These less grievous sins of course include the time Agape editor Jody Brown thought herself too busy to bless a staff writer after they sneezed. [ok I made that up]
But in all seriousness, the religious right usually has the courtesy to pretend as though homosexuality is no different than other sins and shouldn’t be singled out. The Agapepress had a lapse in judgment today after imbibing too much eggnog at the AFA Thanksgiving potluck. Let’s read, shall we?
Few sins in the Bible are described with the same harshness or urgency of language as homosexuality. Genesis 18:20… [bla bla bla, long string of Bible quotes I don’t care about] In other words, the consequences of homosexual behavior can be considerably more grievous than some other sins. Homosexuality is unique in that it is especially abhorrent to God and constitutes a significantly perverse and wicked lifestyle that clearly shows that one is far removed from Him.
But really now, by Agape standards that alone is hardly worth mentioning here on XGW. The rest of the article makes use of a literary technique rarely used by the religious right. That technique? Hysteria. Here are some choice sentences used to open paragraphs and lastly the closing line:
Few sins have done more of late to wreak havoc among God’s people as homosexuality…
Moreover, few sins today threaten religious freedom as does homosexuality…
Southern Baptists in the Tar Heel State have become a lighthouse illuminating the way for the great denominational ships of Zion in imminent danger of sinking in the “Graveyard of the Apostates.”
With hysteria like this, I don’t know how they managed to keep Don Wildmon from ripping off his clothes and running down the hall proclaiming the end times.
Another AgapePress gem from today.
President Speaks Out: PTA Group Will Not Promote HomosexualityBy Ed Vitagliano
“Graveyard of the Apostates”. Oh, brother… what a great phrase!!
Congressman Chip in uniform!
How does this relate to the older lists of sins? Like ‘mortal’, ‘deadly’ and so forth. Why not take a comparable stand on gluttony or sloth? It seems to me, as Boswell shows, homosexuality did not make it into the big time sin list until fairly recently. And has never been as widespread as gluttony and sloth.
What continuously amazes me is the ability of conservative Christians to simultaneously invent radical new positions AND be considered traditional.
Jay,
Chip looks a little too helmet-headed for my taste. But the flyboy on the right…
The “gems” from AgapePress never stop coming, Autumn. To wit:Bishop Jack McKelvy with the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester recently declared All Saints Episcopal Church “extinct” because of its opposition to the denomination’s homosexual rights agenda.Actually, ECUSA (The Episcopal Church USA) doesn’t kick out people for being bigots; even though the bigots do want ECUSA kicked out of the Anglican Communion for being inclusive and affirming of gays and lesbians. No, like any organization, ECUSA and its dioceses have rules and by-laws (called canons). All Saints Church in Rochester has withheld approximately $16,000 of its diocesan tithe from the Diocese of Rochester. That will get you declared “out of communion” with the rest of the diocese, if it goes on long enough.If I don’t pay federal income tax because I think the Iraq war is immoral, and I get thrown in jail for that, then the reason I am in jail is oviously because of my opposition to the war, right? Same logic.And AgapePress is there to spread the outright lies and agitprop. Great witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“With hysteria like this, I don’t know how they managed to keep Don Wildmon from ripping off his clothes and running down the hall proclaiming the end times.”
I like that idea you mentioned above. However, make sure it’s on an upper floor and open the door at the end of the hallway!
This reminds me of something I read/heard years ago – the easiest ‘sins’ to disapprove of are the ones you yourself are not tempted to commit.
Since the majority of these mouthbreathers are presumably heterosexual, they can feel entirely comfortable casting sodomy as the Sin of Sins, since they feel sure that they’ll be able to refrain from it.
Jay, nice article link. I loved this snippet:
“Generally Christians are not supposed to be suing one another. I would hope that he would abide by that scriptural admonition”
I’ll have to keep that in mind…
I need not reiterate Robert, you’ve said it all.
Okay..that’s like saying when I wear an African styled turban any place,
I’m promoting…’blackuality’?
Or when I’m speaking out regarding women’s concerns, life situations and experiences, I’m ‘promoting’ women.
Why is simply speaking of homosexuality is constantly and wrongly called ‘promoting’ it?
That’s soooo stuck on stupid!
It’s promoting REALITY. And why is learning about what is reality, a problem?!
Few sins in the Bible are described with the same harshness or urgency of language as homosexuality.
That is just not true. Compared to some others, homosexuality is barely mentioned – even if you accept all the references they are devoting to it. They just find the idea of same-sex sex gross and try to justify that through proof text.
David
Wow. I’m absolutely amazed by this! From a pure style standpoint, most of Agape’s “journalists” seem to be decent writers. While their homophobia is generally thinly veiled, it’s easy to see how someone without any opinion on homosexuality could come away from one of their articles giving Agape’s opinions a little bit of thought.
