Bigotry Kills
Illustration courtesy of Christopher Greco
by Ono Kono
Did the title make you wince? I know they are loaded words; however, truth can shine a spotlight on ugliness. Although I don’t believe all Christians are bigots, the words and deeds of many of us are causing a lot of pain for others, and for some the pain is unbearable.
Some Christians aren’t even aware that the words they say harm other human beings; some don’t even care. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words that make another person a pariah causes despair, loneliness, and distrust for those who hurl words like weapons. Words such as “love the sinner, hate the sin” may not seem as hateful as a “God hates fags” on signs we see in protests from one religious hate group. Unfortunately, for the person it targets, “love the sinner, hate the sin” is just as demeaning.
I challenge you to take a serious look at the words coming out of your mouth. Are they words of criticism or judgment of another group of people? Hold a mirror up, look yourself in the eye, and say those words to yourself. Now say them to Jesus. Hard to do, but when you say those words about another, it’s just like saying them to him.
Bigotry hiding under the cloak of Christianity is killing God’s children.
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It is by your acts that your self is defined. No Christian would act in a bigoted manner. There are many living under a delusion that they follow Christ when they actually don’t. In the same manner, don’t judge all those who try to follow the Teacher by the acts of the misguided.
Who was judging who? If you reread the piece you will see that I specifically said that not all Christians act in this manner.
Also just because we follow Christ, does not mean we act perfectly. To say someone isn’t a Christian because of their actions is a judgment call. They may be misguided as you say, but only God can make that call about who is Christian and who is not. We can’t put Christianity on such a pedestal when Christians are fallible. We need to recognize our fallibility even though we are Christians. Hope that made sense.
Bigotry is bigotry no matter what cult you belong to…and faiths that preach hatred…are just cults.
“He without sin cast the first stone”, “love thy neighbour” <- a lot of Christians will happily defy their Lord's teaching in order to spread hatred.
Religion can teach people a lot of wise lessons and sculpt people's moral fibre but it's so disappointing to see that people interpret texts to mean that they should actively hate another person.
Love is a terrible thing to hate.
#WipeOutHomophobia
I’m a Christian. I also have a ton of friends that are gay. If you are a Christian there are somethings you can’t back down on. Standing for what you believe is one of them. My friends know that I can’t agree with them in order to stay true to my faith. They also know that the first person to come to their defense and to love on them, is me. I LOVE my friends. I do stand by them. I AM for marriage equality, because according to my beliefs, it is NOT my right to force you to believe in a belief that I have. Or to make that belief national law. However, I cannot give up my principles – because to do so would be to forsake my beliefs and my Lord.
I do, however, love my friends. I ADORE my friends, regardless of what they do. They are the family I get to choose and I would do almost anything for them. They have not asked me to compromise my beliefs, and I have not asked them to be anything more than what they are. It is not my place to change them. That’s God’s place. But I cannot say that I think it is okay. That would be wrong for me to do so. So I think that yes, bigotry is a bad thing. But I also think you have to learn where to place the line. Just because we’re not willing to back down from our beliefs that the sin is wrong, does not mean that we do not love that person. I believe my sin is wrong, it doesn’t mean I hate myself. I am NOT a bigot, but I also can’t back down and go, “Oh okay, that’s okay.” That’s not right or fair to us either. We all just need to learn how to get along.
🙂 You just made a Gay Man SMILE. I really liked your comment. Its so important to have folks like you “truly” spell out the difference between “Christian Bigotry” and “Being a Christian who is NOT a Bigot”. You just explained this to me in 2 very simple and clearly written paragraphs. Yes, we all do need to “agree or dis-agree” and learn to do so without “inflicting” others who may have differing views from our own. I really applaud you for BOTH – Supporting your Gay Friends all the while still Standing by your Convictions and Beliefs. Also in a way that does not come off as “Judgmental, Preachy or Condemning “. My Christian Mother tries but cannot do this, but My Sister has gone even further to explain to me “Her Belief” that my being Gay isn’t a sin at all. Its all about Standing by what we believe is right, but in doing so, not feeling compelled to thrust our beliefs on others.
Thank You So Very Much for your posted comment. I hope you wont mind that I am printing it and going to pin it up in my office as a reminder that Not ALL Christians Hate me. 🙂
I am a Christian and straight. I see the power in our words that have made so many people despair. From different races, to women, and of course gays. The bible is often used by Christians to excuse themselves. You are sitting in judgment of another, and Jesus was very clear about judging others and to love. I find nothing loving in those principles towards gay people. YOu say you adore them, yet, you don’t think that who they are is ok to be. They are born that way, they love who they love because of how they were born. So when you tell me that you don’t think it is okay, you are no different than a person who says being a different race is not ok.
It seems you made this all about you, instead of trying to understand that what we Christians have done is causing major problems in another persons life. Those people are also God’s children.
I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with believing that homosexuality is a sin. The problem comes when Christians forget that according to the Bible, we are ALL sinners, and the “sin” of homosexuality is no greater than the sin you commit when you covet your neighbor’s property, or have straight sex out of wedlock, or (most importantly of all!) fail to treat your neighbor, gay OR straight, with love.
Being who you are is not a sin honey. You need to rethink that book of confusion you claim to understand and get a spirituality that makes sense.
With “friends” like you who needs enemies? You are no friend to your “friends”.
Awesome post. I just wish more Christians were aware of their hateful words.
They ARE aware and they do it anyway. Some of the most hateful people I’ve ever witnessed are “christians”.
Hi thought you might like the source of the cartoon so as to give proper credit.
http://cfgillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/homosexuality-in-america-gay-marriage.html
Very nice blog by the way.
Thank you so much, for letting me know the source!
Excellent piece Ono Kono! So very sad though.
It is sad, but the good news that in the last 5 years has seen some big changes, steps towards equality are going in many directions. Sometimes I am discouraged that equality for our LGBT brothers and sisters is not fast enough, other times I want to dance because the times they are a changing. That young people are taking their life, is the saddest part about it all.
GREAT piece, Ono Kono! But I would like some meaty verifiable thing to point to, that exemplifies your wise prose…apeene, link us that huge Oregon study that showed anti-LGBT households producing 25% more suicides with their gay progeny and 8% more with their straight kids. You still have that link, don’t you? Pretty-please!
I found this article about it: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shore/a-talk-about-gay-teen-sui_b_745912.html