On Sunday I will join a group of others in a peaceful protest at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe. The pastor of this church recently claimed that the solution to the AIDS epidemic was to kill all gay people, as instructed in the book of Leviticus.
Yesterday, some sympathizers of this pastor found the Facebook page of the protest group. At first the comments were just personal: "You know nothing about the Bible." (Well, actually, I do--my degree is in liturgy and scripture.) Then they turned foul: "God hates faggots" and " Filthy Sodomite Reprobates are all going to hell....." When I quoted 1 John 4:16, which is what I plan to print on my protest sign, I was ignored: "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." I said at one point, "I'm wondering where your love is. I'm sad for you." And out poured more vitriol. At one point one of the commenters asked me if I was a Sodomite. No, actually, I'm a privileged, white, straight person like you--I didn't say that, but that's my answer to all this. I'm disgusted. Perhaps this is Thea's reminder that my participation in this protest is not for nothing. As a Christian, I cannot stand by while other Christians twist the Christian message into one of hatred. It simply isn't. These so-called Christians are doing Christianity wrong, and they need to be called out on it. I invite you, if you're local, to join me at 10:00 on Sunday. If you can't be there, I invite you to pray for the safety of the protesters and the radical change of heart of this church and its supporters. May this Advent turn their hatred to love and their ignorance to wisdom. Amen.
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