tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688218899576616463.post3507566986771292248..comments2023-10-07T04:19:14.316-07:00Comments on A CHRISTIAN VOICE FOR GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS: PASTOR BRADY JONES OF NEW LIFE CHURCH AND MIKE JONESJerry Manekerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00748201321055468172noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688218899576616463.post-40573328567867515592009-01-27T13:48:00.000-08:002009-01-27T13:48:00.000-08:00Hi Ken: Thanks for this. I've always been convinc...Hi Ken: Thanks for this. I've always been convinced that the hateful perversions of so much of the institutional Church in respect to LGBT people has influenced, not only its gullible and often equally hateful followers, but has tremendously impacted non-Christians as well to the point where Gay people live lives of needless shame and self-loathing and where all too many families feel it is the right thing to do to reject their own children. <BR/><BR/>I'm convinced these homophobic clergy and their followers won't change their attitudes unless and until Gay people and allies demand to be treated with dignity and respect; avoid those homophobic churches like the plague that they are; select one homophobic church in each community to continuously picket on Sunday mornings; harness their energies to agitate for the same civil rights as any heterosexual individual and families enjoy under the Constitution as citizens in this society. <BR/><BR/>Homophobes, professing Christians or not, will change their attitudes once Gay people win equal rights. Change in "attitudes" don't usually precede change in "behavior"; rather, change in "behavior" usually precedes change in "attitudes." <BR/><BR/>We saw this same phenomenon played out with women acquiring the right to vote, with African Americans guaranteed the same civil rights as White people by the U.S. Supreme Court, and I expect the same results will occur once the Courts rule that "separate is not equal" in regard to Gay civil rights. <BR/><BR/>And the decision to grant full equality of Gay with Straight people's civil rights must come from the Judiciary, and should and must not come from any vote of the will, or tyranny, of the majority in this Democratic Republic, as we saw with the removal of Constitutionally guaranteed civil rights when Prop. 8 in California was passed by popular vote.<BR/><BR/>Equality before the law is essential and demanded in this society and is a Constitutionally guaranteed right! No Gay person, or anyone else for that matter, must be allowed to be treated or allow him/herself to be treated as some second class citizen, or even settle in any way for the indignities attendant upon the granting of incremental rights.<BR/><BR/>Only when the Judiciary rule to follow the Constitution and treat Gay people accordingly, will homophobic people's attitudes change. <BR/><BR/>As for the homophobic clergy and other such professing Christians, they will continually be shown to be unGodly and irrelevant and lose what credibility that they currently enjoy by all too many gullible people!Jerry Manekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00748201321055468172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2688218899576616463.post-39783387823037174092009-01-27T12:05:00.000-08:002009-01-27T12:05:00.000-08:00Those with just an ounce of intelligence know that...Those with just an ounce of intelligence know that this person was hushed up by New Life Church. There will be more people that will come forward to tell their story I'm sure.<BR/><BR/>Evangelicals/Fundamentalists/Conservative Christians simply cannot accept gay people as they are. To them we are simply broken. Sadly, it is their belief system that is broken and they need to look long and hard at what they are doing to GLBT folks. The movie <I>Prayers for Bobby</I> is one perfect example of their broken belief system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com