Good As You

The gay can be washed away with a loofah made of Satan's scales. Jesus did warn of false prophets after all.

gbw = God has a Bigoted Way

If their event is successful, then maybe next year they can turn it into a week-long series of events. Then gbw could = Gay Bashing Week

"Spirit-birthed"...Ans the alarms go off in my head already.

Didn't they see the Flaming for Jesus float in last year's NY Pride parade?

these two groups gathering at the same location sounds like trouble. please,for the love of god,quit bothering the gay folks. what did they do to you?

I left this comment with your great video:

"Hi Jeremy,
I've been a Christian all my life. What about Jesus' "Love thy neighbor" commandment do these people not understand? Jesus has nothing to say about gays. When they suggest that he did, they're only attributing to Jesus their own prejudices."

Antics like theirs just make main line Christians look bad. No wonder the per cent of Americans who claim to be Christians has dropped from 85% to 76% from 1996 to 2005.

Never married. Hung out with 12 men.

His last seven words?

"I can see my house from here."

Harmonika Savingsbonds,

Among Jesus' last words from the cross were, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Seems like this would apply to these gbw people as well.

Gay is not anti-God!!! Many gay men and women have very deep connections to God and live very spiritual lives. But then why should we be surprised at this group for their continued lies and bigoted statements. Jesus said not ONE word about this!!!! Father forgive them for their attitudes and their twisting of your good will to all into this chilling event. God love all!!!!! Even them. We dont' hate these sinners, just their un-christian attitudes and actions (sins).

Jeremy,

You said: "Oh, God. Please show your most vocal that there truly is a "better way." Because honestly, dude -- these nonstop attacks are making there way look nothing short of "bitter." "

What "attacks" are you referring to?

Marcus French
Editor: Voice of Revolution

All: one of the organizers of the event has written about this post. And of course he uses the "bigots" and "haters" straw man (words this writer never uses on this site), as if those terms are the be all and end all of our activism.

Feel free to dialogue with him:

http://voiceofrevolution.askdrbrown.org/2009/06/05/god-has-a-better-way-launch-backlash/#comment-4667

Oh come on, Marcus: I don't think you are a dumb person. Surely you see how painting gays as anti-God is somewhat of an attack on our lives and loves!

You are choosing to show up at event where people will be mind their own business, and you plan to preach to them under the assumption that they are (a) not already religious, (b) in need of religion if they are not a person of faith, (c) not properly Christian even if they are of that particular faith, and (d) in need of a "better way" no matter their faith views/lack thereof. It is patently insulting.

*Ed note: Marcus is the organizer that I mentioned in the previous comment.

Yes, Marcus, we see your "spirit birthed" loving brethern at every pride event. Their only intent is on disrupting a peaceful gathering of like-minded people. We ignore them. I wonder if we would be ignored if we showed up to disrupt a peaceful gathering of your people?

Marcus, please try. Let's start with a simple exercise--how would you like a gay (or atheist, or Wiccan) group to gather in protest of an event at your church, yelling about how you need to change your life to be more like them? Would you appreciate that? I'm expecting not.

"Nothing like this has ever been done in conjunction with a gay pride event in any city before..." There's a real good reason for that. Bunches, actually.

Also, apparently God's better way involves forgetting everything you ever knew about grammar, graphics, or color coordination. That logo makes me cringe, even before guessing what the "better way" is!

Sammy,

A group here in Charlotte did this very thing at a Love Won Out conference back in February. Members of our spiritual community took the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the protesters. Michael L. Brown, who is leading this God Has a Better Way event and is a speaker at Love Won Out, went up to each of the protesters and shook all their hands.

I personally welcome people challenging me and my beliefs (as Jeremy Hooper did on my post today, causing me to reword my post to better communicate what I was trying to say), in order to look again at what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. We want to show people attending this gay pride event that God has made a better way available to them. We hope that we can challenge their beliefs, and cause them to question the choices they're making, hopefully leading them down the "path of life." Thus we are "treating others the way we ourselves want to be treated."

Marcus: Please don't take any of this personally. I don't think many people would consider you to be a bad person. We are just fed up with having to fight for the things/concepts/ideas/rights/respect/decency/equitable treatment/non-persecution that should go without saying.

I think if more on your side would honestly look at all this from within our shoes, you would see that we are not the ones who are casting stones.

Jeremy,

Could you explain what you mean by "anti-God" in your statement "Surely you see how painting gays as anti-God is somewhat of an attack on our lives and loves!"? Do you mean that we believe gay people are against the idea of God? Or that we believe they are in sin, and thus anti-God? Or something else?

GreenEyed,

See my response to Sammy.

Also, with reference to the logo (which I and a friend designed), I agree that against the background of this site it doesn't look good. The logo here was from an earlier rendition of the site (it's slightly altered now on www.godhasabetterway.com), but I kept it on the Coalition of Conscience site (www.coalitionofconscience.org), which is probably where Jeremy downloaded it, because I thought it looked good against the black background. (Not that this really matters of course, but since I had a hand in its design, I thought I'd share my two cents :) )

"Everything we do will be law-abiding, safe ..."

