Topic: WorldNetDaily
Michael Brown has unspurprisingly continued to heap hate and scorn on LGBT people since we last checked in. He spent his Jan. 23 column raging against bans on anti-gay conversion therapy:
It doesn't matter what your religious beliefs might be. It doesn't matter if you were sexually abused and became confused about your sexual identity. It doesn't matter if you would really like to be heterosexual simply to marry and have a natural family.
No! You must stay gay (or trans, as the case may be), and it is illegal for anyone to help you explore the roots of your same-sex attractions with the view toward change.
Tragically, this "conversion therapy" ban is in place for minors in multiple states in America as well as abroad, while a complete ban for people of all ages, similar to that in Malta, exists in several countries as well.
Talk about extreme overreach. Talk about the exact opposite of live and let live. Talk about making a mockery of "tolerance and acceptance." That street only goes one way.
Brown didn't explain why people must be forced not to be gay, despite the fact that conversion therapy harms LGBTQ people.
Brown lamented in his Jan. 27 column that it's hard to demonize LGBT people when they are actually just like the rest of us:
It's easy to oppose "the LGBTQ+ agenda" when it is brazen and vulgar, marching down our city streets in open display. Or when it supports the genital mutilation and chemical castration of children. But what do you say to that very nice, same-sex couple who lives next door, the ones raising the abandoned child they adopted? Are they also a part of an evil agenda? Should they be demonized and condemned?
[...]
The fact is that there are countless thousands of gay couples whose lives are very similar to the lives of heterosexual couples. They go to work. They spend time with their friends. They have hobbies. And although they are half as likely as heterosexual couples to be raising children, thousands of them are, in fact, devoted parents.
Oh, the horror of having to find ways to demonize people you don't like. The struggle continued:
What do we say to a gay man like [former Rep. Sean Patrick] Maloney, or to the many, loving same-sex couples?
It's easy to point to the gay couples arrested for raping their adopted children or pimping them out for sex. It's also easy to point to the higher levels of promiscuity in the gay community, in particular among men, even those in "committed" or "monogamous" relationships.
[...]
But, to repeat, there are plenty of gay couples where partner swapping is not the norm (in fact, a 2018 study claims that monogamy is becoming more common among gay couples). And there are plenty of gay couples who would die for the kids they are raising.
I could also mention the fact that plenty of heterosexual couples commit sexual sin. Some of them abuse their children too.
Homosexual couples and individuals hardly have a monopoly on sin.
Still, Brown concluded, they ultimately must be belittled as "fallen" and subjected to conversion tactics:
As followers of Jesus, then, who know what the Bible says about homosexual practice, what do we say to our gay neighbors, friends and family members? And how do we relate to them?
In the end, it's quite simple.
We treat them like any other neighbor, friend or family member.
We love them. We take a genuine interest in their lives. We treat them as our equals in that we are all created in God's image, we are all fallen, and we are all in need of redemption.
If the door is open, we share the Gospel with them, recognizing that their same-sex attractions are not the root of their fallen nature but simply a manifestation of their fallen nature. And if they come to faith, we seek to disciple them, which, of course, will mean major life changes.
But this is often the cost of following Jesus.
[...]
As for the children raised by that caring gay couple, again, we don't doubt the devotion of the two moms or two dads. And if we are not asked for our opinion, we keep it to ourselves.
But if we are asked how we feel about same-sex parenting, we make clear that we don't doubt the love and devotion of these parents. Yet we restate, without apology, our belief that God's best plan is for a child to have a mother and father, since the world's best dad is not a mom and the world's best mom is not a dad. And there is something unique and irreplaceable in the roles that moms and dads play.
If we are branded bigots and haters and homophobes, so be it. We will do our best to overcome those negative judgments with genuine, long-term love.
We will not demonize these couples, and we will not celebrate them.
Instead, we will join grace and truth together with the goal of introducing them to the priceless, transformative love of God. That's what disciples do.
Acturlly, if you're hectoring them for being gay -- as Brown clearly seems to want despite his expressions of faux compassion -- you are, in fact, demonizing them.
Btown's Feb. 13 column was spent raging at a major church for not hating gay people as much has he does:
With all respect to the responsibilities carried by the leadership of the Church of England, and in recognition of the history of this branch of the universal Body, I make this heartfelt appeal.
