There is a current war on beliefs involving Christians and L.G.B.T people. In the four articles I have read, there are vastly different standpoints on how Christians treat people in the L.G.B.T. community, and vice versa. Some of the authors have first hand experience in matters involving such incidences involving hate, and others looked in from the outside with their own opinions on how this war is taking place. During the past many decades, Christians and L.G.B.T people have developed hatred towards one another based on mainstream culture and traditional Christian beliefs.
In light of the Orlando Pulse tragedy, a gay writer by the name Zack Ford wrote an article on his stance behind a Baptist leader sympathetically commenting on the mass casualty (Dreher). “.. Unless Conservative Christians change their minds on homosexuality, their post-Orlando expressions of solidarity are worthless.” (Dreher). This statement by Ford sets the tone for the rest of the article, in which Dreher describes his personal view on the way he believes that the L.G.B.T. community has taken opportunities to undermine Christian handouts of sympathy. While there is a stigma that this community is sending out hate towards Christians, the response by Dreher is that there is a faith in Christianity to which they “..Cannot reject it without doing serious violence to the truth, and to our consciences.” (Dreher).
While mainstream culture seemingly supports the L.G.B.T. community, as Julie Rodgers says, the Christian church had been less than accepting, despite their alignment in beliefs (Rodgers). While in high school, it had been made clear to Rodgers that her amongst the L.G.B.T community were loved by their communities, but religious beliefs got in the way of their relationships (Rodgers). Essentially the environment could not be as warming as wanted because of the differentiated beliefs on sexuality and marriage, which created a gap that turned into discrimination (Rodgers).
In the eyes of Jim Daly, the answer to the War on Religion is simple: tolerance (Daly). He believes that homosexuality is a sin, and that he also sins, therefore he does not condemn them because of their sin- while he has been forgiven for his sins from Jesus, Daly indirectly implies that they have not (Daly). When it comes to the way he personally believes everyone should be treated, he says “(The Bible) tells us to express our understanding of God’s eternal truths by loving our neighbor, not killing him” (Daly).
During the past fifty years, gay rights activism has developed into a revolutionary movement, while some have been extremely supportive, others have turned to fundamentalist mindsets (Gushee). Today, there are measures being taken in religion to adapt to modern ways, for example: “.. Sacred texts are being reread in light of broader themes of love and justice” (Gushee). In the same breath, there is a constant resurgence of hope, then hurt due to the cycle of public acceptance, followed by the previously mentioned fundamentalists, and the defending of rights (Gushee).
In the article “Waving a Blood-Soaked Rainbow Flag to Scapegoat Christians” Rod Dreher appears to be very much so pro-Christian in this movement. For an HCTSR rating, I would assign a 2 as well- he does a fair job at stating arguments for both sides. For example, he gives the example of Christian faith stating that sex and marriage are a set-way in their system, and that following otherwise would do harm to their conscience (Dreher). Opposing this statement, he does not give a relevant counter argument for the L.G.B.T. community. His argument for them nearly seems like an apologetic response- stating that “…That doesn’t mean either side is motivated by irrational animus” (Dreher) when speaking about the hatred towards eachother. Dreher also maintains and defends his own view based on himself- his own interests and beliefs, while he is not an extremist, it is fairly evident that he holds his own belief in this article. He is constantly referring to himself as a Christian, whilst using “We” as his defensive pronoun. Dreher’s defense for the hate toward the L.G.B.T. people is plainly that there would be damage to their consciences if they subsided their faith to accept these people (Dreher).
Julie Rodgers wrote the article “Christians Must Repent for Devaluing L.G.B.T. People” in which it is evident that she is on the pro-L.G.B.T. side of the debate. It is clear that she wants to have a welcoming community on both sides, but fails to represent the Christian side’s defense- which is why I would give her a 2 on the HTCSR. Rodgers told her story and while she did it greatly, it was entirely about Christians being kind-hearted people, but unaccepting; and the hate towards L.G.B.T. people being a product of the Church (Rodgers). There were slight instances where she tried to defend them by saying that they “want” to welcome them with open arms but cannot because of beliefs, yet there was too much against them in her article to see both sides (Rodgers). As stated, she held true to her side and she didn’t attempt to steer away from that, which together makes this a 2 on the HCTSR.
