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LGBT people are not a threat to Christians.
It's remarkable that this would even need to be said, but there are many Christians who feel threatened by LGBT "activists". In fact, some Christians have a view that most LGBT people are "hateful", "intolerant" or "anti-Christian". There are even those who say LGBT people are waging war on Christians.
But, while there are certainly hateful or dangerous LGBT people out there, most are not. They definitely aren't at war with Christians. The thing is, many of them feel like Christians are at war with them.
There are some Christians who picket funerals of LGBT soldiers, say natural disasters are caused by LGBT people, say LGBT people who were brutally murdered or bullied into suicide deserved to die and they hope they go to hell, but you know that doesn't represent most Christians at all. In the same way, LGBT people who force Christian business owners into bankruptcy, stalk and harass Christians, or who call for Christians to change or die, do not represent most LGBT people either.
Everyone is different and is responsible for their own lives and choices, regardless of any group they may associate with. So, while some Christians have had their lives ruined by people who identify as LGBT, those individuals are at fault, not the group.
But, what about all the LGBT people who don't speak up against those individuals?
Many times LGBT people are not even aware of the attacks against Christians. The mainstream media tends to focus on anti-LGBT attacks far more disproportionately than anti-Christian attacks. Most LGBT people just go about their lives and don't necessarily follow everything that is going on in the world. Online, most encounters between LGBT and Christians go unnoticed because it's not like either comes up when talking about an animated cat gif. Even when posts directly deal with the LGBT community, just as pro-LGBT posts can draw anti-LGBT comments from some Christians, anti-LGBT posts can draw anti-Christian comments. But, unless LGBT people seek out those anti-LGBT posts, they will be unaware of them.
What about those LGBT people who are aware but still don't speak up?
The sad truth is that there are some LGBT people who feel like those Christians deserve what happened to them. This may sound like hate, but they don't necessarily see it that way.
Historically, LGBT people have been forced to live in the shadows, in hiding. If discovered, they would be ridiculed, ostracized from society, attacked or killed. Even today, almost every LGBT person has faced some form of torment, more frequently when they live in areas dominated by "conservatives". What is the excuse for these actions against them? Although the real reasons for abuse tend to be related to proving masculinity and fear of differences, the stated reason is most often "being LGBT is against my religion" or simply "I'm Christian". The worst doesn't even take responsibility but is one of the more common: "You make God sick!" Because of this, some LGBT people may consider any hostility Christians face as "karma". And, since the media tends to focus only on Christians who call not being able to discriminate "persecution" and rarely the real threats they may face, most LGBT people are not even aware of the severity. This does not excuse hostility, but it can explain some of it.
In the same way that you may have developed a bias against LGBT people based on past experiences, some LGBT people have developed bias against Christians. LGBT people, like Christians, can have feelings of hurt and resentment. And, just as you may have wondered why LGBT people didn't speak up against anti-Christian bigotry, they have wondered why Christians didn't speak up against anti-LGBT bigotry.
Just as Christians are often believed to be against judging others no matter what and are called hypocrites when they do judge, LGBT people are often believed to be tolerant simply because of what they've been through, but they are bound by the same shortcomings of all humans and can be hypocrites too.
Although the "golden rule" states to treat others as you would want to be treated, as humans we tend to treat others how we have been treated. It takes a great deal of patience and understanding to say, "Yes, Christians may have hurt me in the name of Christianity in the past, but I will not believe they deserve to be hurt back. Everyone should be treated fairly."
Not being able to say this isn't necessarily a sign of hate. It's a sign of being human.
No matter who started what, neither side wants a "war". Pitting Christians against LGBT people only helps those who wish to bring down Christianity. This is made even clearer when taking into account there are not really two opposing sides.
Over half of LGBT people in the US are or were raised Christian.
This is really about how Christians treat each other. Just as white Christians burned black Christian churches, anti-LGBT Christians vandalize and deface the few LGBT-accepting Christian churches.