But now this. The greatest thing about reading articles like this is that you can foresee the demise of the Religious Right’s influence already starting to happen. When its writers feel a need to resort to lines such as “Southern Baptists in the Tar Heel State have become a lighthouse illuminating the way for the great denominational ships of Zion in imminent danger of sinking in the “Graveyard of the Apostates,” they blow whatever cover of rationality they have and show themselves to be flat out, paranoid loons. Most Americans, not even homophobes, would not place much credence in such a statement.
On a related note, my boyfriend and I just celebrated an anniversary. It was really nice to take a night off from targeting the ships of Zion and have a nice dinner. It’s great exercise but damn, it really leaves you tired!
Thank God. Now when I committ mass murder I can rest easy that I’ll be a lot closer to God than if I made out with my girlfriend.
Clearly Agape folks do not consider the words of Jesus who never once criticized same-gender love (and sex) but soundly condemned divorce, hypocrisy and arrogance.
He blasted Pharisees, the fundamental religious leaders of his daym, by calling them whitewashed tombs–Clean and shiny on the outside but full of dead and rotting corpses. He exposed self-righteous bigots filled with duplicity who heap religious burdens on the backs of the people they were supposed to serve.
Homosexuality doesn’t relate to an older list of sins. They’d say that it relates because one of the 7 deadly is lust, but equating homosexuality and lust is the same as equating heterosexuality and lust. Both types of people are capable of lust or other sexual sins, but the simple fact that you are gay or straight does not imply sin. It only tells who you are drawn to.
I hate it when I tell a fellow Christian that I’m gay, and they come back with something like, “We’re all tempted,” or “We’re all sinners.” Imagine someone saying that they’re straight and getting that response.
Homosexuality didn’t make any of the Biblical lists because as a concept it didn’t exist at the time the Bible was written (see John Thorpe, The Social Construction of Homosexuality, https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/thorp.html, see paragraph five toward the end). The fact that current translations use the word homosexual shows more about what modern translators think is sinful than what the Bible said at the time it was written. According to Thorpe (see above) the term homosexual did not even appear in the English language until 1892. Maybe this is old news to everyone, but given the discussion, I think it’s worth saying.
Sorry, feeling like I’m on a soapbox somewhere. Or out on a limb.
Take care all,
TimM
The “seven deadly sins” apparently dates from the 6th century and it is unclear that they have anything to do with the christian bible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins
although it is possible that the “lust” thing it have some relation to the commandment not to covet one’s neighbor’s wife.
The seven things that the christian god hates is different from the seven deadly sins. The seven things that the christian god hates are listed in the bible, in Proverbs. https://www.wordlibrary.co.uk/article.php?id=384
It is ironic that one of the things that god hates is a man who stirs up dissension among brothers, which precisely what conservative christians who advocate hatred of and discrimination against gay people are doing. They should read their own bible.
True, raj, the 7 deadly is not a list quoted from the Bible (though I think you’d be able to justify them all as sinful based on the Bible).
I was responding to Dalea who said:
How does this relate to the older lists of sins? Like ‘mortal’, ‘deadly’ and so forth. Why not take a comparable stand on gluttony or sloth?
Dalea’s reference was in part, it seemed to me, a reference to the 7 deadly sins.
Nice addition, raj: The seven things the christian god hates… and your comment on that. Well said!
TimM
Thanks, raj. Excellent post!
The list is (according to Proverbs 6:16):
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
1 haughty eyes,
2 a lying tongue,
3 hands that shed innocent blood,
4 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
5 feet that are quick to rush into evil,
6 a false witness who pours out lies
7 and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
My paraphrase:
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
1 those who are sure THEY know God, and YOU don’t,
2 those who claim hundreds of thousands of ex-gay but can’t produce them,
3 preachers that objectify gay people as “forces of evil” to young man and then act surprised when those men beat someone gay to death,
4 a heart that devises “anti-gay marriage” bills that also sneak in denying employment benefits for state workers or other anti-gay measures,
5 feet that are quick to rush into any opportunity to harm the lives of gay people,
6 a false witness who pours out lies to Congress or the news media about bogus gay death rates or fake threats to “the family”
7 and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Daniel, you gotta be more careful
I was eating lunch when I read the above and the mental image of Don Wildmon running naked through the halls almost made me lose my salad. I’m still feeling a bit queezy about it.
😉
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
From commentary that I have read, this formulation “x things that the LORD hates, x+1 that are detestable to him” is meant to emphasize the severity and importance of the list.
I discovered this passage from Proverbs 6 or 7 years ago while posting on an Internet message board. I am not a christian, and have little interest in the christian bible, but it is important to know the bible when discussing biblical issues with them.