In the article written by Jim Daly, “ Restricting Free Expression is Not the Answer to Terrorism” it is clear that Daly is pro-Christian in the debate. He discusses Christian belief while talking about the reasons he believes the world is hateful in terms of Christians and L.G.B.T. people. Based on his arguments, I would have to give his article a 3- Daly gives strong justifications and arguments which are strongly supported by following statements. There are arguments for the Christian people he makes, one of which states “(The Bible) Tells us to express our understanding of God’s eternal truths by loving our neighbor, not killing him” to which he is responding to the debate on whether or not Christians have created this atmosphere of hate (Daly). Daly accurately interprets statements and replies with thought-out responses. For example, he states that while gay people sin, so do Christians, and while he gets redeemed of his sins- he does not by any means have the authority to condemn them, or respectively, treat them differently because of what they do (Daly).
David P. Gushee wrote the article “Without Full acceptance by Christians, Gays are Demeaned and Hurt” in which he discusses the newness of the gay rights movement. It seems in this article that he is a Christian, but supports the L.G.B.T. community, to which I would still conclude that he is Pro-Christian. For an HCTSR rating, this would be a 2- due to the counter arguments made, as well as the conclusions given. One of the arguments given is “ Hateful statements obviously create a threatening environment for L.G.B.T. people, but even polite half-acceptance leaves L.G.B.T. people in a demeaning second-class position” (Gushee). In this statement, it is clear that Gushee is defending the fact that there are hateful statements given- likely by Christians, while also saying that the L.G.B.T. people are going to be offended regardless. The conclusion given states that there are some people who are accepting, and some who will never be, and it is just a problem that the L.G.B.T. people will have to face on their own (Gushee).
In summation, I see that there is a lot of hate given in this war on culture. As I have grown up, I have always done my best to be accepting of all people- to which I think everyone should, but I accept the fact that it is against a bigger belief for some to open those doors. I think that there has been extremist hate towards L.G.B.T. people because of the old-teachings and the inability for those people to conform to the new ways of thinking. I also believe that there are a lot of warm, welcoming people in the world that could be of any faith, and still are fully accepting. I believe that a lot of these beliefs come from the interpretations of The Bible, and all other sacred text, which can be differently in everyones eyes. In the future, I truly hope that there will be a more welcoming environment to anyone who is appeared as different in modern culture, so there isn’t hate or fear to be ones self. WorksCited
Dreher, Rod. “Waving a Blood-Soaked Rainbow Flag to Scapegoat Christians.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 June 2016, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/06/16/have-christians-created-a-harmful-atmosphere-for-gays/waving-a-blood-soaked-rainbow-flag-to-scapegoat-christians. Accessed 12 Sep., 2018.
Rodgers, Julie. “Christians Must Repent for Devaluing L.G.B.T. People.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 June 2016, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/06/16/have-christians-created-a-harmful-atmosphere-for-gays/christians-must-repent-for-devaluaing-lgbt-people. Accessed 12 Sep., 2018.
Daly, Jim. “Restricting Free Expression Is Not the Answer to Terrorism.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 June 2016, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/06/16/have-christians-created-a-harmful-atmosphere-for-gays/restricting-free-expression-is-not-the-answer-to-terrorism. Accessed 12 Sep., 2018.
Gushee, David P. “Without Full Acceptance by Christians, Gays Are Demeaned and Hurt.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 June 2016, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/06/16/have-christians-created-a-harmful-atmosphere-for-gays/without-full-acceptance-by-christians-gays-are-demeaned-and-hurt. Accessed 12 Sep., 2018.