Intolerance Wears Many Faces These Days
Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2009
by Aaron Taylor
Aaron Taylor
Last week Carrie Prejean, also known as the former Miss California, lost the Miss U.S.A. pageant because she committed the unthinkable crime--at least in Hollywood--of giving an honest answer to the politically charged topic of gay marriage.
"In my family, I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman," she said. "No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."
What's happened to Carrie Prejean over the past week has been nothing less than a media lynching for failing to toe the cultural elite party line. It's intolerance. Plain and simple. I'm sure that many of my politically conservative evangelical friends are upset--and for good reason. So am I. But let's get real for a minute. Without minimizing Prejean's pain (nor her heroism for standing up for her beliefs), it's likely that the former Miss California will get a hefty book deal out of this and will be a favorite in the evangelical speaking circuit for a long time to come. Meanwhile, over the past week, two eleven-year-old boys have hung themselves because of the merciless taunting by their peers for the perception that they were "gay."
These two situations are vastly different in degree, but they're not so different in kind. On the one hand, we have a woman that expressed a religious belief with political implications and the agents of intolerance splashed the blogosphere with hate speech. On the other hand, we have two dead boys because their perceived sexuality painted them as the other in the eyes of many.
For the record, there's no evidence that Carl Joseph Walker- Hoover or Jaheem Herrera were actually gay, but not that it should matter. Just as racial bullying is socially taboo nowadays, so should sexual orientation bullying, but too often school officials look the other way when a child is bullied over perceived sexual orientation. Unless we want more young boys hanging themselves, this is going to have to change--and Christians should be leading the way in this effort.
Sadly, it seems that Christian leadership is lacking these days. Nowhere is the culture war more evident than in the two mostly highly visible faces of American Christianity--the liberal face and the conservative face. While most theologically liberal Christians would likely side with the Hollywood-blogger-induced smear campaign against Carrie Prejean, theologically conservative Christians are some of the worst perpetrators of hate speech against gay people--just ask any gay person.
Here is where the problem lies. On both sides of the so-called culture war the definition of tolerance has been lost. Both sides seem to think that the word "tolerate" equals "condone." But the very definition of tolerance assumes genuine differences in beliefs and practices. Jesus was the most tolerant man to ever live. His entire life and ministry was characterized by pursuing genuine table fellowship with tax collectors, prostitutes, and drunkards, but that doesn't mean that Jesus condoned extortion, prostitution, and drunkenness. Jesus didn't condone their lifestyle, but He did affirm their humanity. For Jesus, every human being was--and is--infinitely valuable.
If Carry Prejean is a true Christian, and I have no reason to believe that she is not, then now would be the perfect time for her to speak up on behalf of young boys and girls across the nation harassed by bullies at school because of their perceived sexual orientation. Carry Prejean has a national platform. Tens of thousands of elementary and middle school children across the nation do not. They suffer in silence. It's time that the world sees real Christianity looks like. While the body count rises, the clock keeps ticking.
Perhaps Carrie Prejean will respond. Maybe she won't. It's likely that Carry Prejean will never even see this article. So if we don't see an anti-bully campaign from the former Miss California, let's not hold that against her, because the important thing is not how Carrie Prejean will respond. The important thing is how will you and I respond?
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Aaron D. Taylor is a missionary/evangelist and the author of "Alone with a Jihadist", scheduled to be released on August 15th. Aaron blogs at http://www.aarondtaylor.blogspot.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)I think that a lot of people believe that to stand up for someone's right to believe the way they do, is to accept that belief. I for one, believe that homosexuality is a sin as stated in scripture, but I also believe that a gay person has the right to live how they wish, with tolerance. Tolerance doesn't mean I accept their lifestyle. Jesus loved the tax-collectors, the drunkard and the prostitute, but hated the sin in which they were involved. Our role as Christians should be the same; love the sinner, hate the sin.
A lion roars, a snake hisses, a cat meows etc...A dog doesn't go cock-a-doodle-do, an eagle doesn't hoot like an owl. My point is people should be true to who they are. And whether I like it or not, that's a fact. I couldn't agree with you more about Christians taking advantage of a platform when given to them. I've written to this in the past. We should not be caught off guard with the aftermath of Miss CA's remarks from a worldly perspective. We should stand up for what we believe as she did and Perez has a right to do what he's doing in rebuttal. I like your last sentence best of all. I agree with David about how Christ was, He was tolerant of the sinner; he just hated the sin. I applaud the young lady. I enjoyed reading your point of view, too.
Very well done. Intolerance has been somehow perverted to mean acceptance, which it is not. Unfortunately, these days there can be no debate it seems about certain issues, such as guns or gay marriage. Nicely written.
Aaron, you make an excellent point. This is indeed an opportunity for Miss Prejean to demonstate to the world that those of us who oppose gay marriage are not the haters that many in the liberal media would like to depict us as. Using her national platform to discuss the problem of bullying would be a great way to do that.But Perez Hilton could do his part for the bulled gay youngsters as well. He could do this by reminding everyone that most gay people are not nearly as obnoxious as he is!
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