Who in their right mind would actually cancel a funeral because the deceased was gay? That’s exactly what happened at High Point Church in Arlington, Texas.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.
Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.
“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,’” she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”
Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Unfortunately, we can only wish it was a parody or joke. Although, it is better than the ones who take Leviticus 20:13 too seriously. They would have been the reason for his funeral.
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[...] A church of ill-repute by Mandi Kaye at Imago Dei. [...]
I already posted about this. I am angry. I’m sad. These people are NOT following the teachings of their Jesus. WWDJ- obviously means NOTHING to them!!!!!!
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WWJD. whoops.
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Amanda dear, I find it very interesting that you have many people who comment on your blog. But when you post a story like this, no one comes to visit. Interesting…
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hmmmmm……perhaps it’s because whatever is said on this issue, it is prone to misinterpretation, heated words, and speculation.
Analyzing a situation which we don’t have first-hand knowledge of is always a little shaky. Did the church flat-out refuse? Did something occur to make the funeral be different than any other funeral for someone who was not a memeber?
There are all sorts of things that could be said about this situation. My opinion about it would change drastically depending on the nuances and details of how things unfolded. So, why should I comment about something that I can’t fully know?
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Terri- the same can be said for any comment you make, on any blog.
The real issue here- and in quite a few other instances like this on Mandi’s blog- is that you all tend to keep your mouth shut when a ridiculous story like this surfaces.
It’s hard to defend nonsense like this from your fellow Christians, instead you opt for silence– out of mind, out of site. The Catholics are very good at this as well, which is how thousands of people were abused by priests over decades, as the higher ups refused to speak out against injustice and criminal acts. (and please understand that refusing a funeral and molesting a kid are NOT the same thing, but it illustrates the point nicely here)
We need to be willing to speak out against injustice, intolerance, and hate, even if it means speaking against one of our own.
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a few wrong assumptions….
1. “you guys” lumps everyone here into the same category, which is a disservice to us.
2. Thinking that others aren’t uncomfortable with “nonsense” that goes on in churches and Christianity is untrue.
3. Thinking that people don’t participate in comments because they are too cowardly or simple is untrue.
Why I think noone from the “other side” has commented on this post:
It is clear from the post and first comments after the post what the prevailing opinion is and what sort of response might be made to a comment that disagrees.
Noone wants to get into an unfruitful argument that might deteriorate into name-calling.
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-silence equates to complacentcy, which is damned close to condoning. again, the catholic church abuse scandal is a fine example of what happens when people keep their mouths shut. Feel free to throw in the holocaust and any other ethnic cleansing type of situation.
-if you’re uncomfortable with the nonsense (i like how that was in quotes, as if nonsense doesn’t really occur) than say so. I have so much respect for Mandi because she is not afraid to speak against injustice and nonsense when she sees it, and has done so on multiple occasions (as have I, but we’re not talking about me here).
-I’d love to hear what the other side has to say. I’m going to poke holes in the argument faster than it can be typed, but I’d still like to hear it, and am quite confident that it can be done without name calling. The issue is that it’s very difficult to hold a rational argument with a bible in hand, hence the idea that “the greatest enemy of faith is reason” (that came from a church sign in my area, and somewhere else that’s slipping my mind right now).
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unless of course using the term “Fundy” is name calling. I can’t guarantee that won’t get thrown out there, but it would be:
A person, usually heavily right-winged christian, who tries to force his religion and ideas down other people’s throats in what might otherwise be a completely secular instance
I very much try to seperate Christians from Fundies, but sometimes it’s freaking hard!
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nonsense is in quotes because the word does not fully describe the incident.
Musicguy…take a breath for a minute. I read your comments and they do not make me want to engage, they make me want to shy away from an argument with someone who is already fuming about something…..thus leading to my theory about why there are no comments about it.
Re: the church incident….you minimize the Holocaust and molestation when you compare it to a church refusing to do a funeral. It may be offensive for them not to have done the funeral, but it’s not the the same as millions of people dying in concentration camps.
AS far as what went down at Highpoint, I don’t know what to say. It’s kind of a “he said, she said” situation where each party is claiming something drastically different than the other party. aEither someone is blatantly lying, or the truth about it is probably somewhere in the middle.
So what can I say?
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I say somewhere in between, because this has been blogged about and covered by various sources and every source I’ve read has a slightly different description of events, conversations, and interpretation.
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my intent is not to minimize those events, rather it is to illuminate what CAN happen when people bury their heads in the sand and pretend nothing is going on. Millions of people did not die, and thousands of people weren’t molested in the beginning!! Rather, it was a drawn out process that developed over a prolonged period of time.
Had people had the courage to stand up and make noise, there may very well have been a much smaller amount of affected people in both instances.
And for the record, my vote is with the “Christians” blantantly lying, now hiding behind their bibles. (quotes on purpose)
Mandi- post something else. I think Terri and I are tired of this one. We need something fresh
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Och! I can’t post on demand! What do you think I am? Digital cable?
When I come up with something brilliant, I’ll post again. (Don’t hold your breath…)
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it doesn’t have to be brilliant, just kinda insightful. Yay for Spiritus pizza in Provincetown. Look it up!
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