Thursday, December 8, 2011

Another Teen Bullied To Death; Another Reason for a New Christianity


By John Shore in Christian Issues:

Another kid has been bullied into killing himself. His name is Jacob Rogers. He went to Cheatham County Central High School, in Ashland City, TN. Apparently he’d been being pretty severely bullied for four years. It got so bad that around Thanksgiving he quit going to school.

A friend of Jacob’s told reporters, “He started coming home his senior year, saying ‘I don’t want to go back. Everyone is so mean. They call me a faggot, they call me gay, a queer.’”

Yesterday Jacob took his own life.

You can read more via MSNBC. (An important detail not mentioned in that MSNBC story comes from from KingstonSprings.org: “Dr. Tim Webb, Director of Cheatham County Schools [said] that his almost all-new staff at the high school only knew of one incident of bullying and confronted the accused over the bullying. However, Dr. Webb also noted that because staff were new to the school, they were perhaps not aware of the extent of bullying that Jacob had endured in years past.”)

I’ve done a fair amount of writing on these sorts of tragedies (see this past Saturday’s Tell Me, Christian, That You Hear this Boy, Christians and the Blood of Jamey Rodemeyer, and My Gay Christian Cousin Committed Suicide, to name just three). And so I have no doubt that some will claim that the primary reason Jacob killed himself is not because he was bullied. They’ll say that we don’t know the whole story. They’ll point to the fact that Jacob lived with his grandmother, that his family is poor (not, God knows, that poverty is any sin)—that it’s safe to assume this kid had problems beyond being bullied.

And I will respond with what I always say: that certainly there are always myriad causes behind the suicide of any person. But that that does not alter the fact that the root cause of tragedies like the Jacob Rogers story is that strain of Christianity which continues to insist that homosexuality is an evil affront to God.


If Christians would actually read the Bible, instead of daring to insist that three or four isolated phrases within it justifies a theology that has no more to do with Christ than Fred Phelps has to do with Welcome Wagon, we would arrive at a popular Christianity that is not, as so much of our Christianity is today, a pure affront to anyone with half a conscience.

And that Christianity would dissipate the motivation of those kids who bully in the name and spirit of condemning homosexuality. Quickly and inevitably, that particularly noxious train would come to a halt. Because there wouldn’t be left any enduring reason for anyone to ever condemn gay people at all.

Then gay people would just be … people. You know: that thing God made in his own image.

6 comments:

Rob Lazar said...

Shame on you, Joe.

The question isn't what some believe is the Biblical teaching on homosexuality. It's not even what you believe is the origin of homosexuality. The question is does God have a particular view of sin, ALL sin? I agree with you that bullying and belittling a person is wrong and should be opposed. On that I agree with you. But where does that lead? Does it then follow that any of these things make homosexuality acceptable in God's mind?

You're highly disingenuous. On the one hand you post an article that claims man is made in God's image and use that to beat on Christians because they find the homosexual lifestyle contrary to God's design. And on the other hand you want to deny God even exists. You can't have it both ways.

The homosexual liar is confronted with his own sin the same way the heterosexual idolater (who has other gods) has to confront that sin.

If you want to oppose bullying, I'm with you. If you want to promote homosexual conduct as correct in God's mind, I'm against you. If that makes me hateful, let God judge me.

The blog you posted recently asking "When did you choose to be straight?" is meant to persuade someone into thinking homosexuality is natural and therefore okay with God. I wouldn’t think you’d want to use that. Because if you use that natural line of reasoning to determine moral right and wrong, then homosexual adoption is wrong automatically since 2 homosexuals can't have children with each other.

Brett Cottrell said...

The problem is that some people selectively read the Bible - which I suppose is necessary considering the many contradictions.

But the Bible's contradictions make only slightly more sense than Perry's logic: declare war on Gingrich by declaring war on gays.
http://brettcottrell.blogspot.com/2011/12/rick-perry-declares-war-on-gingrich-by.html

Rob Lazar said...

Brett,

Did Jesus selectively quote bible passages in Matthew 18:4-5 in which He defines marriage?

Anonymous said...

What's with this sick and perverted blog anyway??? It's bad enough you people are ramming your depravity down our throats in an attempt to make clear thinking people think your lifestyle is normal...now you sully the Erie Blogs with your militant homo agenda. And what's your problem with Christianity? You people make me want to puke.

JCF said...

Good heavens, this blog has come to the attention of Christianists, that foul PERVERSION of faith in the Nazarean Carpenter.

Bullying is sinful violence against the Imago Dei.

And homophobia is sinfuly LYING (often violent) against the Imago Dei-Made-Gay.

There's the connection, Christianist blasphemers. REPENT of your homophobia! Repent of your violence! In Jesus' Name!

D. Lucas said...

If you people don't like Christians, I can't wait to hear how you love the Muslims. At least we don't chop off your heads.