Christianists: "Homosexual Christians" an Oxymoron

Recently, Christian researcher George Barna did a survey of of LGBT adults as a basis for his report entitled "Spiritual Profile of Homosexual Adults"which found that many gays did NOT fit the Christianist stereotype disseminated by the professional Christian set. Among the Barna Group findings that professional homophobes found heretical are the following:

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“People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts,” declared the best-selling author of numerous books about faith and culture. “A substantial majority of gays cite their faith as a central facet of their life, consider themselves to be Christian, and claim to have some type of meaningful personal commitment to Jesus Christ active in their life today.

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“It is interesting to see that most homosexuals, who have some history within the Christian Church, have rejected orthodox biblical teachings and principles – but, in many cases, to nearly the same degree that the heterosexual Christian population has rejected those same teachings and principles. Although there are clearly some substantial differences in the religious beliefs and practices of the straight and gay populations, there may be less of a spiritual gap between straights and gays than many Americans would assume.”

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Not surprisingly, these conclusions were enough to make the holier than thou set at OneNewsNow have convulsions and verge on foaming at the mouth. Mr.Barna received less than loving treatment for his report that undercuts many of the rantings so common at OnNewsNow and among the self-righteous, self-satisfied Christianist set. Here are some highlights from the OneNewsNow reaction to the Barna report (Note how Peter LaBarbera who has made a career out of maligning gays is quoted as an authority):

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Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, believes Barna speaks "too cavalierly" about "homosexual Christians." "My test is [to] substitute another sexual sin and see if it makes sense. Would we be talking about a survey of porn-using Christians or incestuous Christians? That sounds stark, but that's, I believe, the appropriate biblical analogy," he contends. Barna, LaBarbera says, is naive if he thinks the homosexual activist movement is not made up of "hedonistic Christian bashers."

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"I think there are Christians who struggle with the sin of homosexuality -- but proud homosexual Christians? That's an oxymoron to me in the same way as I would say proud adulterous Christians," he adds. "And so, I think we have to be very careful because I see the tactic of the Emergent Church and the Christian left is to start talking more and more about 'gay Christians,' and what they end up doing is demonizing the so-called 'Religious Right' and saying that the Religious Right is all wrong in the way it has talked about homosexuality."

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A book by Barna Group president Dave Kinnaman titled UnChristian contends that "hostility toward gays has become virtually synonymous with the Christian faith;" however, LaBarbera says he does not know any born-again Christians who hate homosexuals.

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Hmm, funny ting is that while LaBarbera says he knows no born-again Christians who hate gays, yet he daily disseminates lies and untruths about LGBT Americans and regularly equates our relationships to incest, adultery, child molestation, and other heinous conduct. That's not hate? Sure sounds and looks like it to me. Of course, LaBarbera is terrified of gays achieving equality since it would largely put him out of a job and force him to find gainful employment.