One would think that that would go without saying! Why is it that these (so called) "loving" christians would need to counsel their hordes to leave the baseball bats, strap-on bombs and other weapons at home. I mean really, why else would an aggressive "my way is the only way" group, that is becoming more marginalized every day need to be instructed to be "law-abiding".

Perhaps because many in that group are still basking in glow of the vigilantism of abortion doctor murders. Perhaps because intolerant, highly unstable individuals are intending to interject themselves into a peaceful celebration of life that this group finds to be despicable. I can think of a hundred other reasons why, but probably the biggest is that they know the animosity that most in that group feel toward their fellow citizens who happen to be LGBT.

And, more than knowing it, they may be (secretly) hoping that some of the rabbel-rousers show up. Planting the seed that violence may ensue, might simply be enough to ensure that it does.

Still one of my favorite responses to those who want to force their particular personal choice of religious dogma down my throat .....
Eric Schwartz - Keep your Jesus off my Penis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5YrB7TpT1Y

I certainly hope SOULFORCE is invited to the Pride Celebrations... I think Bishop Gene would make a great Grand Marshall!

Ah, yes. Dr. Michael Brown. It's been a while since he turned his focus on our community.

Marcus,

Do you know what I see when I see this form of "evangelism"? I see a church that has failed.

You have presented your message about "a better way" and it has been rejected. Those you want to convince, refuse to attend your church, hear your message, and conform to your demands.

The attendees at the gay pride event aren't mistakenly missing your message because they don't know you are there. They are CHOOSING not to come into your churches on Sunday. They have selected to either go somewhere else or not go at all.

You offered. They said no. You failed.

So now you are trying to get in their face. You have to go hunt them down. So you can force them to hear the message that they aren't interested in hearing. Because you completely failed to make your message enticing, interesting, approachable, or relevant to their lives.

But you and I both know that the message you are bringing and insisting in pushing on unwilling recipients will not be greeted with joy. They aren't going to want to hear you any more than they wanted to hear you last Sunday morning. The only difference is you have gone from offering "the good news" to trying to force feed it to those you think need it.

And still they won't buy it. They won't adopt your "better way".

So it makes me wonder: if you know that no one wants you there, if you know that your message isn't going to be welcomed, if you know that what you have to present isn't what that audience is looking for, why are you going?

Because it isn't about them. It's about you.

You are going for some personal motivation, perhaps to feel superior, perhaps to feel holy for having "evangelized to the heathen", perhaps to "fight the homosexual agenda", perhaps to "fight against principalities and powers". Who knows.

But whatever it is, it certainly isn't REALLY to tell gay people that God has a better way. You've tried that every Sunday this year and they aren't interested.

Ha,

I might even be around for that! My boyfriend prolly won't let me go because he'll be afraid I'll get lynched.

However, Dear Jeremy, please know not ALL Christians are anti-gay. I'm Christian; in fact I'm Lutheran, and I am VERY pro-gay rights. We even ordain gays.

BTW this blog is a million times better the Queerty.

Greeneyed: As far as the Logo goes, I think Francesca Safran's HuffPo piece says it all.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francesca-billersafran/same-sex-marriage-protest_b_211657.html?show_comment_id=25210570#comment_25210570

Timothy: Great breakdown. I know Christians by mandate feel the need to proselytize (usually to the detriment of the indigenous populations they invade), actually, a lot of anti-gay rhetoric and sentiment can be traced back to the European's conquering with their guns and their bibles.

As you said, they're still trying to conquer the heathen. But the sad thing is, people are tired of being force fed religion, especially by people who do not exibit the loving qualities of which they profess ownership.

It's not very loving, Marcus French, to drop in on a party uninvited and proceed to hold court, change the music, and block access to the buffet table because its fattening. Actually, how dare you?

And now a word from a man who knew a thing or two about peace and love:

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

-Mahatma Gandhi

The loving thing to do would be to accept all people as they are, and let God handle his own business. Isn't that a novel idea, Marcus?

the subtext is that people who happen to be attracted to the same gender, honest about it, and content with their lives cannot therefore follow jesus.

of course nothing says you can't be gay and join in their worship. seems like this would be something for gay christians to do. join them in worship not to be assholes, but to try to unite rather than divide. see what happens.

i live with my fiance, who, yes is a guy, and i love him with all my heart. When i was younger i was raised a Mormon, and i was taught to hate all homosexual people and acts. Ive come to realize, after i shook off the chains that bound my mind and soul in intolerance, that in your heart it doesn't matter the gender, its what u feel.

when i met my fiance i was a little unsure but my heart kept saying yes and then now here i am with him 2000 miles from where i grew up and loving every moment of it. i was taught, however that god inspires joy, if that statement is true then im safe in saying that i was not wrong in my decision to be with the love of my life.

to all those who degrade us, mock us, and even try to hurt us, we mean no harm, were just people like u who choose to live without fear or care. we are who we are and that's never gonna change.

peace.

Thanks so much for sharing that, Riso! Keep the peace.