Just as Elijah the prophet urged the people of Israel to stop wavering between two opinions, I urge you to stop wavering between the Word of God and the spirit of this age. As Elijah said, "If Yahweh is God, serve Him. If Baal is God, serve him" (1 Kings 18:21). It can only be one or the other.
Your current decision to "bless" same-sex unions while at the same time forbidding your churches from hosting same-sex weddings is not just a deep and fundamental departure from the biblical faith. It is also a hopeless compromise, seeking to play both ends against the middle in a way that can only frustrate, if not infuriate, the principal parties involved.
How can you bless something you will not sanctify? How can you invoke God's favor on something at which you cannot officiate? How can you claim to uphold the church's historic definition of marriage if men or women involved in same-sex relationships can receive "prayers for God's blessing"? And how can you "apologize for the ways in which the Church of England has treated LGBTQI+ people – both those who worship in our churches and those who do not" while barring same-sex weddings from your churches?
How can you repent to the LGBTQ+ community "for the times we have rejected or excluded you, and those you love" and lament for "the occasions on which you have received a hostile and homophobic response in our churches are shameful and for this we repent," while allowing your clergy to refuse to bless same-sex unions, at their discretion?
This is as hypocritical as it is self-contradictory. Why not simply come out and say, "Our views are changing, and we are well on our way to fully embracing practicing 'gay Christians'?" Why the wavering?
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Will you uphold the plain teaching of Scripture and the historic doctrine of the church, namely, that all same-sex relationships, no matter how loving, are sinful in God's eyes? Or will you fully embrace and endorse these relationships as holy, not only blessing them but performing same-sex wedding ceremonies in your church buildings? What will it be?
I appeal to you to choose this day whom you will serve. It is either the Lord or the spirit of the age. It cannot be both.
Brown is unsurprisingly framing his anti-LGBT hate as holy and ordained and that anyone who doesn't share that level of hate cannot possibly be a "real" Christian.
Brown's Feb. 20 column was headlined "An insight about how Gen Zers approach LGBTQ issue," which was largelycomplaining that young people don't see LGBTQ people as an "issue":
If you know anything about the younger generation, you know that many of these teens and young adults have a real passion for justice, even if misguided at times. Many of them are also highly empathetic, commonly siding with the perceived underdog and outcast. That's why so many Gen Z young people stand with the LGBTQ+ community or even identify as such. It is an essential part of who they are.
[...]
Recently, I was speaking to hundreds of multi-national, Gen Z ministry students on this very topic, and as always, I did my best to speak with sensitivity and compassion.
I pointed to the hurt and rejection suffered by LGBTQ+ individuals over the years. I said that the vast majority of them are not activists and are simply trying to live their lives in peace. I emphasized that many of them feel hated by God and the church. And I explained that some of our Gospel cliches are highly offensive to them. For example, when we say, "Love the sinner and hate the sin," they hear, "You hate me, since this is not what I do. This is who I am."
[...]
I shared with tears stories of young people "detransitioning" after having life-altering hormone and surgery treatments as teens. And even when I showed shocking examples of LGBTQ+ indoctrination of little children, I explained that those involved, be it the parents or the teachers, really thought they were doing a good thing.
So, the presentation was as caring as could be, spoken with a heart of love.
Yet when most of the students laughed out loud when I read off lists of the latest preferred gender pronouns, a small minority of the students were offended. They felt as if everyone was laughing at one of their friends or loved ones and as if I was ridiculing one of their friends or loved ones.
Brown concluded:
But we must not underestimate the degree to which they have grown up in a radically different world than we did, one in which same-sex "marriage" is the law of the land. In which trans is trendy and gay is cool. In which any rejection of LGBTQ+ activism is perceived as hateful. And in which, even for some Gen Z Christians, there is a deeper sense of solidarity with LGBTQ+ people than with the ways and Word of God.
And so, just as the older generation focused so much on LGBTQ+ issues that we lost sight of the people, the younger generation has focused so much on LGBTQ+ people that they have lost sight of the issues.
If Brown continues to insist that LGBTQ people are "issues" instead of humans who deserve basic respect and rights regardless of who they love, he's only preaching to the choir.
