An aggressive enemy of the GLBT community is flourishing in the Tuscon, Arizona area. The Tuscon Community Church bills itself as "The Cool Church." Apparently they believe preaching horrendous lies about homosexuality is cool, and plenty of people are buying it.
From the front page of the Tuscon Star:
Leaders of a growing local congregation that advertises itself as "The Cool Church" are telling their parishioners that being gay will take 30 years off a person's life, prompting accusations that they are perpetuating "really uncool, deeply homophobic" lies.
(Pastor David) McAllister was particularly upset with the characterization of his church being uncool.
"I can't imagine anything more uncool than supporting a lifestyle or behavior that would be detrimental to the people who practice it," he said Saturday.
In addition to saying that homosexuals will have shortened lives, the Tucson Community Church's Web site says that gays and lesbians are more likely than heterosexuals to be involved in violence and become addicts of various sorts. Also on the site, the church's leaders, who say being gay is a choice, urge their worshippers to "fight" what they call an onslaught of homosexual-sex activists.
The church, which caters to young families and has more than 2,000 members, recently opened its fourth location in Midtown and calls itself "one of the fastest-growing churches in America."
Here's the part that really frosts me:
"Pastor David is just incredible in the way he presents God's word, and he always does it with love," said parishioner Parks Rinehart, 52, an automation equipment assembler who joined the church seven years ago with his then-teenage son. He had tried other churches, but until he found the Tucson Community Church, he never found answers about the Bible that made sense.
Rinehart has seen the church's claims about the life spans of gay people on its Web site, and though he found the numbers to be startling, he said he had no reason to believe they were not true.
"They don't realize the destructive lifestyle they are living," he said.
No reason to believe the church's claims were not true!? Here's one reason--you and millions like you have a brain and need to use it!
I get very angry when I read about churches like this and people like Mr. Rinehart that mindlessly follow along with what they are told. It's easy to do because it doesn't directly affect their lives, but I don't understand how anyone claiming to be a Christian can live with a belief system like that.
When Jesus was on the earth, he didn't have to lift a finger to help anyone. He could have lived like a king without a worry in the world. In fact, He could have even BEEN king. After all, he was the Son of God. He didn't do that, however. He obeyed His Father's wishes and allowed Himself to be crucified to establish the path to salvation. He acted outside of His best interests, putting litteraly everyone on Earth and all those to follow ahead of Him.
We are told in the Bible that we should live like Jesus. How do church people reconcile following the preaching of hatred like sheep with that?
I sure can't.
Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin for the tip.
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I can see why you would be offended by Pastors message. But you are taking the wrong approach. The pastor did not say to "hate" homosexuals in any way. He preaches that we should "Love thy neighbor" and he didn't just say "Only the straight ones....." I truly believe that his preaching was meant in the context that someone who chooses a lifestyle that is not only against God's law, but considered unacceptable by many in society - leads to statistics he had discovered. I feel that (just the same) if he said "People who are gluttonous will also live shorter lives, then it would be completely understandable. I don't think he was using that information as a scare tactic so much as he may have been stating that (what the Christian world) believes to be a (deviant and destructive) lifestyle will lead to a shorter lifespan............ While I do not know everything that was said, I conclude that his claim regarding involvment in mroe crime and drugs, etc - also comes from the fact that someone who is leading a lifestyle that they must constantly (fight the right) to do and (be unaccepted) in many societies probably IS more inclined to suffer from what may come of living this way. Depression, sadness, lonliness - and all of those things are KNOWN to lead to poverty, crime, drugs and more deviant behavior.
ReplyDeleteThere is no message of hatred in that preaching. Only distain for those of us who do not live by Gods laws - and Yes, this includes the straight people who break God's Laws as well....... We are all God's children and we are ALL subject to his rules.........
Thank You for posting my message. Meg Torrie, Tucson AZ - MySpace.com/MusiciansRock
Meg,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting this blog. I'm glad you felt free to say your piece.
I feel that I need to make some points in response.
I clearly disagree, as most of the readers here do, with your assumptions that homosexuality is a choice and that it is condemned by God. I've written a LOT here about both of those issues so I won't restate my support for those statements here, but the choice issue is very strongly supported by science and the issue of God's condemnation is supported by a more accurate interpretation of the handful of verses that are used by those who claim otherwise.
You also claim that "the Christian world" is united on the subject of homosexuality. This, like most of what your preacher posted on your church's website, is not factual. I personally know of hundreds of gay affirming Christian churches, and large denominations like the United Church of Christ that welcome homosexuals and don't seek to change their orientation.
