So why haven’t I commented on the gay man who was thrown out of Watermark Church after he stopped attending their reparative therapy class?
When a church encourages a parent to kick out a minor child who is gay, that’s child abuse and the parents should be sued for child support. When a church encourages a parent to send a child to reparative therapy, that’s child abuse and practicing therapy without a license.
When a church gets an adult to believe there’s something wrong with them and attend that same reparative therapy class? Here’s where I draw the line.
As long as what a church teaches doesn’t hurt anyone outside the church or anyone who can’t defend themselves, I really don’t care what they’re doing inside the church. As long it infringes only on the rights of adults who consent to have their rights infringed upon, preach all the stupid, narrow-minded, insidious crap you want.
Adults have the right and responsibility to walk away if they do not consent.
If you’re gay and going to a church that preaches that you’re going to hell, well, there’s nothing anyone else can do about it. Why are you going to that church?
I spoke to someone this week who said that when a relative of hers who attends Watermark was getting divorced, the church told her she couldn’t. That person then had a choice: Obey her church and not get divorced, or find a different church. You know, I never did ask which one she chose, because I really don’t care.
We have lots of churches in Dallas that welcome LGBT people. Not just Cathedral of Hope — although if you’re so damaged that you thought you needed to be controlled by people who hate you, Cathedral might be the best place for you to start. They have the most experience working with people who’ve been damaged by religion.
We also have at least half a dozen Methodist churches in the DFW area that welcome you for whom you are. Episcopal churches, Presbyterian churches, Lutheran churches, even Baptist churches that welcome you just the way you are. One person in our office regularly attends a Catholic church that’s happy to see him each week.
When a church has a policy of rejecting gay people and then they reject you because you’re gay, that’s not news. Don’t come to me and expect a whole lot of sympathy. What the hell do you think we’ve been fighting all these years?
Quite frankly, it’s shocked me how much sympathy you’ve gotten from other media. After all, what Watermark did was nothing new.
I’m not telling Watermark what to believe or what to preach, because I don’t want Watermark telling my synagogue what to believe.
So, to the gay guy that was thrown out of Watermark: I doubt you learned anything from the letter you received other than that the people at Watermark really do hate you. While I’d like you to try a church that will welcome you, you’ll probably end up at some place just as bad, like First Baptist Church whose pastor is a screaming homophobic queen. But he’ll welcome your money … I mean you … with open arms.
