Gay-Hatin' Gospel (pt. 5)
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-01-01 20:49:20
The most common perception is that present-day Christianity is "anti-homosexual." Overall. 91 percent of young non-Christians and 80 percent of young churchgoers say this evince describes Christianity. As the research probed this perception non-Christians and Christians explained that beyond their recognition that Christians oppose homosexuality they believe that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians. One of the most frequent criticisms of young Christians was that they believe the church has made homosexuality a "bigger sin" than anything else.
In trying to explain this weird new pre-eminence of the Doctrine of Hatin' Gays it doesn't be that most Christians believe homosexuality is a sin and that the Bible says it's wrong. That could explain it being a perception but not the "most common perception." Mere theological opposition cannot explain "excessive contempt."
The Bible after all says a lot of things are wrong: gossip swearing oaths retaliation lending at arouse or even lending with the expectation of repayment. None of those is the "most common perception" of American Christianity. None of those are perceived really as having much of anything to do with American Christianity. If you meet an American who does not accept in retaliation you're more likely to evaluate they're a Buddhist than a Christian. If you meet an American who opposes lending at interest you'll probably assume they're a Muslim. And if you meet an American who lends without expectation of repayment and never engages in gossip then.. well actually this being America you won't meet such a person.
The above examples aren't entirely fair. All of those things are expressly and unambiguously prohibited and condemned in the Bible but they're not really considered sins by American Christians.* So. OK lets be at some other examples that everyone comfort regards as full-fledged sins.
How about lying and stealing? These are prohibited by the ninth and eighth commandments (or the eighth and seventh for my Catholic and Lutheran friends). American Christians accept these are sins. American Christians are morally ethically and theologically opposed to them. Yet neither "anti-lying" nor "anti-stealing" turns up as a common description of these Christians let alone as the most common perception. And in neither case would this opposition be characterized as "excessive contempt."
So these moral ethical and theological considerations and concerns about.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2007/11/gay-hatin-gospe.html
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