Something that might bug Religious Right leaders even more than the expansion of marriage equality in the U.S. is the increasing acceptance of homosexuality and LGBT equality among Christians.
The latest salvo against Christians who challenge anti-gay interpretations of scripture comes from Scott Lively. Lively originally gained notoriety for his book "The Pink Swastika," which blamed homosexuals for the rise of Nazi Germany, but may now be more well known for his travels fanning anti-gay sentiment and encouraging the passage of anti-gay legislation in Uganda and around the globe. Earlier this month Lively lectured prominent Christian singer Vicky Beeching, who recently came out as a lesbian, for having “given in to the lie that she is a homosexual.” Lively asserted, “There’s no such thing as a gay person.”
His latest project is a brochure that is meant to take on gay-affirming Christians — even Christians who decry the Religious Right’s obsession with homosexuality but agree that it is a sin. Lively is promoting the brochure on Matt Barber’s wildly anti-gay BarbWire as “An Open Letter to Christian Leaders in America.”
The brochure includes 18 short interpretations of Bible passages that Lively says make his point that homosexuality is not just another sin, but “the harbinger of God’s wrath.”
In his “open letter” he portrays the LGBT equality movement as pursuing a long-term “blueprint for supplanting Biblical morality with sexual anarchy — in essence, the overthrow of family-centered Christian civilization.” The only remaining barrier to gay “cultural hegemony” is the Christian Church, which is why gay rights activists are trying to destroy it from within. Lively’s brochure warns:
A dangerous modern heresy called “gay theology” is infiltrating the Christian church at an alarming pace. Many believers, fearful of being called “haters,” are trivializing the threat by calling homosexuality “just another sin.”
Lively uses his open letter to promote himself as a speaker, spokesman, and workshop leader. But, he insists, “This is not a marketing campaign.”
We are not offering the brochure for sale. We simply want your help to quickly disseminate the brochure to every Christian leader in America. We will provide as many copies of this brochure as you can use at our cost of $.07 per piece plus shipping and whatever donation you feel led to offer. Alternatively, if you provide us an up-to-date list of pastors or other leaders we will send it to them ourselves (but please provide help with postage). Or if you desire to print your own supply, we will send you the artwork. If for any reason you dislike the brochure, we exhort you to take action in your own way to spread the warning and rally believers against this dangerous modern heresy called “gay theology.”
Lively’s brochure is produced by Defend the Family International, an arm of his Abiding Truth Ministries.
