wfn.org | Faith and Life commentary: Christian morality and hate crimes

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Nov. 2, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE:  A head-and-shoulders photograph of the Rev. Phil Wogaman is
available.

A UMNS Commentary
By the Rev. Phil Wogaman*

No doubt, a very large majority of American Christians deplore such hate
crimes as the brutal killing of young Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. Most
church-goers were probably appalled by "Christian" demonstrators outside
Shepard's funeral service, with their placards of hatred directed at
gays and lesbians. I took special note of that Christian hate group
because the same people have demonstrated twice outside the church I
serve in Washington, D.C.  

The last time that happened, I thought it best just to ignore them. But
as I was getting ready for our second service that Sunday, a young man
came up to me with tears in his eyes. The hate slogans were directed
against him, he said. Wasn't there something we could say?  

I pondered the question. Of course he was right. Faced with a
mean-spirited version of Christianity outside our doors, I had to make
very clear to the young man and others like him that all are welcome in
the church of Jesus Christ. I said that in my sermon, but then I felt I
had to say more. I had to acknowledge, with sadness, that some of our
moral teaching has provided the soil in which the garden of unkindness
flourishes.

Is that a fair thing to say? I expect many to bristle at the thought. Do
we not, after all, speak of loving the sinner while we hate the sin? We
do indeed, but is that such an easy combination to pull off? In an Oct.
26 Newsweek column on the Shepard murder, Jonathan Alter offered this
comment: "Discerning clergymen and moralists can hate the sin and love
the sinner; but by the time the homophobic message reaches the angry
guys sitting in the bar, that distinction has been lost."

What has not been lost, however, is the impression that Christians
consider homosexual activity to be dreadfully wrong. My own denomination
does not use the biblical word "abomination" to characterize such
behavior -- though many Christian groups do. United Methodist language
is more polite. But the message still comes through in the way the
church singles this out for such attention, with a growing list of
specific church laws.

Why so much attention? Some leaders will say that it is necessary to
reassure grass roots church members who are really angry about the
issue. Angry? Is the anger over the sin, if it is a sin, greater than
the love of the sinner? Is this anger, which the church voices more
politely, part of what fuels the hate groups?  

After years of reflecting on this issue and getting to know gay and
lesbian Christians whom I have come to respect, my own thinking has
changed. I no longer regard all homosexual behavior as necessarily
pathological or sinful, as I once did. I see too much evidence to the
contrary. But even when I did think of it in such negative terms, it
didn't seem to me to be such a major thing.  What I now  find revealing
in the stance of so many churches is the intensity with which homosexual
behavior is condemned - even though it is very difficult to support the
judgment theologically or scientifically. Indeed, how could we give
convincing reasons to support our condemning attitudes when we don't
even know for sure why some people are gay or lesbian and others are
not?

That debate will continue, of course.  In the meantime, let us be very
careful that both our words and the tone with which we express them do
not provide encouragement to the hate groups. Our most important message
is that God loves everybody.

# # #

*Wogaman, pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington and a
seminary professor of Christian ethics, is the author of 13 books. He is
a clergy member of the Baltimore-Washington United Methodist Annual
(regional) Conference.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not
necessarily represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United
Methodist Church.

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