I Tried Talking to Homophobic Evangelicals in Their Language; It Left a Bad Taste in My Mouth

The other day, one of my relatives Facebook-Liked a message that was:

"If you believe a marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman, say: YES" accompanied by the OP writing, "YES!!!!!! Of course the ONLY thing I have to go on is what GOD Almighty says in HIS WORD! Can ANYONE prove me wrong according to the Word of God?" From there followed various likes, yes's, amen's, and unkind words about homosexuals.

In case it isn't obvious from the bisexual characters and the burgeoning same-sex romance in my book, I support LGBT+ rights, including marriage equality. Also, I can't stand charlatans.

My wife reminded me that I was supposed to stop arguing with friends-of-friends on Facebook, no matter how open the invitation, so I "reacted" to it with an anger emojii to express my disapproval, and left it at that.

My father did not leave it at that, and ended up having a lengthy argument with the person, revolving around freedom of religion in the United States. Perhaps because he's older and wiser that me, my father is inclined to take a relatively middle ground stance on something, even something he cares about, and to take a relatively moderate approach to an argument, applying, when pressed, cold logic. I love my father, but I'm not my father. I'm less... temperate... and though I can certainly apply logic ruthlessly and effectively when I have time and volition, I've learned that there are some people who are simply immune to logic. They're so caught up in a particular dogma, that anything that opposes their world view - even cool-headed reason - is some sort of spell cast by the Devil.

And then the original poster sent me a friend request.

Well, if there was ever an invitation to speak my mind, I reckoned that was it. Of course, descending into an argument about human rights and the law with people who have openly rejected the separation of church and state is pointless. They sincerely believe that freedom of religion only applies to them, because their religion is the only actual religion - you can't argue the issue with someone when they have absolute commitment to that assumption.

I read through the various responses to my dad's position, many people crying that his soul needed saving (which I'm completely certain that it does not need anymore saving than it already has) and got to thinking, "How DO you talk to these people?" Obviously, when facing a communication barrier, the first thing to ask yourself is, "Am I speaking their language?" That sounds stupid, of course; it's the communication equivalent of, "Is it plugged in?" However, I realized that the answer was "No" - I don't speak the same language.

It may be English, yes, but the cadence, the catch-phrases, the vocabulary are all very different from the way I speak. Their language is one of unwavering certainty, they speak with the conviction that whatever words come out of their mouths or their fingertips are the words of God, and by extension, that their will is the will of God. There really is no practical difference between an evangelizing hard-right Christian and a person who actually believes that he himself is a god.

So, I thought I should experiment with breaking from my traditional modus operandii and talk to these petty gods the way they speak to others. I was completely certain I wouldn't persuade a single one of them they are wrong, in much the same way I am certain that poking a dead animal with a stick isn't going to bring it back to life, but I thought it might be educational to see how they would react.

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Since my anger emojii seems to have been misinterpreted by people sending friend requests, I should elaborate.

I am angered when I see people worshiping a FALSE god.

It's one thing to come from a different background, a different culture, and to have a different perspective of what and who God is, but to take the TEACHINGS OF CHRIST and willfully misrepresent them to promote ostracism, hate, and even violence disgusts me like no other sin could possibly do.

Here is the message of Christ, consistent across three different books with three different authors:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22)

"The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12)

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." (Luke 10)

It appalls me to see people who are so eager to ignore these words, THE WORDS OF CHRIST. It appalls me to see that they are so eager to overturn these words that they will choose to elevate above them words written centuries before Christ's birth, and words written decades after his death.

Were the actual WORDS OF CHRIST too vague for you? Did they not provide enough detail? Did you feel like they left you too much responsibility? Or did they leave too much freedom for your neighbors? Does the uncertainty scare you so much that you have to either flock to the words of ancient texts which CHRIST explicitly over-turned, or to the words of a self-declared prophet, who never sat and listened to his teachings, because he was too busy hunting and persecuting CHRIST'S DISCIPLES as heretics.

Or does CHRIST'S MESSAGE just not fit into your life? Does CHRIST'S commandment to LOVE THY NEIGHBOR just not fulfill your personal needs to reject and disparage someone? Are THE WORDS OF CHRIST just NOT HATEFUL enough for you?

