Gay activists and their allies gathered in Wilmington, North Carolina this weekend to protest the erection of homophobic Sea Gate Community Chapel’s new sign, which reads, “God loves gays but hates a perverted lifestyle… Turn or burn.”
Though all went well during the peaceful protest, as the crowd dispersed, one participant took a hammer to it and fled the scene. Now police are on the search.
Meanwhile, as Andy pointed out last week, the church insists they don’t hate gay people:
The sign maker said it’s not meant to offend anyone because she feels no animosity towards homosexuals.
“I love the gays,” said Anna Benson, “I love everybody.”
Benson said the messages she posts are straight from the Bible. The church’s pastor, David Heuring, said he stands behind any message on the sign as long as it’s biblically correct. “We’re going to teach the entire truth,” said Heuring, “and I’ll take the heat for it.”
It’s been a minute since I read the Bible, but I’m not sure I remember any excerpt in which God says he or she hates gay people, or anyone else, for that matter.
As for this “hate the sin, love the sinner” rhetoric, that’s just a bit of jargon anti-gay conservatives use to cloak their distasteful homophobia in something more palatable.
