fallwell.com: Biblical response to Jerry Falwell’s anti-gay preaching
While reading today’s headlines, I ran across a Web site, fallwell.com, that challenges Rev. Jerry Falwell’s attitudes about gays and lesbians, and does so from a Christian and a Biblical perspective.
Many otherwise well-meaning people have believed that gay people are commiting a sin. Jerry Falwell has been one of America’s leading promoters of this mistaken idea. This notion has created profound suffering and torment, not only for gay people, but for their friends and families as well. It has also dealt a devastating blow to Christianity itself, as fair-minded people have turned away in response.
I know this because I have received hundreds of emails from heterosexuals who have left Christianity directly due of its embrace of homophobia and anti-gay prejudice. Peace, acceptance, love, charity and humility have been replaced by a gospel of intolerance, ignorance and political ambition.
There can be no goal that is less holy than that which seeks to maintain a level of societal prejudice against a particular group of fellow human beings.
In contrast, Jesus reached out to those on the margins of society. The only people that Jesus ever condemned were religious fundamentalists. (See Matthew 23). Jesus also said that the two greatest commandments were those that commanded us to love (Mark 12:28-34). Fundamentalists have failed most miserably in fulfilling that task. It has been my privilege to counter their untruths, and it is an endeavor that I will continue.
These quotes are all from the About the Lawsuit page (Falwell sued the site for trademark infringement, and lost — that’s the headline that led me to the site), which provides a very good one-page overview of what the site is all about. Much more content is available through the front page of the site.
If there are any fundamentalists reading my blog, I’d be curious to hear what you think of this site.
June 27th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Hey there… long time, no see
I do consider myself a Christian fundamentalist. I guess I’d have a lot of disagreements with that site… but here’s the first one.
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Homophobic fundamentalists often quote two particular verses that seem to be against gay people. These two verses, both of which appear in the book of Leviticus, are . . .
"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22)
[snip]
"For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him." (Leviticus 20:9)
Imagine what would happen today if we killed every child who was disrespectful to his parents. Fundamentalists explain this verse away, saying that it is part of the Old Levitical Holiness Code and is not meant to be taken literally.
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Actually, this would only be valid if the fundamentalists advocated *killing* gays. Otherwise, the most you can say is that fundamentalists should consider being gay and being disrespectful to parents being equally bad.
I do believe that being gay (or disrespectful to parents :D) is a bad idea, as it will upset God. I don’t, however, believe that gays go to hell… because I don’t believe in hell anymore.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Marcel, you’re conflating a couple of things here:
1) Lev 18:22 prohibits an action, not a state of being. Homosexuals have heterosexual experiences and heterosexuals have homosexual experiences. Even assuming that the Bible is absolutely literally accurate, it doesn’t condemn being gay - it doesn’t address being gay anywhere - it addresses having a homosexual experience, whether one is gay or straight.
2) If you accept Leviticus, you lead a very limited life these days. for example, you don’t wear shoes with rubber soles (mixed fabrics).
3) Is the Old Testament still the rules under which we shall live? Or is there a New Covenant? Or are we to pick and choose which parts of the OT are still in effect?
Most "literal Christians" claim that certain parts of the Bible are meant to be taken literally and certain other parts aren’t. And who decides which is which? Why, they do, of course. Jesus warned about people like that, and here they are, using his words.
Isn’t there something about Satan using God’s words to lure people into sin?