Brody's Scribbles... The Church Must Admit Its Complicity In Bullying

The writer is Senior Pastor of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas which is also home to openly Gay Ft. Worth City Councilman Joel Burns, whose deeply personal speech before the Ft. Worth City Council on the subject of bullying went viral on the Internet and touched millions globally. The column was a special to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram newspaper last Saturday, October 23rd.

Photo Courtesy of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, Ft. Worth, Texas

By Dr. Ftriz Ritsch (Ft. Worth, Texas) OCT 30 | When I was pastor of a rural Virginia church in the early 1990s, I performed the funeral of a young gay man, a member of the church, who'd died from hepatitis contracted from needle exchange. If that hadn't killed him, though, AIDS would have. It wasn't suicide, but it might as well have been, because his self-destructive path had started with being bullied, teased and demeaned as a teenager -- at that very church.

Last April, I participated in a clergy panel for the Texas Freedom Network, a gay and lesbian rights organization. I was humbled as audience members told shocking stories of religion-based prejudice and abuse. Still, they longed to return to church and find peace with God.

I've had it with the bullying that comes from the church's bully pulpit. Our history of denigrating gays and lesbians has provided the "godly" rationale for centuries of hatred and abuse. It's a flagrant violation of the Gospel. Moderate Christians -- the silent majority -- need to stop being silent and speak out.

My own denomination, the Presbyterian Church USA, is considered one of the most liberal mainline denominations. But we have a rule that specifically excludes gays and lesbians from service as clergy or officers of the church. Most liberal churches will ordain divorced and remarried people without a second thought, yet Jesus speaks specifically against divorce and remarriage, e.g., Mark 9 -- whereas he says not one word about homosexuality. This is hypocrisy.

Fort Worth has an outstanding, openly gay City Council member, Joel Burns -- but in most churches Joel couldn't serve on the governing board. Clearly the residents of District 9 know something that entire Christian denominations need to learn.

It is true that throughout the Bible homosexual practice is denounced. But Christians down through the centuries have ignored, moderated or outright disavowed many biblical mandates when we felt they weren't in keeping with the Gospel. In the Old Testament, holiness rules condemn homosexual practice. They also direct us to stone disrespectful sons, forgo sex during menstruation and not to look at another person naked. We don't take those rules seriously. Why give rules about gays more credence?

In the New Testament, there are also condemnations of homosexuality. But the resounding New Testament message is that the commandment to love always trumps legalistic barriers that separate people from each other and from God.

Fundamentalist churches make the mistake of reading Scripture as a list of rules and regulations, which undermines the anti-legalistic message of the Gospel. But at least they have an excuse -- that's what they believe!

The mainline churches, on the other hand, have a long history of viewing Scripture as a living document whose specific mandates are trumped by the core message of the faith. Our anti-gay bias is therefore harder to justify -- and more insidious.

Most church members are hardly unkind people, but since the denominational policy is to make homosexuals second-class citizens, they fall into prejudice by default. They do not doubt that God loves gays and lesbians. The problem is a church culture whose rules exclude them from full participation. What message does that send to the church's teenagers who are struggling with their sexuality and self-image?

It doesn't help that Christian extremists dominate the airwaves, sidelining more moderate Christian voices. But too often, moderate voices sideline themselves, not wanting to rock the boat. The recent epidemic of bullying-related teen suicides is a wake-up call to us moderate Christians: We can't wait on the sidelines any longer. We have to speak out.

The Gospel message of God's love, grace and forgiveness has been corrupted by legalism. Some Christian leaders have blamed 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina on gays and lesbians. Some American pastors have actively supported Ugandan laws making homosexuality a capital offense. I've known mainline youth pastors, who should know better, who've tried to exorcise "gay demons" from their teenage charges.

These are extremes. They certainly aren't representative of most Christians. But these extremes color the perception of the church by outsiders.

Jesus once taught, "By their fruit you shall know them." To most unchurched Americans -- meaning most Americans -- the fruit of the church regarding homosexuality is bitter indeed. A Barna Group survey found that two-thirds of Americans believe that Christians "show contempt for gays and lesbians" ( Unchristian, Kinnamon and Lyons, Baker Books, 2007, p. 91). The survey found that Christians are generally perceived as arrogant and judgmental, and that many believe that people outside the church are more Christlike than people inside.

Most of the Christians I know do not judge people by their sexual orientation, but by the content of their character. But the bullying crisis has put a fine point on the need for moderates to challenge theological bullies from our own bully pulpit. We cannot equivocate. Children are dying. We need to speak up. If not now, when?

Rev. Dr. Ritsch has been the pastor of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, TX, for almost six years. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA. He has served both rural and urban churches in Virginia, Delaware, and most recently in Bethesda, MD. He writes regularly on matters of faith and politics for newspapers and church publications and is especially concerned that people see the intelligent, compassionate, and inclusive face of Christianity. Rev. Ritsch is married to Margaret and has two children, Sara, 18, and Bennie, 12.