More LGBT Christians would stand up against intolerance against non-LGBT Christians if they weren't so busy fighting the intolerance against them.
Many, if not most, Christian churches openly reject LGBT people, calling them sinners or "abominations". LGBT people are not allowed to serve in the church, but can be allowed to attend and listen to how the LGBT "agenda" is destroying the country. And, although Christians believe everyone is a sinner who struggles daily with sin, cisgender heterosexuals are not openly rejected or called sinners simply for identifying as straight. This is because most non-LGBT Christians see being straight as default and anything else as a sexuality. Of course, it is incredibly offensive to treat LGBT people like sex objects and not as real people. When a girl likes a boy, do you condemn her as a fornicator? Or do you understand that being straight is about attractions, emotions and love? Straight people are just as capable of sexual sins, but if they are afforded the benefit of the doubt, surely LGBT people can be too.
Like anyone who has been rejected, hurt or abused, LGBT people can be distrustful and even lash out, but that does not mean there can't be peace and understanding. Jesus taught that all things are possible. He also taught to love everyone, even those you may consider your enemy. Love is powerfully transformative and, for those who have been rejected, like food to a starving man or like water to someone who has been lost in the desert. It is essential and being able to offer it is a gift not just to others but to yourself.
Love is that amazing.
One obstacle, though, is "love the sinner, hate the sin." When the "sin" is a way someone defines themself, hating the sin means hating the sinner.
As humans, we tend to define people by what they do. Teachers teach, painters paint, and robbers rob. We don't separate the sin from the sinner because we still call them sinners. As cooks cook, sinners sin. So, when someone labels themselves LGBT and we label LGBT as a sin, "love the sinner" fails. How can you love someone if you spend all your time hating something about them?
And, when LGBT people are repeatedly told how horrible they are or how something about them disgusts God, they can develop self hatred, leading to self destructive behavior. Like love, hate spreads too. And, while some internalize their hate and hurt themselves, others externalize it against others, including Christians.
Most LGBT people would of course never have chosen to be different. It would have been so much easier and safer to be "normal", to not have to live in hiding, afraid they'll be bullied or kicked out by their parents or fired from their job. Living LGBT is dangerous. It isn't a choice most people would make. But, through the process of coming to accept their differences, many LGBT people have found strength. Sure, some have used that strength for revenge, but most have simply used it to live.
Life isn't easy for most people, so strength and courage are valuable for making it through. That is also why some LGBT people fight for the rights of others.
Most LGBT people just want to live their lives and practice their faith like anyone else. They want to feel welcome in church. When they fall in love, they want it to work out. When they're hurt, they want someone there to comfort them. For most, ruining the lives of Christians isn't even something that crosses their mind. What does cross the minds of many, though, is why some Christians seem to be focused on ruining their lives. Where some non-LGBT Christians get confused is why denying someone equal rights is offensive. Shouldn't it be ok simply to decline serving certain people in certain ways because of religious beliefs?
This is where the greatest threat to Christians comes from, not from non-Christian LGBT members but from anti-LGBT Christians.
In the past, Christians fought for the right to own slaves, as sanctioned in both the Old and New Testiments, and to subjugate women, as commanded in both the Old and New Testiments. Who were those countering their arguments? Fellow Christians who simply disagreed with the way the Bible was being used. But, today, the voices of accepting Christians speaking up against other Christians who use the Bible to condemn LGBT people are not as loud. They are drown out by those still holding onto interpretations of the Bible that literally require you to fill in the blanks with modern philosophy and then not read the verses in context in order to conclude they say anything against LGBT people. And, even if they did, would that justify ignoring the pro-equality verses?
It's not simply that those particular Christians are on the wrong side of history. It's that they are bringing all of Christianity down with them and blaming God for it.
