Since being laid off, I’ve found new enjoyment in daytime television. I’ve become addicted to Spin City and I’m even watching Dharma and Freaking Greg (even though I find the whole concept repulsive.) I’ve also become a fan of the Ellen DeGeneres talk show.
I don’t generally like talk shows, but she’s very down home, funny, dances like a white boy who grew up in the Church of Christ, doesn’t treat celebrities like royalty and treats her audience like celebrities. I don’t know there is something very sort of real about her that I like. Now I’m sure once I find a job I’ll forget all about her, but for now I’m enjoying it.
Most of you should know that Ellen became famous for her situation comedy a few years back where her character came out and became the first TV character to do so. You could say that she was a trailblazer for all the homosexual characters on television.
The thing is, she doesn’t do lesbian on her talk show. She doesn’t stand on a soap box promoting gay issues, or even mention her own sexuality on the show at all. It’s her telling stories, playing games with the stars and giving away free junk to her audience. No homosexual agenda at all.
The other day, my wife is talking to her aunt and mentions some joke Ellen made on her show and she got a look. The look. The look that says I can’t believe you watch such immoral garbage and you had better not talk about that moral decay in my presence.
I suspect there are a lot of people with exactly that kind of look for Ellen all over America.
I don’t understand this look. Again Ellen doesn’t discuss homosexuality on air. She doesn’t raise any issues at all really. The show is entertainment. She tells jokes and plays games. She’s not trying to tell people how to live. Yet she’ll get lambasted simply because she is a homosexual. The same people (and yes I know I’m over generalizing here) have no qualms about Oprah or Dr. Phil. Yet I will protest that they are pure evil. Oprah pretends to be the queen of spirituality and advice and has not right to. She’s not a Christian, she’s not an exceptionally moral person, yet she spends her day telling people how to live.
A few years back I caught an episode of Oprah and she had a man on who was a homosexual, but had given up on the practice of it because he had found God. Oprah chastised this man and said that God loved him for who he was and that He wanted him to be happy and not deny his homosexual urges.
So here’s Oprah openly supporting the gay agenda, but where are her looks?
In discussing this with my wife I started to ponder the state of sexual discourse in our churches. In my thirty odd years I’ve heard numerous sermons on the evils of homosexuality, lessons on the gay agenda, read pamphlets and sat through many a long discussion on this particular sing.
But what I’ve never seen is a homosexual in church. No, I take that back. For awhile I was taking a bisexual to church with me. But other than that I don’t see where the real problem is.
Don’t get me wrong, the practice of homosexuality is a sin. The bible doesn’t cut corners in telling us the immorality of gay sex. But I don’t really see where it is a problem in the church. Are there some rove congregations out there that have been taken over by a gay coup? Are members falling away for the gay lifestyle?
What I do see is a church that is falling pray to a heterosexual lifestyle. I have personally known at least six members of the church who have left their spouses for another person. Two of them have been deacons.
I don’t have all the statistics, but I think it is fair to say that the church is awash in pornography. Our culture is drowning in porno, and I can’t see that the church members have escaped this phenomenon.
Yet I hear very little about these problems. Where are the pamphlets on the heterosexual agenda, or the dangers of porn addiction? Why are preachers not preaching against these sings in a bigger, more real way?
This seems like such a double standard to me, and one that is doing great damage to the church. What say you?
13 comments:
No idea what the pick is about.
I agree that homosexuality should be preached against. It just seems like the ratio of preaching against it to actual problem in the church is a bit skewed.
On top of which preaching against some of the real problems seems nonexistent.
Maybe it seems that it's preached about too much where you are or something.
I don't remember a time where it was preached about at church, just the consensus in the class.
But, you're probably right. People fear homosexuality and thus will tend to focus on it. All sin must be dealt with.
Of course, homosexuality is one of those things that stands out, so maybe it just seems like it preached on too much.
I don't know, but I think we are in agreement.
I don't really hear full sermons on it so much, but often it will be a singular point in a sermon. But there are a lot of tracts and remarks made about it.
Some of this also comes from the broader "christian" community as well like Focus on the Family and all that.
Most of my life I've sort of stuck up for the homosexual community because it seems like they get a bad rap from the secular community and another one from Christians. And I agree with you, we need to focus on love and helping than broad condemnation.
Wow we agree on something :)
I do agree with you, Brew. Hate doesn't solve a thing.
We need to be kind and treat lifestyle sinners the same. If we are to help alcoholics out of their stupor, why would we come down on them?
I think part of the overarching problem is that we are taught that things like homosexuality and other lifestyle sins are wrong, but we aren't taught what to do about it.
We just get broad lessons that essentially say, "It's wrong! Don't do it and eschew those who do!"
If we're going to be Christ to the world, we need to go show these people how to live. That includes living kind and good lives and showing people what the best can be.
Dude, there are homosexuals in the church... but im pretty sure they arent telling us all about their urges... I dont see an issue with ellen for the reasons you stated. Likewise, I can be friends with a man who owns a businesses but makes h im money stepping on other people. As long as I dont have to sit around and hear about the people he hurt to make money, he and I are cool.
Im sort of less of a fagf basher now too. I mean, I dont want it pushed in my face and there are "whore" gays (the ones you see in the parades) and there are "They are gay?" gays (like, i guess, ellen). I can handle the second ones.
I always say, if they want to be treated equally, just keep your personal life and personal sexual preferences to yourself. We live in a biggoted society, it isnt going to change.
AS A PREACHER (I can now say that), I agree, there needs to be balance in what is preached. Maybe even more weight given to the sins that are struggled with the most.
I've noticed something about us as humans. We tend to pick on and stand up against sins that don't affect us at all. Yet, sins that we might fall prey to, or have committed already, we don't say as much about that. In other words, I may stand up and speak out against homosexuals because I am not one, neither do I even remotely struggle with that sin. But, I may not say anything about racial prejudice because that's what I struggle with.
The sin that I commit seems not as bad as the sin that someone else commits that I have never had a part in.
Thanks Ryan. That was kind of my point. We'll preach about the stuff that doesn't really effect us, but remain silent on the things that do.
We should preach out against the stuff that's rotting us out. Racial discrimination, pornography, gluttony. I mean how many times do we make jokes of being fat slobs, but in reality gluttony is a big sin.
And Jamison of course there are homosexuals in the church and those who struggle with that (before I came to Indiana, they found a bunch of gay porn on the preachers computer) but I don't think that homosexuality is a major problem
Speaking of gayness... ive added a new poll to the blog. It is below the coolest member of the midnight cafe roll.
It will go away in like a month i think.
I love the new poll. Will you actually go with the highest number of votes or just shave it the way you want?
Have a lead on another job, btw.
Indeed, God is good.
good luck sip, was thinking of Brew this morning, hoping he has some irons in the fire too.
AS for the poll, ill prob just shave it the way I want, but not without checking the final results first... and considering my publics opinion
And that's a rotten way to preach.
Someone very close to me is being asked to leave his congregation because he preached to the congregation and their faults.
It's retarded to only be able to preach about the sins of people somewhere out there that we don't know and have to shy away from the things the congregation struggles with.
When will we learn homosexuals are people too.
Oh yeah. I've got nothing. Any place that is interested in me either pays crap or the job is awful. A guy from rent-a-center keeps calling for a collections gig, but when I went there the first time my experience was awful.
Pretty soon though I'm going to wind up taking something crap just to pay the bills.
Went to Kelly Services the other day and they basically told me, "we don't have anything, and haven't for a long while"
Ugh, man. We'll keep praying for y'all.
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