Defending Kirk Against The Social Terrorists
Every once in a while, a story comes along regarding “celebrities” which makes me sit up and take notice. Normally, I’m not the kind of person who goes wild over celebrity gossip and goings-on, but I do get interested when celebrities turn to G-d, and actually start living out the faith they espouse.
So, when I heard that former “Growing Pains” star Kirk Cameron, interviewed on March 2, 2012’s episode of CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight”, commented about his views of homosexuality and gay marriage, this perked my ears up for several reasons.
The Interview
I watched the video of the interview portion where Morgan actually seemed to set Cameron up for the controversy that was to follow the interview. Without allowing Cameron to finish answering one question, Morgan, in the style of famous British radio journalist John Humphries, launched right into another even more probing question, which might set anyone off kilter.
But Cameron was not dismayed. When asked what his views on homosexuality were, he defined his view from the biblical perspective: “it’s unnatural, it’s detrimental, and ultimately destructive…”. He further stated that he did not personally support gay marriage, referring again to the biblical model of marriage as between one man and one woman, and that the concept of marriage was set up by G-d Himself.
Of course, then, Morgan had to keep up his usual “make them spill the beans” prodding he’s famous for, and tried to turn the argument around to the touchy subject of the kids, with the hypothetical “what if one of your six kids says, ‘Dad, bad news – I’m gay’.”
Without hesitating, Cameron stated he’d “have a heart to heart with them” and brilliantly, knocked Morgan for a loop (about time he got it back) by saying, “just like you would with your kids”, forcing Morgan to almost shame-facedly fess up to his own feeling about homosexuality.
Throughout the rest of this part of the interview, Cameron let out a few other nugget-of-truth zingers such as “just because you feel one way doesn’t mean we should act on everything that we feel.”
An off-balance and dumbfounded Morgan completely missed the point when he tried to build a bridge between the statements “telling kids being gay is a sin… is incredibly destructive” and “seven states have legalized [gay marriage]”. When Cameron tried to set up the argument about different standards of morality being used to allow legalization of gay marriage, Morgan pulled the old “cut ‘em off” game again and tried to change the conversation back around to the concept that just because seven states have legalized gay marriage, no one should be saying anything against the practice.
The Firestorm of Idiotic Comments
It should go without saying that Cameron garnered a small firestorm among fellow celebs, the liberal media, and gay rights activists/terrorists (yes, there are some), for voicing his views.
Here are a few of the non-cerebral remarks from Kirk’s so-called “peers”, and some thoughtful come-backs from yours truly:
Craig Ferguson
Host of The Late Late Show, Craig Ferguson: “Kirk Cameron makes me ashamed to be a failed actor. We don’t all think like that.”
Yep, with emphasis on the “failed” in your case, Craig… even your acting attempt on the Late Late Show is an epic fail, but I digress, don’t I? It’s obvious you “all” don’t think like that, and that’s your problem – you can’t shut everyone up who refuses to think at pin-headed as you do.
Martha Plimpton
Star of TV show Raising Hope, Martha Plimpton: “The word “Equality” shows up too much in our founding documents for anyone to pretend it’s not the American way.”
Apparently you failed “paying attention” class, Martha… the topic was not “equality”… it was the practice of homosexuality (as part of a larger discussion of morality in social issues). While it’s clear that Morgan would have loved to have pushed Cameron onto an “equality” road, Cameron wasn’t willing to walk down that road because that wasn’t the issue.
Oh… and by the way Martha, I invite you… hell, I DARE YOU, to comment on this blog and tell me exactly how many times the word “equality” appears in our “founding documents”, the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States… (here’s a hint for you since you’re clearly a member of the “Steel Plate In The Brain” Club: ZERO)
Herndon Graddick
And, not to be outdone by celebrities, spokesman Herndon Graddick of The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) released what has to be the wildest stretch of the truth I’ve seen since Barack Obama uttered the word “change”: “Cameron is out of step with a growing majority of Americans, particularly people of faith who believe that their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be loved and accepted based on their character and not condemned because of their sexual orientation.” {emphasis mine}
And in typical activist-terrorist fashion, he just had to add a juvenile jab, “In this interview, Kirk Cameron sounds even more dated than his 1980s TV character.”