Ifound it very disturbing that your preacher posted items about homosexuals on your church's website as fact which are largely based on an old study by a widely discredited homophobe named Paul Cammeron.
I was also upset at the casual attitude taken by the member of your church quoted in the newspaper article. I hope, since you are interested enough in the topic to post a comment here, that you take an approach different than Mr. Rinehart and actually investigate more about homosexuality and not accept what any one person, be it me or your pastor, says. Please gather some information, pray and discern about it, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to an understanding.
The articles written by the editor were obviously extremely biased. Stephanie Innes neglected to mention that her source for validation of her facts was none other then one of the executive board leaders of Wingspan, Stephen T. Russell, and a practicing homosexual himself. Not to mention that Wingspan financially supports the Daily Star. The reality of this statement would cause us to wonder if maybe Stephanie Innes pushed toward one side of the debate. I believe the answer is pretty obvious. I've attended the Cool Church for many years now and I found that Pastor David is a man of great integrity, knowledge, and love. With the church being one of the fastest churches growing in America it's hard for me to believe that he is this evil conniving man that some of you are making him out to be. Some have stated that he "hates" the LGBT community. That is SO FAR from the truth. He has stated multiple times that he loves the people themselves but he knows what they are involved in is harmful to their life so he cares enough to tell them the truth, EVEN though it may not be exactly what they want to hear. People respect those who stand up for what is right whether or not you like hearing it. If you love someone you tell them the truth to help them to improve their life and make it the best that it can be. If you want to be blissfully ignorant in the facts that have been shown then that is your choice but Pastor David is sharing his knowledge and research with those who need help. Many have been quick to shoot down Pastor David's facts but I'm curious as to where all of the research is of the opposing side. Pastor David did his research and has cited all the facts which were stated. I have not seen the written and cited facts of the opposing side. It is the constant denial that Pastor David's are false. It seems like all were getting on the opposing side are "not uhs" and "he's wrong," answers that carry no weight.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to shed some light from the other side. He is a GREAT man and deserves more respect then you're giving him!!
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThe data that your pastor put up on the church's website is based on 15-year old research by the Family Research Institute. The head of that orgainzation is Paul Cameron, who has been widely discredited by all but those on the extreme right wing. Mr. Cameron was expelled from the American Psychological Association in 1984. You can do the same Google search I did if you doubt any of those statements.
Here is a link that shows drastically different data if you care to read it:
http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2005/07/are-homosexual/
From my vantage point, it appears that Pastor David latched onto any data he could, regardless of the veracity of it, to support his homphobic agenda. I don't believe anyone who takes that approach while standing behind the pulpit deserves respect.
Jim Johnson,
ReplyDeleteI would love for you to do me a favor. Everyone is horrified about the 15-year old research. So, if you could find me recent legit research and studies that have been done on the topic of homosexuality will you please post the cite. Research of this topic is uncommon and pushed away by the homosexual activists. If some is found I will glady give it to Pastor David.
Annonymous,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your gesture, but I'm not going to invest any time in doing Pastor David's research for him. If he is going to make those claims, the burden of proof is on him, and he is not using reliable, credible studies for those claims. The link I posted in my last comment did include statistics that paint a much different picture than Pastor David does.
In my experience, credible research is not pushed away by GLBT activists, only data that is prepared by someone like Paul Cameron who has a long history of homophobia.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI hope you read my response to Pastor David on this blog. It might help you understand why the 15 year old study is hard for us to swallow. Frankly, any research I've seen in this area is either skewed to show that being gay is a sinful lifestyle choice or skewed to show that being gay is perfectly normal and natural and shouldn't be condemned by anyone. Either way, nobody's happy.
My point has always been that you can't put people in a box, or God for that matter! I am an individual. I am not promiscuous. I'm not a drunk or a drug abuser. I don't molest children. I am not suicidal. I'm none of the things that many in the mainstream Church seem to think gays and lesbians are. I am a Christian woman who is also a lesbian. Go figure! I read my Bible, pray, worship, etc. All the things that "normal" Christians do, I engage in too. I just happen to go home and get into bed with another woman.
Sharone
Nigel,
ReplyDeleteThe type of comment you posted is not welcome here. Plase go somewhere else with it. If you keep reposting, I'll keep deleting it.
One final thing
ReplyDelete2 Tim 4:3
Thanks for your time.