Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyMay 25th, 2010
Jesus hates you, this I know,
for my preacher tells me so.
And if some church should start to doubt,
we’ll just friggin’ kick them out!
Randel Everett
Back in March we told you about Royal Lane Baptist Church in North Dallas who dared (the gall of them) to describe themselves as “a vibrant mosaic of varied racial identities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and denominational backgrounds.”
Well the board at the Baptist General Convention of Texas nearly choked on their Krispy Kremes. Because if there is one thing that a Texas Baptist fears, it’s being thought of as tolerant, open minded, or willing to let others come to a differing interpretation of Scripture.
So when they heard that Royal Lane had actually ordained a gay deacon, they polished up their kicking boot. (Dallas Morning News)
The state’s largest Baptist group officially broke ties today with Royal Lane Baptist Church in North Dallas, citing the church’s acceptance of openly gay deacons.
By an overwhelming margin, the executive board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas voted not to accept funds from Royal Lane. The same resolution asked the church to stop indicating in publications that it is a BGCT affiliate.
Randel Everett, executive director of the BGCT, called the decision “painful” but not difficult.
Of course it might be a bit more difficult for those who it actually impacts.
Doug Washington, a Royal Lane deacon and BGCT executive board member, spoke against the resolution. He said the church has two gay deacons, and he praised them as outstanding leaders.
“To say something is wrong with them is to say God made a mistake,” Washington said. “I can’t buy into that.”
The BGCT requires that executive board members and employees be part of a church in good standing with the denomination. Washington said he would be resigning from the board.
Two Royal Lane members are BGCT employees, and Everett said they would have to find another church if they want to keep their jobs.
It is hard to imagine anyone less Christ-like than Randel Everett. I think Royal Lane Baptist Church should be proud to no longer be affiliated with the likes of him.
Yes, Jesus hates you,
Yes, Jesus hates you.
Yes, Jesus hates you,
my preacher tells me so.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
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.
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.
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.
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"
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 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.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Lindoro Almaviva
May 25th, 2010
God save me from your followers, for there is no beast more heartless and blooththirsty
Joe in California
May 25th, 2010
W T F W J H 8
Tony P
May 25th, 2010
I love your adaptation of “Yes Jesus Loves Me”.
That said, I hope Royal Lane stands up and is successful.
Doug T.
May 25th, 2010
It is becoming more and more frequent that I am embarrassed to be Texan, and I hate that, because, dammit, I really love Texas.
paul j stein
May 25th, 2010
They would detain JESUS at the airport, have him waterboarded, declare him a terrorist for preaching love and acceptance. They need to watch their “collective spiritual backs”.
Candace
May 25th, 2010
Back in my church days, we called that the “left foot of fellowship.”
justsearching
May 26th, 2010
And Jesus prayed to his Father in John 17 that his future followers “would all be one.” Yeahhh, like that’s ever gonna happen.
Maurice Lacunza
May 26th, 2010
WOW. I am speechless. And this is what Christianity looks like from an outsider point of view? As the song goes, “Where is the love…?”
Grant
May 26th, 2010
Umm – Randel Everett:
GAYFACE!
Michelle
May 26th, 2010
I grew up in the Baptist faith and have long since left it given our pitifully vindictive they are. God is not happy, Jesus is not smiling and there will be retribution for their hatred of GLBT persons across the globe. Baptist General Convention of Texas along with the Southern Baptist Convention are appalling examples of so-called Christian organizations. There is nothing sacred, biblical or right about what they are doing. Shame on you BCGT and SBC. God is watching and still speaking!
Jerry Sloan
May 26th, 2010
When I was a young theolog at Baptist Bible College along with the late Jerry Falwell we used to call the action of kicking someone out “a backdoor revival meeting.”
curt
October 26th, 2010
I am a formerly embittered, southern baptist pastor’s son, who finally met the Jesus behind the whole thing, and He has left me irrecoverably elated. Love is merely a nickname for Him, and I was just sitting here reading this before I happened upon this discussion: “But God! So rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead, slain by our own shortcomings and trespasses… gave us the very life of Christ Himself.” -Ephesians 2:4-5 in the Amplified version
God loves us just as we are, but He also loves us too much to keep us that way. He didn’t die on a cross merely to get me to heaven; He died to make me like Him, thus establishing heaven here! Approximately 50% of pastors today in this country (southern baptists included) confess to regularly looking at pornography. That is sexual sin that breaks the heart of God, and I believe any sin that exists comfortably and without repentance in the life of a person who professes oneness with Christ is a clear sign of their distance from Him. Imitation is truly the most intense form of flattery. I’m not saying perfection; I’m saying everyone who loves Christ more than anything else on earth will hate the things that hurt Him – just as any good lover will despise the things that hurt the one they love.
That being said, GLBT lifestyles are clearly devastating to the heart of God in the same way as a pastor who is addicted to sexual sin or any other amendment to righteousness, taboo or otherwise. I am obviously well aware of the number of people who disagree with me, and I promise you that I would love you if you put a gun to my head. But I have met the Savior behind this whole religion thing, and I am infatuated with Him. His heart breaks over sin, and close proximity to His heart has a similar effect on all hearts that dare to know Him.