I’d like to personally challenge Mr Graddick to actually come up with the definitive proof that the majority of Americans, let alone a majority of “people of faith”, believe that there is nothing morally or religiously wrong with homosexuality, though I’ll take that as a touché, a deliberate stretch of the point based on his wording.
I personally believe the majority of Americans who profess a Jewish or Christian faith (and probably many others) would agree that homosexuals should not be “condemned”, but what Graddick is deliberately both directly omitting and clearly inferring, is that “the majority of Americans think there’s nothing morally or religiously wrong with homosexuality.”
So, I’d really love to know where those statistics are, and if I bet him real money to produce them, I feel very confident I wouldn’t be handing my money over to GLAAD. Besides, in the interview segment, the impression that Cameron was actually condemning people because of their sexual orientation just isn’t there; rather, he was calmly expressing his personal religious view in answer to a probing question.
I will say one final thing to Herndon however: Cameron’s character wasn’t “dated” back in the 1980’s when the Growing Pains show originally aired. If you want’ to preach “cultural relevance”, viewing Cameron’s 1980’s character in terms and context of the 1980’s is cultural relevance right there.
The Social Terrorists
But this is the crux of the problem with social terrorists: those people who, in the style of religious terrorists such as radical Islamists, are so fervent for their social point of view that they go out of their way to condemn and castigate those who hold and publicly express different or alternate viewpoints, and if it causes the “enemy” their physical, emotional, or reputational destruction, so be it. (I could fill another entire blog post with some infamous social terrorists of our modern time, but I won’t take the time here.)
Alan Thicke
Now, let’s stew for a while on former co-star Alan Thicke, who quite ignorantly stated on Twitter, “I’m getting him some new books. The Old Testament simply can’t be expected to explain everything.”
Well, Alan Thicke (your mental acuity really lives up to your last name there), apparently you missed the whole part about “Jesus” in the Bible… it’s called the “New Testament.” Allow me to send you the whole book, since you clearly don’t have it.
The Bible Lesson
So, for Thicke and anyone else who want to claim the “Old Testament” is out of step with modern reality, you all asked for it… so here’s your Bible lesson for today, showing that the “New Testament” is on equal footing of condemning the practice of homosexuality as the “Old Testament” is.
The words of G-D, through Sha’ul (Paul), found in the Christian part of the Bible, the NEW Testament, in Sha’ul’s letter to the Romans. I’ll back up a bit in the context so that we can understand why G-d is angry:
“What is revealed is G-d’s anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; because what is known about G-d is plain to them, since G-d has made it plain to them. For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities- both his eternal power and his divine nature- have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made.
Therefore, they have no excuse; because, although they know who G-d is, they do not glorify him as G-d or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened. Claiming to be wise, they have become fools! In fact, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal G-d for mere images, like a mortal human being, or like birds, animals or reptiles!
This is why G-d has given them up to the vileness of their hearts ‘lusts, to the shameful misuse of each other’s bodies. They have exchanged the truth of G-d for falsehood, by worshiping and serving created things, rather than the Creator- praised be he for ever. Amen.
This is why G-d has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion.
In other words, since they have not considered G-d worth knowing, G-d has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarreling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of G-d; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless.
They know well enough G-d’s righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.”
– Romans 1:18-32, Complete Jewish Bible {emphasis mine}
Plain Dealer
Pretty plain isn’t it, Alan? It definitely reads like G-d has the same view of homosexuality in the NEW Testament, as in the Old Testament!
G-d is angry because people keep suppressing the truth, and allow all sorts of social ills to occur. They not only allow it to happen, but applaud others who enable and practice social ills (sound familiar?). They think they’re intelligent, socially responsible, ethically neutral, and politically correct, but G-d says they’re basically idiots.
They can see all the things G-d has created, but they choose to worship the iPhone instead of the one who made everything that made the iPhone in the first place. They know the truth in their minds and hearts, but fight against it, proving themselves to be stupid and ruthless in the face of eternity.
So why did Sha’ul (Paul) put the crystal-clear reference to homosexuality smack dab in the middle of this rant against “them”, the unrepentant sinners? Clearly to make a point that this is just one of many ways people worship the created instead of the creator… and let’s not forget that as a hedonistic society, homosexuality was rampant in Rome of that day, and Sha’ul did not want “new” Christians to think that behaving that way was not a problem with G-d.
