Rachel Maddow, We Don't Want to Kill the Gays

Rachel, you recently took strong exception to what has been referred to as a "kill the gays" rally, and I want to stand with you in renouncing this kind of rhetoric in the strongest possible terms, especially since this was a Christian-based rally.

To say this with absolutely clarity, it is not Christian in any shape, size, or form to provoke hatred towards gays or lesbians or, worse still, to suggest that they should be mistreated or, God forbid, executed.

It is true that there are some professing Christians who believe gays should be killed, but they are no different than the gay activists who hold up signs saying that Christians should be thrown to the lions: They are fanatics whose views do not represent the views of 99.9% of their communities. (I can say this when it comes to committed Christians; I hope you can say the same when it comes to gays and lesbians.)

It is also true that there are some Christian leaders who believe that Old Testament legal penalties should be enforced today, including putting homosexuals to death. But those same laws (and same leaders) call for adulterers, Sabbath-breakers, and persistently rebellious teenagers to be put to death, and you can be sure that only the tiniest minority of Christians is advocating for anything like this.

So, in order to give no place whatsoever to the dangerous rhetoric that you denounced, I feel it is important to shout from the rooftops what the vast majority of us know and understand: True followers of Jesus want to bring life, not destroy life. We want to help people, not hurt people, even if we strongly differ with their beliefs, lifestyles, or decisions.

And I, along with tens of millions of other followers of Jesus around America, denounce and renounce the views put forth at this conference by Pastor Kevin Swanson that the main reason we should not have the death penalty for homosexuals is because we need to give them time to repent.

As you might know, I am a strong and outspoken opponent of many gay activist goals, and my convictions are the direct result of my biblically-based faith.

But that same faith teaches me to love my neighbor as myself (and that includes my gay neighbor), to protect the lives of all, and to recognize that each human being, however fallen and flawed (all of us are broken and fallen in more ways than one) is also created in the image of God.

That means that I can appreciate you as a gifted, fellow-human being without celebrating your sexuality.

It also means that I can treat you with respect and kindness without believing that the union of two men or two women is a true marriage or that a child should be willfully deprived of a father or mother.

That means I can teach that bullying is bad without having to teach that gay is good and that I can advocate your equal protection under the law while believing that homosexual practice is sinful in God's sight.

So, you might consider me an adversary, someone opposed to your freedom and equality, someone put on the watch lists of groups like the HRC and GLAAD and the SPLC (although I should tell you that their reasons for listing me would be utterly laughable if they weren't so misleading and even dangerous).

But the fact is that we are fellow-citizens in this country, free to advocate for our views and positions, free to seek to make new laws or uphold existing laws, free to vote and speak and agree or disagree â€“ even to disagree deeply and intensely without demonizing or dehumanizing each other in the process.

So, in light of the extreme rhetoric of that rally, I felt it was important to you remind you of what's happening in the world that most of us live in. That rhetoric does not represent us in the least.

It's also important that you recognize that the presidential candidates who attended this rally (Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz) were there to identify with the cause of religious liberty, and they too would categorically reject some of the words spoken at the conference (as well as reject some of the positions advocated by at least one of the speakers outside of the conference).

I also feel confident that, had they known in advance what Kevin Swanson, the conference's chief organizer, planned to say, they would not have attended the rally.

Rachel, as a conservative moral leader, I've sat at behind the scenes meetings of groups like Focus on the Family or the Family Research Council, and I never heard one hostile word spoken about gays or lesbians, let alone a word calling for violence or execution. Perish the thought!

That's because those things violate the very spirit of our faith, and, as I stated earlier, it is that faith that informs us and guides us, a faith that clings tightly to the words and example of Jesus.

To give you a case in point, in 2012, a small group of gay protesters showed up at my home church on a Sunday morning.

We knew they were coming and greeted them with refreshments, inviting them to join us inside the building, but they left after 15 minutes, saying we were too nice to deserve a protest.

The next day, the leader of the group called my radio show to apologize, saying that he and his group met with the love of God at our church.

I forgave him, of course, but I also told him that I didn't feel he owed me an apology and that he was simply acting on his convictions.

The real question, I suggested, was how we could both hold to our very different beliefs and worldviews and yet be neighbors in the same city, a sentiment he agreed with. This led to us having dinner together to talk about these issues in greater depth, and the dinner was both cordial and fruitful.

So, to come full circle, yes, I do believe that homosexual practice is sinful and that, despite the Supreme Court's decision, the union of two men or two women is not marriage, based on which you might consider me to be primitive, bigoted, homophobic, and hateful.

But I trust you understand that I do not wish you harm any more than you wish me harm, and both of us need to shout this out for the world to hear so that the extremists on all sides will be exposed.

I watched Maddow's program covering this conference. She insisted that there was a group of Christians desiring to round up and kill gays and, by going to the conference, Cruz, Jindal, and Huckabee approved of such a plan.

1. The pastor that hosted the event, Kevin Swanson, is kooky as all get-out and loves to quote Leviticus. No doubt, this guy has driven away far more people than he has brought into Christianity.

2. However, after noting that Leviticus proscribes, and St. Paul implies, that death is a suitable punishment for homosexual activity, Swanson correctly says that gays should be exhorted to change their ways. They need time on this earth to save their own souls.

3. Even though he clearly says this in the video clip, Maddow, and every gay activist that parrots her, insists that this pastor is looking to round up and slaughter gays.

The Left in this country continues to get people upset by lying like hell.

Genesis 13:13

Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.

Psalms 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

Doonesbury Cartoon for Feb/08/2013

Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

Ezekiel 16:49-50
49. "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
50. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

2 Peter 2

1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

But there IS hope!!!

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...

Kevin Swanson, is kooky as all get-out and loves to quote Leviticus.

Wow a pastor actually quotes the Bible. Everybody knows quoting the Bible is so kooky! It is almost as if this Swanson fellow actually believes that God revealed Himself and His will in the Bible and that he believes the Bible is God breathed and preserved by the Holy Spirit and that the original autographs are infallible and inerrant - man talk about your kooky Christians. He probably believes all men are born into sin and that the only way to avoid judgement and eternal damnation is repentance unto faith in Christ's death and resurrection as a propitiation for sin. I know kooks like this Swanson fellow, some even believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father.

No doubt, this guy has driven away far more people than he has brought into Christianity.

Yeah think of all those who might have become Christians, if only only all that Bible stuff was not an obstacle to their "Best Life Now". --/sarc

The only question of interest is: What does the Bible teach? I care little about what makes others uncomfortable, only about fidelity to the scriptures. I guess that makes me a kook as well.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a kook that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is kookiness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";
That "kooky" St Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.