo-Christian history as sinful — yet they also want to call themselves faithful Christians. Can’t have it both ways (Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, August 16, 2008).

Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. (Philippians 4:5)

Of course, [I am] not going to be intimidated by [queer preacher Christopher Stewart] from West Virginia. In fact, I plan to write him this afternoon to tell him where to insert his textual authoritarianism. And I hope you’ll join me in writing the queer preacher to let him know that Americans are getting sick and tired of the Gaystapo and its Nazi tactics. After I’m done writing I plan to make a donation to the Boy Scouts of America. Then I’ll roast a weenie in Christopher Stewart’s honor (Mike S. Adams, Townhall.com, "The Gaystapo," September 8, 2008).

Remind them...to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. (Titus 3:1-2)

Gays do not lack admiration from others for their achievements, but they do suffer from an obsessive disorder over homophobia. As a group and a movement, their leadership suffers from a pervasive sense of low self-esteem. It's time they got over it (Bonnie Rogoff, founder, Jews for Life, "Banging my head against the Stonewall," November 10, 2008).

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Philippians 4:1-2)

[Homosexuals] will not stop until they impose their immoral lifestyle on the rest of us, even to the point of making their perverse behavior legally sanctioned by law. Any setbacks are met by violent public tantrums and personal attacks (Judge Roy Moore, World Net Daily Commentary, November 26, 2008).

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

Sometimes you just have to laugh at a homosexual world that is so utterly lacking in seriousness. We’re dealing with a movement that is filled with overgrown adolescents (Peter LaBarbera, President, Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, April 18, 2008).