After all that bitterness I had against the church, I finally realized that the church’s only hope was people who love like Jesus infiltrating from the inside. Yelling divides on both sides, but praying for my enemies from the inside out wins wars. So as a recently ordained southern baptist pastor, doubling as an undercover representative of authentic, cross-inspired love, I want to apologize to all of you who have been hurt. I repent on behalf of every Christian and pastor who has ever been a poor representation of the beautiful Gospel by which we may all be saved, but I also beg you to repent. Delight the Lord’s heart despite the wretched folks who associate themselves with Him and fall in love with Him. I’m trying to do the same. grace and peace
Priya Lynn
October 26th, 2010
Curt said “But God! So rich is He in His mercy!”.
Your god eternally tortures the majority of people who ever lived on this planet for the innocent act of not believing in his religion and you call it mercy – that’s pretty rich all right.
Curt said “God loves us just as we are, but He also loves us too much to keep us that way.”.
If your god loved people as they are he wouldn’t want to change them. If you don’t love someone the way they are your don’t really love them at least part of them. If you don’t love someone for a core aspect of their being such as being LGBT then you don’t love that person in any substantial fashion at all.
Curt said “That being said, GLBT lifestyles are clearly devastating to the heart of God”.
Being LGBT is not a lifestyle, it is a same sex romantic and sexual attraction. That does not entail any particular lifestyle as a result. Your god is all powerful and all knowing thus he knew when he created each LGBT person exactly how they would turn out therefore LGBTs are exactly how your god wanted them to be so spare us this BS about them being “devastating to the heart of god”.
Curt said “I want to apologize to all of you who have been hurt.”.
How disingenous of you. If you really wanted to apologize to all who have been hurt by anti-gay christianity you wouldn’t be continuing to hurt LGBTs by falsely claiming our innocent lives are a devastating wrong-doing. Far from wanting to apologize for hurt, you’re eager to inflict more. You are a nasty person.
Frijondi
October 26th, 2010
@curt. In all your lengthy post, you have not addressed the question of why the relationships of GLBT people “are clearly devastating to the heart of God.” What do you see that is admirable, Christlike, and good in heterosexual relationships? I see loyalty, love, forbearance, kindness, and when necessary, self-sacrifice. Love that “believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.” Those elements are also present in homosexual relationships. I firmly believe that this is the model of love expressed in the Trinity, and that humans are made in that image.
I’m going to guess that your objection the relationships of GLBT people has something to do with an idea of male-female complementarity, and a belief in the naturally subordinate role of women, which has been heavily stressed by conservative evangelical denominations in recent years. (Please note, however, that in the nineteenth century, evangelicals were on the leading edge of the women’s rights movement.) One of the sins Christ died for, imo, is the pervasive human sin of denying the full humanity of other human beings. People do this every day, for all kinds of reasons: personal gain, laziness, clannishness, opportunism, just plain nastiness. Sexism and racism are the extreme forms; so is the tendency to regard the minds and bodies of low-status people as expendable. In fact, I think that is THE sin, the one that all the others derive from. The fall from grace? One of our primate ancestors started thinking abstractly enough to put him- or herself in some other proto-human’s shoes, and thought, “Oh shit. Austrolopithecus now have knowledge of good and evil. Austrolopithecus sad, because still want bash other biped. Austrolopithecus much happier when still tiny megazostrodon, wish could go back.” We didn’t really fall from grace, we fell into the possibility of grace. It must have been traumatic. I think that’s what the author of Genesis was getting at, at some level.
Do you believe in a God who would take on all the sorrow of being human, including the worst humans can dish out, to spread the belief that some people are less than others? That is a fundamental belief of complementarians, no matter how it’s whitewashed with “separate but equal language.” It is the source of some denominations’ anti-gay sentiment. (And its secular equivalents are the source of secular homophobia.)
I believe in a God who risked everything to convey a different message, lost big time…and still rose. That’s “the Jesus behind the whole thing.” The Resurrection is preposterous, but it’s also kind of preposterous that we actually rise above “monkey BASH because monkey CAN.” None of this has a blessed thing to do with being LGBT.
Btw, you’d love us even if we pointed a gun at your head??? Are you serious? Have you ever had this happen to you in real life? I have, as part of a request for a small monetary donation. I assure you, I did not, and do not love the guy. Nor do assume he’s an inherently worthless person and going straight to Hell. Jail? I sincerely hope so.
That’s my $0.02. curt, if you reply to this, please understand that I will not be drawn into a proof-texting argument.
Timothy Kincaid
October 26th, 2010
How to recognize self-righteousness:
“I repent, but…”
Ben
October 26th, 2010
Oakhurst Baptist here is Atlanta was kicked out of the SBC for serving their community and being inclusive.
The church kept it’s name although they don’t seem all that Baptist any more. That may be why they survived and are thriving.
The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chorus “Our Song” rehearses there although they perform in many venues.
Frijondi
October 26th, 2010
Due to the sin of pride, I wish it to be known that I can, in fact, spell “australopithecus.”
Leave A Comment