Wondering why junior high schoolers
are distributing hateful flyers aimed at LGBTQ students? Wondering why the hate
continues to plague our country and permeates the hallways of our schools?
Start with a look at what goes on Sunday mornings in some of our churches.
In the days when the KKK ruled
the South, Klansmen gathered in Protestant churches to pray, read scripture,
and hear sermons about why their god hates those who are not part of the white
race. When they were at a fever pitch, the preacher adjourned the meeting and
the Klan members headed out for a night of burning crosses and lynching black
people.
Lynching is largely a relic of a
sad past. Bullying young people to the point of humiliation, others into
committing suicide, is the way some who lay claim to the title “Christian” give
witness to their faith today.
Bigots still gather in some of
our churches to pray, read scripture, and hear sermons about why their god
hates certain people. Now it’s gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people.
When they are at a fever pitch, they concur on talking points and head for the
state capitol or wherever other elected officials gather to make decisions
effecting the rights of the LGBTQ community.
They humiliate people they don’t
know and can’t understand, people whom the U.S. and Wyoming Supreme Courts have
ruled have a Constitutional right to marry. They demand to know, “What will
next constitute a union? A man and his sister? You know, a woman and a dog?”
Led by a state legislator who is
a member of one of their churches, they equate same-sex attraction to sex with
animals and pedophilia. They look to the pulpit to teach their children to
clobber classmates with cherry picked Bible verses. They tell one another it’s
not hate, but a gift, to teach gays and lesbians what is required for their
heavenly salvation.
The Bible they interpret allows
them to take God’s name in vain. To give credence to the hate, they blasphemously
call it “the word of God.” They assure their flock, “God hates the same people
we do.” They tell one another it is an expression of “religious freedom.”
As though that weren’t ugly
enough, their message falls on the ears of young bigots in training. Those are
the kids making the flyers to bully and threaten others about their sexual
identity. They are the young people distributing the flyers and calling
classmates “faggots.”
It gives new meaning to the term
“bully pulpit.”
You know who you are. So do the
young people in the pews. I have a prayer for my colleagues who pastor these
churches. If it’s not hate you intend to preach, then make it reconciliation.
Explore what Jesus meant when he said all of the law depends on the
commandments to love God and love one another.
Teach the impact of bullying on
kids who are wrestling with sexual identity. Tell them this truth. Wyoming has
one of the highest rates of teen suicide in the nation and gay and lesbian
youth contemplate suicide at a rate three times that of heterosexual kids.
Preach unequivocally against
bullying in any form and teach the warning that physical or verbal harassment
of an LGBT classmate increases the likelihood of self-harm by more than two-and-a-half
times. Fill your sermons with Christ-like assurances, giving the youth in your
pews reason to befriend, not bully, LGBTQ kids.
Preach to the families of kids who may be questioning
their sexual identity. When these children of God are rejected by family, their
suicide attempt rate sky rockets by 8.4 times that experienced by those who
have the support of their families. Give parents the support and Bible-based
tools to uplift their children as an alternative to rejecting them.
Fellow clergy, lives are at stake. We are Christ-bound to
avoid making life tougher for those whose lives are tough enough. God gave the
world an empty tomb, calling us to teach resurrection.
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