It’s more than a little troubling to know that Rev. Louie Giglio was ousted from President Obama’s Inauguration over a sermon he gave on the sin of homosexuality sometime in the nineties. We expect the “tolerant-oppressives” on the Left to attempt to smear Christianity as de facto bigotry; it’s just another weapon in their never-ending crusade to destroy religion. But the media and our White House taking an active role in such a thing marks a new era for Christians and Christianity, and, I fear, not a good one.
We have now officially reached a point where the elite media and a sitting president not only believe Christianity is bigotry, but that this bigotry is worthy of ostracizing from public life those who believe in the teachings of the Bible.
The context is important here, as well. As far as we know, Giglio gave one sermon over a long, varied and respected career. Moreover, he kept his remarks where they belonged, on behavior, not humanity. Had Giglio been railing against homosexuals and singling them out, that would be something entirely different. Had Giglio attempted to demonize people over who they are as opposed to specifying behavior, that would also be risible.
But Giglio never came close to crossing those lines and even talked about how “we must lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of not all, but of many in the homosexual community.” Many Christians, like myself, believe this is how most personal sin should be approached. This even includes, yes, sins committed by those who are not gay. And, yes, the Bible also contains a whole host of sins surrounding the sexuality of heterosexuals.
What we’re seeing with the left and the media, though, is that believing in the teachings of the Bible, and more importantly, espousing and professing those beliefs, is now treated as though it’s hate speech, bigotry, homophobia, or worse.
As we saw, Giglio was treated by the left, the media, and the White House not as a Christian preaching the Word and asking his flock to “lovingly but firmly” reject sin, but as someone who screamed “fag!”
At the Christian site Breaking Point, Gina Dalfonzo writes:
On January 9, the website Think Progress announced that, in the mid-1990s, Giglio had preached a sermon full of “rabidly anti-LGBT views.” They offered extensive excerpts from the sermon, which argued, based on passages from the Old and New Testaments, that “homosexuality . . . is sin according to the word of God,” and that “we must lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of not all, but of many in the homosexual community.”
Later that day, the New York Times picked up the story, running the following quote from Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out: “It is imperative that Giglio clarify his remarks and explain whether he has evolved on gay rights, like so many other faith and political leaders.”
On January 10, as “criticism over the selection swirled” (in the words of CNN), Giglio withdrew from the inaugural ceremony. …
Wayne Besen’s words strike a particularly ominous note, with his insistence that Giglio demonstrate whether he had “evolved.” The underlying message seems to be “Evolve, or else.” The ominousness grows to positively Orwellian proportions when one looks at some of the other wording being thrown around.
For instance, there’s White House spokeswoman Addie Whisenant’s comment that Giglio’s sermon didn’t reflect “the strength and diversity of our country.” And then there’s Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign, saying that “Participants in the Inaugural festivities should unite rather than divide.” “Unite,” in this context, apparently means “force to agree.”
Like Dalfonzo, I’m not complaining about this depressing turn of events. But something seismic happened at the beginning of this week: as a country and culture we’ve crossed a Rubicon.
And that’s something worth taking note of.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC