It begins
A bit of required reading: Click on the last paragraph below for the whole story.
'Jesus wouldn't discriminate' against gays
by Deb Price, The Detroit News
"Is that a very Christ-like attitude to have?"
Brent Childers was startled by the question his 62-year-old mother asked three years ago in response to his venomous dinner-table declaration that "You don't want queers taking over society."
Childers, a conservative Christian living in North Carolina, was forced to reflect upon his uncharitableness, self-righteousness and acid tone. His mom's words, he says, were like "an alarm going off. It was like, 'Hold on. Let's think about this a bit.'"
Some months later, Childers remarked to another conservative Christian, "I don't think a homosexual can practice that lifestyle and be a Christian." The woman immediately disagreed and told him about a friend who was both gay and devoutly Christian.
Nudged for the second time, Childers seriously began to wonder how he could reconcile his attitude that those of us who are gay are "wicked, unclean people with no chance of eternal life" with the loving underpinnings of his Christian faith. His questions propelled him along a spiritual journey that took him away from prejudice...
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Starting Sunday my church, Jesus MCC, will engage in a campaign to take on the attitudes that are encouraging discrimination against GLBT people and gay families, and driving the stupidly paranoid "marriage protection" and "marriage definition" movements.
As the end of the story notes, The Indianapolis Star will be one of the first papers to carry a 3/4 page ad each Sunday starting May 28 for four weeks in the "Would Jesus Discriminate?" campaign. The first one should stir some talk around Indy. By the time the second publishes, the story might go national. I suspect that when the third one publishes, on June 11, the fit's gonna hit the shan due to its content. But this could be a good thing.
In addition to this we will be engaging in a grassroots guerrilla marketing campaign including roadside signs, door hangers, bumper stickers and T-shirts. All this will culminate in a "town hall" style meeting on June 15.
Why now? Why not. This is the "lull" year between the initial state legislature vote on the state marriage amendment and next year's vote that will put it on the next ballot. Taking action now is better than just being reactive later.
Speaking of reaction, we seem to be catching likely opponents flatfooted. I've checked the website for Eric Miller's "Advance America" and there's nothing there about this. I even looked into the cesspool that is the Westburo Baptist Church (I'll spare you the link) and they're still busy with protesting soldier funerals. But be assured, Miller's bunch will take action once our campaign starts drawing attention. And if it goes national, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Westburo nuts leap on it, too.
If this has the success we're hoping for, the campaign will be copied in other cities and states. So it's kinda cool and scary being part of something so potentially BIG.
If you pray, pray for us. If you don't, wish us luck. As the saying goes -- buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
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P.S. I'm also working on my next TwoHeadedCat.com column, "WWJH: Who Would Jesus Hate?" to be done at the end of the month for on-site posting June 5. Any suggestions or ideas I can incorporate into that would be welcome.
'Jesus wouldn't discriminate' against gays
by Deb Price, The Detroit News
"Is that a very Christ-like attitude to have?"
Brent Childers was startled by the question his 62-year-old mother asked three years ago in response to his venomous dinner-table declaration that "You don't want queers taking over society."
Childers, a conservative Christian living in North Carolina, was forced to reflect upon his uncharitableness, self-righteousness and acid tone. His mom's words, he says, were like "an alarm going off. It was like, 'Hold on. Let's think about this a bit.'"
Some months later, Childers remarked to another conservative Christian, "I don't think a homosexual can practice that lifestyle and be a Christian." The woman immediately disagreed and told him about a friend who was both gay and devoutly Christian.
Nudged for the second time, Childers seriously began to wonder how he could reconcile his attitude that those of us who are gay are "wicked, unclean people with no chance of eternal life" with the loving underpinnings of his Christian faith. His questions propelled him along a spiritual journey that took him away from prejudice...
------
Starting Sunday my church, Jesus MCC, will engage in a campaign to take on the attitudes that are encouraging discrimination against GLBT people and gay families, and driving the stupidly paranoid "marriage protection" and "marriage definition" movements.
As the end of the story notes, The Indianapolis Star will be one of the first papers to carry a 3/4 page ad each Sunday starting May 28 for four weeks in the "Would Jesus Discriminate?" campaign. The first one should stir some talk around Indy. By the time the second publishes, the story might go national. I suspect that when the third one publishes, on June 11, the fit's gonna hit the shan due to its content. But this could be a good thing.
In addition to this we will be engaging in a grassroots guerrilla marketing campaign including roadside signs, door hangers, bumper stickers and T-shirts. All this will culminate in a "town hall" style meeting on June 15.
Why now? Why not. This is the "lull" year between the initial state legislature vote on the state marriage amendment and next year's vote that will put it on the next ballot. Taking action now is better than just being reactive later.
Speaking of reaction, we seem to be catching likely opponents flatfooted. I've checked the website for Eric Miller's "Advance America" and there's nothing there about this. I even looked into the cesspool that is the Westburo Baptist Church (I'll spare you the link) and they're still busy with protesting soldier funerals. But be assured, Miller's bunch will take action once our campaign starts drawing attention. And if it goes national, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Westburo nuts leap on it, too.
If this has the success we're hoping for, the campaign will be copied in other cities and states. So it's kinda cool and scary being part of something so potentially BIG.
If you pray, pray for us. If you don't, wish us luck. As the saying goes -- buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!
------
P.S. I'm also working on my next TwoHeadedCat.com column, "WWJH: Who Would Jesus Hate?" to be done at the end of the month for on-site posting June 5. Any suggestions or ideas I can incorporate into that would be welcome.