Man, woman, or child, those who live by the writings of our pagan ancestors and bow to the false teachings of the scourge of Christ's disciples and dismiss THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST - they take GOD'S NAME IN VAIN, when THE SON OF GOD has COMMANDED us to LOVE GOD. They call upon God to punish those THEY deem wicked, when THE SON OF GOD has taught us to LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. They mock the WORD OF GOD by declaring that they still "love" their neighbors, while in the same breaths calling them abominations, retching at their presence, and crying for them to be oppressed.

You claim to speak the word of God, while abandoning THE WORDS OF CHRIST. You are FALSE PROPHETS, who seek to lead God's children - all seven billion of them, down the path of hate and wickedness under the banner of 'the righteous.'

SHAME UPON EVERY ONE OF YOU.

SHAME UPON YOU AND EVERY HEART YOU TURN TO YOUR PATH OF BIGOTRY AND PERSECUTION.

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOULS and THANK GOD that judgment isn't MINE to make.

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It was tempting to just write "RTFM MFs - AMEN IF YOU AGREE", but instead I decided to fight fire-and-brimstone with fire-and-brimstone. What I immediately learned is that it's alarmingly easy to do. It practically writes itself, and the feeling one experiences when watching readers "like" it is seductive.

Now, to be completely honest, there's no part of that I don't actually believe. I'm not satirizing the beliefs of others to make a point. Yes, I'm a liberal progressive SJW, but I'm also Christian. In fact, I kind of think "Christian" inherently entails "liberal progressive SJW" and shake my head at the millions of people who don't get that.

The real departure from my normal self' in writing that was that ordinarily I wouldn't write or speak in such a way as to presume to speak for God - I generally think God can speak for himself (and if he has something to say, he'll say it, whether you've asked him to or not). In fact, it's part of the reason Rise of Azraea is set in a fantasy universe; an author places himself or herself in a god-like role, and I'm uncomfortable with the implication of assuming that role in a story about the real world (though I'm certainly pushing my comfort zone with my second book, set in Boston ca. 1773).

In my writing, I'd normally rely on mortal tools like reason and facts to accomplish my aims, and leave God out of it. I believe I'm right, but I generally don't believe enough in myself to declare with such certainty that God says I'm right. If he explicitly spoke to me and said, 'Yeah, you're right,' I'd feel differently, but as of yet I've not had God weigh in on any of my internet arguments (other things, yes, but not Facebook fights).

I broke that rule today, and it makes me uneasy, to say the least.

I could probably come up with a justification or rationalization for doing so, but feeling better about myself because I rationalized my rationale would be convoluted and probably tautological.

I could also delete the post, and ask to be forgiven for my hubris, yet I can't quite bring myself to do that. I'm not sure if it's because I'm too prideful to take it back, or if it's because if, in this particular case, my belief in the cause actually outweighs my disbelief in myself.

To the LGBT+ readers out there, contending with the religious-right's rhetoric at home, in the street, on Facebook, and everywhere else, I want to add this:

In reading up on that right-wing dogma, I came across a defense that was being used by a homophobic writer on gotquestions.org. He or she cites the book of John but I'm pretty sure s/he is using it wrong, so I think you all should have it:

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).

I think you all should take those words and carry them with you, because I hope that you will remember that, whether you're straight, gay, lesbian, bi, asexual or pansexual, whether you're trans* or cis*, you don't belong to anyone but God. No person or group of people owns you.

The Christian right does not own you, nor does any other religious faction. You don't belong to the Grand Old Party, the Tea Party, or any other political organization. You don't belong to the tax-payers or to the voters - the majority of us are behind you now, but even if we weren't, your rights would not be, and are not ours to hand out as we see fit. Your rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are your GOD-GIVEN rights, and anyone among us who presumes that we should, or even can, take them from you is wrong.  

As one of my favorite Youtubers would say, "Peace." 





James N. McDonald is a "liberal academic" born and raised in Missouri and residing in Tennessee. He holds one degree in history, two degrees in psychology, but loves writing fiction. His first, completed novel, The Rise of Azraea, Book I, is a high fantasy story with elements of comic fantasy and satire targeting present day, real world issues such as economic inequity, and sexual and racial discrimination. It is currently available on Amazon.