Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Empathy Mining

Home
Progressive Christian
The Christian Right is Attacking the Very Thing that Allows Them the Freedom to Their Own Bigotry

The Christian Right is Attacking the Very Thing that Allows Them the Freedom to Their Own Bigotry

Last updated on: September 3, 2019 at 10:46 am by Shane Phipps

The Christian Right is Attacking the Very Thing that Allows Them the Freedom to Their Own Bigotry 2019-09-03T10:46:27-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Christian Right is attacking the very thing that allows them the freedom to their own bigotry.

This has been on my mind a lot since I watched the Netflix documentary called, The Family. That documentary series dives deep into the most influential religious group you’ve never heard of. This group created and continues to run the annual National Prayer Breakfast, which has been attended by every president since Eisenhower. The group has also infiltrated the U.S. Congress and sends elected U.S. representatives to nations all over the world to cozy up to governments abroad, as well. All this in an attempt to spread their version of “traditional family values” and to place leaders who will work to create laws to strip rights from anyone who doesn’t fit their mold of biblically-based morals and values. That documentary really opened my eyes and, frankly, creeped me out and terrified me. But it also connects a lot of dots and explains so much that otherwise would be very confusing. I wrote in more detail about this documentary here if you would like more information.

The Christian Right seems to ignore or overlook the fact that it is the Separation of Church and State–the very thing that they are working so diligently to circumvent–that gives them the freedom to hold their values so dear. They think that when others don’t share their beliefs and values that it somehow is an attack on them. Nobody is pointing at conservative Christians and telling them what they can or can not believe. That is simply not happening. Here is what is really happening: conservative Christians are trying to take the Establishment Clause out of the Constitution and force their values upon everyone. When people attack that, the conservative Christian’s mind thinks that their rights to believe as they choose are being attacked. NOT HAPPENING. Conservative Christian, the Constitution protects your right to your beliefs just as much as everyone else–no more so, just the same. You do not get that, conservative Christian, you just don’t. You insist on having your cake and eating everyone else’s cake. And, by the way, what could be less Christ-like than that?

This week, a story about a Baptist minister (who was also a police detective) in Tennessee went viral. A video surfaced of Pastor Grayson Fritts preaching to his congregation earlier this summer and it was widely shared on social media. In this sermon, Fritts was railing like a madman about homosexuality. This public servant and “man of God” pounded the pulpit for nearly an hour spitting venom against Pride Month. He argued vehemently that the Bible demands that gays be executed and that it’s the responsibility of our government to see that this is done. Below are just a few selected quotes from his ranting message.

At various points Fritts referred to the LGBTQ community as “sodomites,” “freaks,” and “animals,” as he insisted that the government needs to do its “duty” and round them all up and charge them with a “capital crime.”
“They are worthy of death,” he screamed.
“I’m sick of sodomy getting crammed down our throats.”
“It’s infecting our culture.”
“God has instilled the power of civil government to send the police in 2019 out to the LGBT freaks and arrest them and have a trial for them, and if they are convicted, then they are to be put to death…the Bible says that sentence should be carried out speedily.”
Fritts said that gays are “easy to spot” these days so it should be simple to find them and arrest them. “[They are out there in public being] flamboyant and walking around like a bunch of Twinkies.”
Of the Pride Parades, Fritts said, “Man, hey, call the riot team, we’ve got a bunch of them we’re going to get convicted because they have all their pride junk on, and they’re professing what they are, that they’re a filthy animal.”

Such words from the pulpit of a church in 2019…

Can you imagine for one second such vitriol coming from the mouth of Jesus Christ?

Just as disturbing as the things Fritts was saying was the reaction of his flock. They could be heard throughout, grunting their approval of the message. Such is the state of the Far-Right Wing Church in 2019, apparently.

This is a really terrifying issue that needs to be addressed as we approach the election of 2020.

Democratic candidates need to pound the message that America is a land of freedom for all. That goes for race, religion, social status, and sexual orientation, all of it. Conservative Christians have the right to believe as they choose. That’s not changing and no one is advocating for stripping that right from them. But every other belief system has that same right. That’s never been good enough for conservative Christians.

And that’s a HUGE problem.

Get it?

Previous Post

August 29, 2019

The Andrew Luck Saga Shines a Bright Light on America's Lack of Empathy

Next Post

September 5, 2019 Deplaned in Phoenix: My first hand story of racism and its repercussions

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Naphtali" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God is my rock My struggle Chosen One The Lord is my strength

Support this
Column