If Christianity is to survive the constant attempts to bring it down from within and without, it needs to be about love. There is no greater commandment than to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. So, show love. Prove that Christianity is worth fighting for, that it isn't about hate and backwards bigotry, but about love. People need love desperately. We look for it everywhere. But that is exactly what Christianity has to offer: Love.
No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you've done, God's love is free.
But, when Christians use verses to condemn any group of people, they are not showing that love. Imagine if you were held to the standards you hold others to. Indeed, both Jesus and Paul ask you to do just that and Christ speaks strongly and repeatedly against hypocrisy.
For example, claiming that the attempted gang rape of angels in Sodom is the same as a loving relationship between two people of the same gender, but then saying the gang rape of women in Gibeah is completely unrelated to a loving relationship between two people of the opposite gender. That would be holding others to a different standard. As would quoting Leviticus requiring the death penalty for men sleeping in a woman's bed, but not following through with the death penalty, as a way of making empty threats from a book that calls for death or exile for everything from having sex with your wife at the wrong time of the month to touching, eating or wearing the wrong thing or getting a haircut, but that sanctions slavery, blood sacrifices and rape. If you are going to pick certain parts of the Bible, it would be more fruitful to pick verses that will draw people to Christ rather than push them away.
The future of the church is at stake.
Why not speak about the powerful bond between the Bible's most famous soulmates, David and Jonathan, who inspired the exchanging of possessions in marriage and who remained faithful despite David's womanizing, or the commitment between Ruth and Naomi and how the wedding prayer comes from their commitment ceremony, or all the sexual minorities in the Bible who are praised as godly despite not being heterosexual? There are many people who feel the rules apply to everyone but them and Jesus spoke of them frequently, especially when speaking of the religious majority of His time. Christians are the religious majority of this time.
When someone holds someone to a different standard than they hold themself, they undermine that standard. They become like the mob that was about to stone the woman caught in adultery. If she had been caught "in the very act", what about the man? As men, they held themselves to a different standard. So, if you don't believe being straight is a sin, why would you believe being LGBT is? What is the basis for your standard?
Imagine how you would feel if verses about heterosexuals were constantly twisted or even deliberately altered to say heterosexuality is a sin. Imagine if you were told Paul's letter to Rome wasn't really about practices in Rome at the time, but that God makes people straight as punishment for worshiping carvings in the shape of creatures and that all straight people are murderers. Nevermind the next chapter condemns that exact use of the verses. You would feel defensive. And, when people are defensive, they are more prone to argue and less prone to listen. Love opens hearts. Fear closes them.
Some Christians cite their religion to deny same-gender couples from being treated equally with regard to marriage, despite what the Bible actually says about marriage. The one verse used for the argument is actually about divorce, which is ironic, because Jesus spoke out against divorce, even saying the woman at the well was still married to all her previous husbands. But where are the Chriatians standing up to deny people from remarrying, something Jesus condemns as adultery? Why are those who have remarried not shunned from churches for continuing in the sin of adultery? Or does the sin go away if they stay with their new spouse? So, if homosexuality is a sin, would staying with your partner make the sin go away? Again, different rules are used.
And what about the verses immediately after the one cited, that say some men are born without a desire for women? It even lists that lack of attraction to women as a reason marriage may not be for all men, so why not use that verse instead to condemn two men marrying? It would be more explicit in denying marriage equality than any of the current arguments. It may be because using it in that way would be saying people are born LGBT and, if people are born LGBT, God made them that way. And, if God made them that way, where is the justification in the discrimination or separation as "apart from God"? But, if you have to pick one or two verses to read out of context to justify your beliefs, it's not God who you are citing, but your own discomfort with the differences.
Do some people find the idea of two people of the same gender falling in love disturbing? Sure. Some people don't like certain animals. But using the Bible to say certain animals are unclean and are to be despised would be unfair to both the animals and the Bible.
