IN SUPPORT OF PHIL ROBERTSON & EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS

I'm an ordained pastor in a "mainline" Christian denomination. I've received a Master's degree and an earned Doctorate... from a well-respected seminary. I am not primitive, phobic, vile, or hateful.  I've been committed to a variety of civil rights causes in the course of my life, and I've supported Israel at every turn. Ordinarily, it's my tendency to live and let live, even though I try hard to preach the gospel every time I enter the pulpit.  I don't like conflict, but I dislike bullies even more... so I am weighing in... in support of Phil Robertson and Bible-believing Christians throughout the world! Phil and I do not agree on the interpretation of every verse in Scripture... but we do agree... that Scripture IS God's word... and I am alarmed that, in a country like ours, a man of faith can be censured and punished for citing God's word.  If we take...a) the condescending arrogance of those who mock Christianity, on the one hand, and b) the silence of misguided Christians, on the other hand... we have a one-two punch that will kill the very values that gave birth to our country.

Friends, it is time to speak out. There's something oppressive and unsavory going on here, and it's beginning to alarm me. I am frustrated when I see retailers, who are making a fortune off of Christmas, forbid their employees to say "Merry Christmas." If they don't believe in Christmas, then they should close their stores. At least that would show some conviction. Just now, I see that a middle school on Long Island systematically removed any reference to Christ from "Silent Night," so that they wouldn't offend anyone! Hello! How about those of us who believe? It seems that we have reached a point in time where right is considered wrong, and wrong is considered right. Why are Christians- of all stripes- putting up with this? Why? We've known for years that money-makers and power-brokers want us to keep our mouths shut... while they co-opt one of the most sacred days in history... but now... we are expected to sit idly by...while a man of faith is condemned for paraphrasing the Bible... in response to a direct question... during an interview... that he granted.

Friends, all Christians should be offended by this because their own faith demands that they also live by God's word.  According to Jesus (and here I paraphrase) any one who follows Him will be persecuted for living out his/her beliefs" Why? Because being a Christian is a way of life. People who have surrendered to Christ and who live their lives for Him,,, ARE the Chirstians.  They live for Christ and stand on the Bible as THE source of morality and direction in life. Thus, when you ask born-again Christians what they consider to be a sin ... you are simply toying with them because they will always tell you what they've learned in their Bibles and heard in their pulpits! How could it be otherwise? When Phil gave an interview to a national magazine, which had nothing to do with Duck Dynasty or A&E, he was asked about his own opinion on homosexuality... and he gave the answer... that anyone should have expected from an evangelical Christian. He said that, based on Scripture, he considers homosexuality to be a sin and that he personally doesn't see how any man could have sex with another man. He concluded by saying that, as  a Christian, he loves all of God's people and would never harm anyone. Amen, You can disagree with this. You can laugh at it. You can call it outdated, even hateful and vile (as one personality did)... but you have to admit that it IS the word of God. Consider these verses:

(As a punishment for their ongoing disobedience) God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degradation of their bodies with one another... Because of this, even women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women... Men committed indecent acts with other men... furthermore... they abandoned their knowledge of God and became filled with evil, greed, murder, strife, deceit, and malice, They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters....    ROMANS 1:24ff

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders... will inherit the kingdom of God....   I CORINTHIANS 6: 9ff

Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother... do not have sexual relations with your sister... do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable... do not have sexual relations with an animal... anyone who does any of these detestable things (will be) cut off from their people.
LEVITICUS 18

Now, if I were teaching a class on these passages today, I would put them in their historical, cultural, and theological context (as I see it)... but millions and millions of my Christian brothers and sister take them at face value and strive to live by them! If I asked any one of them to list the behaviors that they considered to be sins... I would expect to hear the very things I cited above. Indeed, I would be disappointed if I didn't! That's what evangelical Christians throughout the world will say every single time they're asked... because that is what they believe! If I were to ask my many Jewish friends for their opinion on Jesus' divinity... I know what they would say because I know what they believe. In short, Phil Robertson is being condemned for saying what everyone knew he would say. What is he supposed to do? Deny his own faith? Undermine the word of God? If the interview itself wasn't a "set-up," surely A&E's suspension of Phil, was a repudiation of Bible-believing Christians everywhere. I find A&E's and GLAAD's actions to be so offensive that I could write a book about it... but I will close with three thoughts:

First, let's admit that this is a war on Christianity, or at least a war on the Bible. I don't interpret Scripture in the same way Phil does... but I certainly know that he was citing Scripture... and that he could've cited many other passages. Therefore, people who find Phil's comments to be vile and
hateful ... are actually indicting Scripture... that is sacred to billions of people, are they not? Are we crucifying Phil... for believing the Bible? Call the Bible vile, if you think it is. Call conservative Christians hateful, if you think they are.  Call Paul, the original author of Phil's statement... vile, if you feel that way... but don't call a man vile and hateful when he refers to Scripture and pretend that Scripture has nothing to do with it.

If God's word is passe' or a source of mockery in America, Christians ought to either rise up and demand respect... or pack it in and go golfing. Secondly, I'mconcerned about the intolerance  shown by GlAAD and others who have picked this fight. If the American public finds Phil Robertson's comments to be offensive, they won't watch his show and his ratings will fall. They will speak out in that way, without being told what to believe, or being bullied! Until now, things have been going very well for GLAAD and for the cause of the entire LGBT communinity. More Americans, and more Christians, have supported their cause... but they've done so in the name of tolerance. But now, it seems that GLAAD'S heavy-handed approach to Phil's beliefs violate their own claim to tolerance. Crushing the views and rights of people in my own family whom I respect and adore is not a position that I will ever endorse!

Finally, I return to my fear of the coalition of people who don't believe in God's word and those Christians who don't believe it is worth fighting for. Please, please, take a stand. Don't support A&E, put a nativity scene in your yard, vote for men and women who are Christians, say "Merry Christmas" to everyone you meet. Christians in America have never been told to either shut up or say what they are told to say! Never. and it should not start now! I just read a comment from GLAAD, in which their representative noted that they had to attack Phil because... there comes a time when "staying quiet" is unacceptable. He and I could not agree more on this particular point!

PK