Let’s Be Fair
But, just to be fair, let’s not ignore the beginning of the next chapter:
“Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, passing judgment; for when you judge someone else, you are passing judgment against yourself; since you who are judging do the same things he does. We know that G-d’s judgment lands impartially on those who do such things; do you think that you, a mere man passing judgment on others who do such things, yet doing them yourself, will escape the judgment of G-d?”
– Romans 2:1-3, Complete Jewish Bible
It’s clear that those who try to judge LGBT people for the sin of homosexuality are just as guilty as the one they presume to judge for the sin. Why? Because in the eyes of G-d, everyone’s in the same boat: everyone sinned and keeps sinning (which is precisely why so many people don’t want to hear about G-d because they don’t want to feel that they are doing something wrong).
Sin is Sin
In reality, homosexuality is no greater or lesser of a sin in G-d’s eyes as murder, rape, or 5-fingering a five-cent piece of candy from a store shelf.
So, no one who professes faith based on the Bible (whether Old or Old and New Testaments) cannot get the “preachin’ finger” out and actually condemn anyone for being gay. Neither can anyone attempt to force anyone to stop being gay. The same thing applies to any other sinful thing; we can’t force people to stop lying, cheating, or stealing.
G-d doesn’t hold us accountable for the sins of others; He only holds us accountable for our own sins. G-d holds us accountable for accepting and living worthy of the gift of salvation He gave us in Yeshua (Jesus).
The Social Terrorist Playbook
And right here is the rub between true faith and the social terrorists.
Social terrorists can’t stand that people who truly live the faith they profess, will not condemn LGBT people. The goal of the person of faith is to demonstrate the love of G-d and proclaim that it is possible to turn from sin (any sin, not just homosexuality), and as the saying goes, “love them into the Kingdom of G-d”.
So, these social terrorists choose to spread lies about people of faith, and publicly morph their professions of their faith into “hate speech.”
At the same time, these social terrorists demand that their own views must be uncontested or commented against. This equates to a judgment against anyone who holds views that don’t agree in lock-step with theirs.
The Megaphone
If I had a megaphone, I’d shout this to all of the social terrorists who try to persecute Christians for publicly speaking their beliefs, yet all the while demanding they have their own “freedom of speech” uncontested and commented against:
ahem… “JUST BECAUSE A CHRISTIAN, JEW, OR MUSLIM SAYS THEY PERSONALLY BELIEVE SOMETHING, DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MAKE IT HATE SPEECH!!!!!”
OK, I’ll put my megaphone down now.
Living the Proper Example
Before saying anything else, let me be perfectly clear here. In my medical practice, I have a good number of patients who identify as gay/lesbian. Also, my wife and I, through various business and social interactions, have met and maintain good friendships with many gay and lesbian people. These people are “good people”, some are very religious in their overall worldview, and all of them have deep and abiding loves for their significant others and their friends. We have come to be very close with a good number of people in the gay community, and we have no problem communicating with them sharing with them, hanging out with them, or publicly proclaiming that we do.
These people, through personal communications, Facebook, and other ways, know our moral and religious viewpoint, and have never once slammed us for our views. They know that morally we may not approve of the practice of homosexuality, but by the same token, they also know we would never feign to judge any of them for their decision to live in that “lifestyle”.
Ultimately we all know that we can’t “change” the other, and we don’t try to. As far as myself and my wife are concerned, we simply try to live our beliefs and values, knowing that only G-d can change someone. Realistically, both we and our friends know that in the eyes of G-d, we are just as much sinners as they are, or anyone else is.
The Real Problem and the Real Solution
The real problem is the sin, and that’s what Kirk Cameron was really talking about in the Piers Morgan interview. The phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” applies to all of us, no matter what sin we commit.
No one is without sin, so the goal is to admit the sin and allow G-d to change us. If that means changing from a particular lifestyle, or giving up a particular habit or way of thinking about something, then we should be willing to do that.
In the end, which is worse: to trust G-d to change us, or to keep living in sins that we know G-d hates, and risk eternity in Hell?
And, by the way, yes… this applies to everyone: straight, gay, white, black, common and celeb.
