Laurie Higgins hates the sinner

Timothy Kincaid

April 15th, 2011

Laurie Higgins is an activist who writes strident florid diatribes decrying “the normalization of homosexuality” for the the anti-gay hate group, Illinois Family Association (IFI is one of only seventeen groups so designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center). But Laurie doesn’t see herself as a hater – or not of people. Laurie only hates sin.

Higgins’ specialty is schools and one can usually find her railing about the evils of gay-straight alliances, often at about the same time that the news is covering the story of a gay teen who committed suicide. And as part of the small but shrill collection of truly outlandish wackadoodle activists, Laurie is dedicated.

Annually, she calls on Christian parents take their kids out of school on the Day of Silence to show that they oppose its goal of drawing attention to anti-gay bullying and harassment. She considers No Name-Calling Week to be “devilish” because the curriculum, which call on students to not use ‘gay’ as a slur, “manipulate[s] emotions while never exposing or critiquing the assumptions embedded within the activities.”

And it isn’t that Laurie thinks that these are admirable efforts which go too far in their efforts to stop bullying. Nor does she simply think that such efforts unfairly portray conservatives as hateful or uncaring.

Rather, Laurie believes that there should bea culture of disapproval and condemnation” towards homosexuality. She believes that Christians students have a moral obligation to denounce the homosexual agenda in public schools and cultivate a such a culture.

But Laurie owns no shame for this. She feels no responsibility whatsoever for any consequences that come from her campaign. That children suffer is not due to her words of truth but due to the confusion from others lying to them and deceiving their soul.

And Laurie is firmly convinced that it is she who genuinely loves those who experience a disordered sexual attraction to their same sex. Unlike the depraved, carrion-devouring culture, Laurie loves them enough to tell them that a celibate life lived in submission to God is not a lonely, unfulfilled life. She alone is brave enough to tell children that a life in which they will never kiss, hold hands, date, infatuate about, fall in love with, marry, build a life with, and grow old together with anyone ever is a life defined by real love and real peace.

And as much as she loves those depraved and disordered people, she hates their sin. And it is her hatred of the sin of homosexuality that drives her to feats of rhetoric that have contributed to IFI’s recognition as a hate-group.

In fact, Laurie can stand as Example One of the embodiment of St. Augustine’s call to Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin. But the little problem with loving the sinner and hating the sin is that Laurie, like most who live that principle, just can’t tell where the person lets off and their sin begins.

Let’s look at a paragraph from her most recent article. Although it is titled as though calling the church to care, it is just one of her usual encouragements to hate. The sin, of course.

When I think about the evil done to children by teachers who tell them that homosexuality is deserving of respect and affirmation, I become angry, and I desperately want others to experience the righteous anger that should well up in decent people who see young children taught that evil is good. We do not embody the love of Christ when we remain silent while body and soul-destroying lies are being affirmed to and in children, teens, and adults.

Laurie would have us note that it is homosexuality that she opposes. But is it? Are teachers telling children, “homosexuality is deserving of respect and affirmation”?

No, they are not.

Rather, teachers are telling students that homosexual persons are deserving of respect and admiration or, at least, that their homosexuality is not cause for precluding such persons from respect and admiration.

And Laurie doesn’t believe that at all. She thinks that society should be withholding respect and admiration for these people. It should reject and condemn. It should make them feel shame.

When we consider the honesty of the situation, what Laurie really means is:

When I think about the evil done to children by teachers who tell them that homosexuals are deserving of respect and affirmation, I become angry, and I desperately want others to experience the righteous anger that should well up in decent people who see young children taught that evil doers are good. We do not embody the love of Christ when we remain silent while body and soul-destroying lies are being affirmed to and in children, teens, and adults.

But that looks too much like hate so say in public.

And besides Laurie would tell us that she does think that they are, like all of us, “deserving of respect and admiration as a Child of God.” She would go on about their eternal soul and what “real love” means and sacrifice and freedom in Christ and a whole lot of other phrases that allow Laurie to see herself as separate from the misery, pain, and death of innocent children for which she will have to answer to her Maker.

But the truth is that when it comes to real gay people in real situations, Laurie’s sees the sinner as inseparable from their sin. And her only response is hate.

Tony P

April 15th, 2011

It’s typical fringe Catholic behavior.

Amicus

April 15th, 2011

This is a person lost in thought, so to speak.

She doesn’t appear to know what a “moral norm” is.

Deep seated “gay” attraction exists as a ‘normal variant’. Yes, that is a fact. Indeed, that makes it entirely appropriate to ask students not to shun, bully, harass, or degrade fellow gay students.

If she wants to teach that “gay” can be moral only insofar as it means celibacy, that is her (needlessly diminutive) private belief, to be taught in a comparative religions class, only.

If she wants to teach that “gay” is “hellfire” or something like addiction, then she’s at odds with the facts of gay life, both as individuals and in society.

If she wants to teach that “heterosexuality is morally superior to homosexuality”, she’s bumping up against the fact that gays finding other gays to make them fulfilled/happy (and committed/married) is an obvious moral good, evident even to the children.

