Tony Campolo on Christians and Gay Rights

October 7, 2011 By Kurt Willems 7 Comments

Any Thoughts????

Filed Under: (Series) Video to Ponder Tagged With: , , , 7 Comments
  • http://www.facebook.com/jamonck2 Chip Monck

    Spot on (in my opinion). I have never understood why the desire for justice has to be equated with endorsement of a given behavior. If my son is arrested, and jailed…I may not endorse his behavior, but I want him to be handled in a just way. Most people probably do. Yet we seem to shy away from this with the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender community. Love with action, not just words. 

    Of course…I am bias…I have always appreciated Dr. Campolo’s perspective.

    • Dan Segale

      Chip,

      I think that the community who are staunch and against gay activity and call it an agenda is because there are those, a small percentage that could be identified with such behavior and be antagonistic and swear up and down that the public forum is trying to convince everyone in the normality of gay life. I am 100% in agreement with Tony.

  • Dave

    I certainly do not agree with his theological assessment  of LGBT persons.  I believe being gay is in no way incompatible with a life in Christ.  But he does believe in equal treatment under the law.  That’s one of the very arguments many of us who promote equality use.  We can’t expect everyone to share our beliefs, but we do not live in a theocracy.  As much as I wish Mr. Campolo would “see the light,” I still believe he is moving things forward.  We’re not going to wake up a week from now and find we suddenly have no disagreements on these issues.  Progress is rarely an event.  It is a process.

    • Ian

      “I believe being gay is in no way incompatible with a life in Christ.”

      I don’t think Tony said that is what he thinks (at least not in the video). I think he just pointed out that he believes that Scripture teaches that it is a sin (and I agree with him). This does not mean that a gay person cannot be a Christian. It would be hypocritical for me or anyone else to say otherwise because I’m sure that even since we’ve become Christian we’ve sinned in probably several ways, many of which are possibly more destructive then homosexuality. 

  • http://www.fivedills.com Greg Dill

    By encouraging the same rights as heterosexual married couples are you not therefore condoning and giving approval towards “same gender erotic behavior”? Married homosexual couples will likely engage in sex will they not? Seems a bit of a paradox to contend with… especially if as Tony says, gay sex “does not fit in with his understanding of scripture”.

    Justice, protection, love, understanding, and compassion are all one thing. Allowing, promoting, and encouraging sinful behavior under the guise of “equal rights” is another.

  • Jacqui Norman

    AMEN

  • Basil

    I agree with Dave.  It’s progress of a sort. I definitely don’t accept his theological assessment of LGBT persons, but why should everyone have to have the same religious beliefs?  He is free to believe whatever he wants.

    I do appreciate his support of equal treatment under the law.  Equality is an under appreciated moral value, because too many in our society enjoy using religion as a weapon to castigate vulnerable minorities, like LGBT persons.  I keep thinking about the Rabbi Hillel’s famous quote “Do not unto others what is hateful to yourselves”, and I think it applies here.  It would be hateful if you are fired from your job because of who you love, or you cannot get health insurance for your spouse, or you can’t claim pension/social security benefits, or you can’t be at your loved one’s side in the hospital, or…We have no right to use civil law to impose our religious prejudices on what we consider “sinful”.  I cannot understand this idea that equal treatment under the law will encourage “gay sex” and frankly the obsession with/fear of “normalizing gay sex” is puerile and embarrassing.  To be blunt, people have sex whether or not they are married.  Private sexual behavior between consenting adults is not a sound basis on which to determine legal rights/responsibilities.

    Whatever our beliefs, we are all citizens who are entitled to equal treatment under the law as mandated by the 14th amendment of the Constitution.  We are all minorities in one way or another, and the only way to build and maintain a decent and fair society is to ensure we are all treated with the same respect we would ask for ourselves.