Topic: WorldNetDaily
Michael Brown headlined his June 3 WorldNetDaily column "I understand why some LGBTers call us hateful," and he tried to portray himself as reaonable (while, yes, still being hateful of LGBT folks):
When I first began to focus on LGBT issues in 2004, it was because of the gay agenda. I immediately saw that this was the principal threat to freedom of religion, conscience and speech in our nation. I also saw that this was an issue that all of us would have to address someday. We would not get to sit this one out.
At the same time, I understood that we were dealing with both people and issues. And if I was to be in harmony with the Lord, I needed to have His heart of love and compassion for the people.
I understood that the rejection so many of them had experienced (at the hands of family and religion) had deeply wounded them. Consequently, what I perceived as loving and tactful would be perceived by them to be hateful and harsh.
That's why I sat with local gay activists and asked them to tell me their stories face to face. That's why I immersed myself in their literature, wanting to understand the world through their perspective. That's why I even bought their theology and commentary books, reading every argument they brought in support of same-sex relationships.
That's also why I would sometimes pray for them in tears, saying, "God, I don't want to hurt people. I just want to help them."
Brown linked to a version of his June 1 column in which he referenced "a [1972] gay rights platform spelling out militant, comprehensive goals, including the repeal 'of all laws governing the age of sexual consent' (an endorsement of pederasty!) and governmental recognition of multiple-partner 'marriages' (today called 'polyamory') at both the national and statewide level.'" But Brown offers no evidence that this platform had any influence at the time or since; certainly nobody is seriously advocating for the repeal of laws regarding age of sexual consent (the "endorsement of pederasty" Brown is apparently referring to) then or now. The fact that he believes he needs to fearmonger about this 50-year-old document shows us why people call him hateful.
Indeed, much of his schtick is hateful fearmongering over LGBT people. We've already documented his meltdown over the transgender Caitlyn Jenner being allowed onFox News, but he's done much more over the past few months. He went fearmongering in a March 2 column:
Yes, you read that headline correctly. A man claiming to be a gay Christian has predicted that the gay community will destroy the Christian church – those are his exact words – and he hopes it will happen sooner than later.
Allow me to give you a spoiler alert. The church that Jesus is building – by which I mean the community of His true followers around the world – cannot be destroyed. Or canceled. Or silenced.
As for much of what goes by the name of "Christian church," that's another story.
Perhaps that is what this gay author is describing, namely, the dismantling of so-called Christianity. If so, how on earth could he imagine that the gay community will lead the way in destroying it?
Brown eventually revealed that the author was saying that anti-LGBT hate -- which he of course denies exists -- will destroy the church, and he argued the writer can't be a real Christian because he's gay:
As for churches "hating" gays, I'm sure there are gay-hating churches in America, and I and many others have called them out. They are the exception to the rule, and they misrepresent God.
But it is not hate to tell someone that God has a better way. And it is not hate to declare that, not only did Jesus die for every human being, He also wants to change every human being.
[...]
Do I agree with him that the church needs to demonstrate much more unconditional love, including to the LGBTQ community? Absolutely. "More love" is always a word the church needs to hear. After all, Jesus is our example, and no one practiced selfless love more deeply than He.
At the same time Michael has things completely upside down. It is when the church of America returns to preaching and teaching the Word of God, as written and without apology, full of the Spirit and full of love, that our buildings will be filled with seekers and sinners alike. The truth that will set them free.
In his March 11 column, Brown insisted that the Florida eduction restriction bill is not the "don't say gay bill" -- "In order to oppose it, the critics must grossly misrepresent it" -- then insisted the alleged misnomer is the same as conversion therapy in that it's "a term created by critics, not by proponents of change":
The reality is that there is not a counselor or therapist or pastor that I have ever met who advocates using coercive, forced, or, God forbid, violent measures to "convert" a homosexual into a heterosexual.All they advocate for is that those with unwanted same-sex attractions or gender-identity confusion have the legal right to sit down with a trained professional and talk. That's it. And what is the goal of these people who seek out counselors? They hope to get to the root of their struggles and find a path for inner-peace, emotional wholeness and potential change (as many thousands have successfully done, to one degree or another).
Why on earth should that not be allowed, not just for minors who want counseling but all the more for adults?
Because minors tend to be forced into conversion therapy by parents or church people who hate LGBT people and think one can "pray the gay away"? Of course, he calls that a "mocking term" and declared that "the Christians who are being accused of practicing 'pray away the gay' do not simply rely on the power of prayer. They believe in solid counseling, in uncovering spiritual or emotional or experiential roots that influence our behavior and our desires." Of course, Brown doesn't explain why a person's homosexuality must be removed by whatever means.
Brown started saying the quiet part out loud about the bill in his March 28 column:
Yet, even if the bill actually contained the expression, "Don't say gay," I would still support it, since there's no good reason to be talking about homosexuality to these young children. As Bill Maher correctly opined, "maybe kids that young shouldn't be thinking about sex at all.'"
Again, the bill does not mention homosexuality or use terms like "transgender." And we must be diligent to combat the media's misinformation.
[...]
Simply stated, it is not the role of a kindergarten teacher to address these things, especially when we remember how young and socially ignorant and impressionable the little ones are.
That's why even an irreligious atheist can point this out. And that's why, even though the Florida education bill does not say "don't say gay," there's no good reason that "gay" needs to be in these children's vocabulary.
Brown spent his March 25 column lashing out at transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, offering "five reasons why 'Lia' Thomas is not the new Jackie Robinson" (note the scare quotes around her name) and ranting:
How can this possibly be compared to the situation of a person of color? It cannot.
So let's stop this moral insanity before it destroys more lives.
Let's stop calling Thomas "she" and "her."
Let's help him get to the root of his gender confusion (if he's willing).
Let's stand up for women's sports and for female athletes.
And let's not demean the courage and legacy of Jackie Robinson.
Brown used his April 29 column to declare that pastoers cannot be silent about "LGBTQ+ issues and people" because there are "kids in school (from pre-K to college) who are getting indoctrinated with all the radical LGBTQ+ talking points until they have embraced them for themselves." (Brown offers no evidence of this.) He went on to mention "the family members who write to me in tears, sharing their own horror stories," which seem to be about the mere existence of an LGBT person in their family, which is "horror" only in the eyes of people like Brown.
And in the June 1 column in which he complained about the "gay agenda," Brown groused that unlike an ethnic or racial identity being LGBTQ is "grounded in self-perception and self-definition" and that they "assume that same-sex relationships are valid. That gender is what you perceive it to be. That virtually all (adult, consenting) sexual attractions and romantic desires are to be affirmed. In short, gay (or bi or trans or queer or +) is not the new black." He went on to complain that to not hate the existenceof LGBTQ+ Pride Month is "activism."
Brown is a guy who laments been seen as hateful by the LGBT community while being oblivious to the fact that his dismissive attitudes toward them and his ultimate rejection of the idea that they should be treated as anything other than abnormal and hellbound are exactly what makes him a fount of hate, no matter how nicely he tries to couch it.