As humans, we often look for evidence to support what we already believe. LGBT people do this and so do Christians. Someone is uncomfortable with something, so they look for ways to prove it's wrong and ignore everything that disagrees with them. But, instead of looking for something to justify your discomfort or suspicion, look for reasons to show love and acceptance. LGBT people are not monsters. They are real people with feelings, just like you. They just happen to be wired a little differently, like favoring blue over red, left over right or blondes over brunettes.
LGBT people and Christians have a lot in common besides even the shared faith many have. Both have been persecuted for something personal about who they are, be it their faith, sexual orientation or gender identity. Both can still be executed in some parts of the world for this. They can feel like they're in the world but never fit into it. Fighting for the outcasts of society is something Jesus always did and acccepting those who are different and welcoming them is a goal both share. Believing in the transformative power of love is also very much Christian. But, if Christians forfeit love, they have lost and neither can benefit from that.
Research different sides and pray about this. You may notice that both anti-LGBT groups and anti-Christian groups focus on fear, be it of LGBT people or of Christians. They talk about "their kind" and what they will do to "our kind". They twist verses to justify preexisting hate. On the other hand, LGBT affirming Christians focus on love and understanding. They acknowledge the truth that many times an LGBT person isn't some stranger out there, but a family member or a friend. When LGBT affirming Christians fight for family values, they value all families. And, since one group uses the same fear tactics as anti-Christians who want just as much for the LGBT right issue to divide us and the other uses love, understanding and reaches out, it should be pretty obvious which group of Christians is showing fruits of the Spirit.
So, talk to LGBT people and really get to know them. Listen to their struggles and set any biases and judgements aside. Again, we tend to treat others how we have been treated, so this is one way to make peace with LGBT people by showing a side of non-LGBT Christians they may not have seen.
There may not be a war, but that doesn't mean there's always peace. Understand and accept that everyone is different and no one knows everything, so we will inevitably disagree because what we know is limited and unique to our experiences. But don't give up. Just because you've been hurt doesn't mean you should close yourself off. Open your heart. Sure, you'll be more easily hurt, but it's the only way to help others and make deep, lasting connections.
And, in the end, living with an open heart is the only way to lead people to Christ or to truly be Christian.
To further understand the LGBT perspective, read: Yes Homosexuality Absolutely Is a Choice
For a plea for more love from a Christian who still believes being LGBT is wrong, read Christians Are Failing To Show Love To The LGBT Community (also with a touching story by "Ryan" in the comments) and for a plea for more love from a Christian who does not believe being LGBT is wrong, read Distorted Love: The Toll Of Our Christian Theology On The LGBT Community.
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This is written for Christians who have encountered hostility from LGBT people in the past or who may have negative feelings toward LGBT people in general and is designed to help understand the LGBT community and any feelings of resentment some of them may hold toward Christians. Obviously everyone is different, but these are some observations I've made from speaking with LGBT people and anti-LGBT Christians. If you have any suggestions or questions, please leave a comment. Feeback is helpful. I know it's long, but honestly I could have written more. 
This is actually based on conversations I had and research I did after something I wrote like this, but directed toward LGBT people who may have negative feelings toward Christians:
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For more on persecution against Christians, read: This is REAL Christian Persecution and Persecution of Christians in USA
For more on persecution against LGBT people, read: LGBTQ People And Religion and Violence Against LGBT People
For more information on how marriage fits into this, watch: Understanding Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom
And, finally, to see what some anti-LGBT Christians believe, read: Christians Must Brace themselves For the Coming Persecution in Obama's LGBT America or God Doesn't Make Gays and then watch Pat Robertson: Don't Go To Your Gay Kid's Wedding to see how Christian bigotry can and is used to paint all religion in a negative light (warning: profanity). These "mainstream" Christians are doing the job of anti-Christians for them by presenting dogma that no loving person could possibly accept. But remember the choice is not hateful Christians or become an atheist. There are loving Christians:
© 2015 - 2024 Rogue-Ranger
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this is why christianity is a corrupt and fake religion.