How to Respond to Prejudice in the Christian Church

Many have had to sit in church and listen to self-righteous pastors proclaim the evils of the gay community, other religions, etc. Many Christians are left sitting and wondering how to respond to this prejudice, especially the prejudice of homophobia as it seems to be most prevalent. Often these intolerant teachers, pastors, and parishioners will respond with a torrent of Scripture, leaving the average Christian feeling ill equipped to respond to such allegations.

Hopefully I can be of some service to these Christians wishing to lovingly yet sternly respond to the seemingly omnipresent intolerance in many sects of the Christian church.

First of all, identify the root of the prejudice. Is this a personal prejudice masked in religious language, or a sincere but misguided belief resulting from previous indoctrination? It may even be a combination of the two. Oftentimes just discussing the prejudice politely will help to make the individual feel at ease and possibly consider the root of their prejudice for the first time.

After identifying the root of the problem, assess the level of prejudice. If it is full-blown hate that is being dealt with, on par with the "God Hates F*gs" crowd of Westboro Baptist, just avoid the area and suggest the same to friends. This is a hate group, not a church. These people are often best left as separate from the community as possible.

If we are dealing with the average supposedly "Scripturally based" prejudice as seen in many of the conservative branches of the Christian church, a polite conversational approach can be taken. An excellent starting place would be to reference the love of Jesus, especially in reference to gay individuals as Jesus never even mentioned them (another great talking point!). It might help to quote passages such as "judge not, lest ye be judged" and "the greatest of these is love." If we are dealing with an "evangelist," "apologist," "theologian," or the like, it may be necessary to take the conversation to a deeper level.

Often this crowd will quote Pauline passages such as the first chapter of Romans to justify homophobia, or passages attributed to Peter in condemning other religious beliefs. This is where the conversation will drift to biblical infallibility, a misguided teaching that is currently a given in most conservative circles. However, this literalist approach to Scripture will quickly disintegrate under close scrutiny. It is important to point out to these people that the Gospels do not even agree on the birthplace of Jesus, James and Paul have differing theologies, and the book of Genesis contains two back-to-back creation legends with both being most likely taken from pre-Judaistic religious groups. Another talking point is the varying stories regarding the death of Judas Iscariot and the differing genealogies of Jesus. I could go on, but this should be enough to get a conversation going. Needless to say, a literalist reading of the Bible is factually inaccurate, places God in a human-made box, and causes undue stress on Christian individuals. While the Scriptures are an excellent source of Christian thought and help Christians to understand their religious history and the ministry of Jesus, the fundamentalist way of reading simply falls short.

By this point, the conversation will reach the thoughtful or the indignant. If the individual becomes indignant, maintain your cool and remember to show the love of Christ. Even if the person responds this way initially, he or she will have at least been given some food for thought. If a thoughtful level of conversation has been reached, congratulations! You've been a part in helping raise the consciousness of the individual, allowing them to enter into more thoughtful level of faith and practice.

Some great places to visit for more information:

http://www.soulforce.org/ - A place for dealing with homophobia.

http://www.tolerance.org/ - General tips for addressing intolerance of all kinds.

http://www.johnshelbyspong.com/index.aspx - The website of progressive Christian reformer John Shelby Spong (also a retired Episcopalian bishop).