If she wants to teach that it’s wrong for nongays to have gay sex, and visa-versa, she’ll have allies beyond her faith community.

John

April 16th, 2011

Did she take lessons from Fred Phelps?

PJB863

April 16th, 2011

Laurie Higgins is currently IFI’s most prolific contributor to their website, and as noted above, her writings are one of the main reasons SPLC designated IFI as a hate group. The other main reason was writings by Peter LaBarbera, when he headed IFI several years ago.

I find it interesting that it’s exceedingly difficult to find any pictures of Higgins. IFI posts none on its website.

She presented at LaBarbera’s “Truth Acadamy” last summer, yet her portion of the presentation is available as audio-only, while the rest of the seminar (or whatever one wishes to call it) is available in both video and audio format. I am not going to pay a dime to LaBarbera’s AFTAH to find out what she said there, but I have found a YouTube video of Higgins presenting at another seminar. Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/aKucR4Lcdy4. The picture is a little grainy and nothing new is revealed here regarding her views that hasn’t already been noted.

Regan DuCasse

April 16th, 2011

She and I wrote to each other recently. I told her my background and profession, yet…she seems to think she knows more about what bigotry is and the moral implications regarding race as opposed to sexual orientation.
Omitting of course the historical record, that one’s race, gender, orientation or financial poverty have always been conflated with moral character and placed and recorded as deserving of discrimination.

To challenge people like her on the cred treating another person as they’d like to be treated, can’t be asserted enough.
WHICH people deserve to be exempt from that, as well as who prefers to never be held to that standard, is something that people like Higgins who claim the mantle of moral leader, fail time and time again.
Their hypocrisy is easily pointed out, at the same time they avidly deny that’s what’s in play.

There is an obvious contradiction to their embrace of Constitutional protection for THEIR chosen religious affiliation, why saying that chosen behaviors (which they decide is chosen even when it isn’t) shouldn’t be protected by the Constitution.

Higgins is rarely in forums where these can be pointed out, and few mediators even in neutral forums bother to do so.
When the urgency of life or death, freedom or oppression is far more evident than it is for someone like Higgins, its only fair that our concerns have higher priority.

Higgins represents the kind of people who insist on boundaries for gay people (and others), but none for Christians.
Human sacrifice, whether literal, figurative, political, societal or spiritual: is illegal.
Children especially cannot be the lambs for such slaughter.
Where are all the cooler, smarter heads on this? They should be more in abundance by now.
Especially because of the publicity that the suicides of so many children got last fall.
Higgins and her ilk deserve scorn for the hypocritical and morally bankrupt people they really are.
That they themselves don’t want to be held accountable for it, is another example of what moral cowards they continue to be.

Ben in Atlanta

April 16th, 2011

If interested you can Google the origins of how this came to be and what is happening now.

Thump back.

http://www.mycathedral.org/index-14.html

Timothy Kincaid

April 16th, 2011

PJB863,

Higgins is extremely protective of her own image. While she prefers to pretend that her writing has no actual impact on the lives of others, she is paranoid about the impact it may have on her own.

But thanks for the reminder. I revised the commentary to include one of the few pictures of her that are available.

KZ

April 16th, 2011

I used to confuse Laurie Higgins for Linda Harvey and vice versa. Both women have the same initials and spew the same ridiculous, anti-gay vitriol.

Edwin

April 16th, 2011

This ladyis just another nut case. She has no meaning of what the Bible teaches. She is another one that writes what she thinks her bible says is the right thing.JUST ANOTHER NUT CASE!!!

delbard

April 18th, 2011

Verses denouncing Homosexuality & Abortion in Bible:(combined own study)60
Verses with instruction to “aid the needy”, Billy Graham says 250, Rick Warren: 914
Matthew 19:21 “Give All to the poor – Jesus Christ”
In Acts Chapter 2 verse 45, the Christians sold all their worldly goods and give the money to poor. Will anyone confront Ms. Higgins on these items?
Anyone?

Leave A Comment

All comments reflect the opinions of commenters only. They are not necessarily those of anyone associated with Box Turtle Bulletin. Comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

(Required)
(Required, never shared)

PLEASE NOTE: All comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

 

Latest Posts

The Things You Learn from the Internet

"The Intel On This Wasn't 100 Percent"

From Fake News To Real Bullets: This Is The New Normal

NC Gov McCrory Throws In The Towel

Colorado Store Manager Verbally Attacks "Faggot That Voted For Hillary" In Front of 4-Year-Old Son

Associated Press Updates "Alt-Right" Usage Guide

A Challenge for Blue Bubble Democrats

Baptist Churches in Dallas, Austin Expelled Over LGBT-Affirming Stance

Featured Reports

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of Hate

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

Paul Cameron’s World

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"

The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing The Myths

At last, the truth can now be told.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.

Testing The Premise: Are Gays A Threat To Our Children?

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Straight From The Source: What the “Dutch Study” Really Says About Gay Couples

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

The FRC’s Briefs Are Showing

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

Daniel Fetty Doesn’t Count

Daniel FettyThe FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.