Love The Sinner

I’m over at Stand Firm this morning. Enjoy!

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Here is something old that actually feels kind of quaint in this new age. A year ago, someone was really upset about homophobia, the definition of which included anybody who wasn’t happy about his lifestyle. He rehearses the trauma of being opposed by Kim Davis and then says this:

This little story brings me to my larger point: using terms like “religious freedom” and “difference of opinion” to make one’s homophobia seem less severe.

People like to think that just because the gays got the right to marry, it means that they’re protected from things like homophobia. They think that because the AIDS crisis is over, the gays are a happy and healthy bunch who have no fears whatsoever. Which, in my humble opinion, is a load of absolute garbage.

And:

Please, realize for once in your life that homophobia isn’t simply a different opinion, it’s straight-up discrimination. Whenever I hear people say “I don’t hate the gays! I just hate the sin!” still reads as “I hate gay people but I’m just saying this to make myself seem more tolerant than I really am.”

This also applies to straight women who claim to love gay men, but, allow their relatives, husbands, and boyfriends to toxic homophobic dribble whenever they feel like. If you were truly a dedicated ally, you would openly and angrily condemn their behavior and refuse to associate with them.

I said quaint, because now this is also true, apparently:

This is not the first time I’ve seen posters and memes like this. I’m just curious about what the thought leader of the piece above is feeling a year out, discovering that he is just as evil as those he loathes. Evil is so slippery. Once you start looking for it, you can discover it everywhere, except in the one place where you could do anything useful about it besides perseverating and being angry.

I mean, I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll just say it one more time. “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” is not an inherently bigoted thing to say, though of course as a slogan it can be used that way. Properly understood, it is actually the gospel. This is what God does—he “loves the sinner” and because that is true, he also “hates the sin.” Read the rest here!