Street confrontations, condemnation do little to resolve moral issues

Tagline: Pleading the First

9.17.07

Anyone walking in the vicinity of the Thomas Cooper Library at midday on Monday witnessed quite a spectacle: In the midst of a growing crowd of onlookers, with flapping banners and flashing camera phones all around, a man was bellowing. His message? The eternal condemnation of homosexuals.

As a practicing follower of Christ, I was appalled by this scene. It is not that I condone homosexuality; I know that the scriptures of my faith address it as a sin in the New Testament as well as the Old. The thing that upset me was the way this man and his tag-team preacher friends conveyed their message.

The methodology they used contradicts the example of Jesus Christ. The passage that comes to mind is John 8:1-11, where the temple leaders find a woman in adultery and bring her before Jesus. They wanted to stone her for her offense, but Jesus said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

He then silenced the accusers by writing something in the dirt where he was standing, a word or phrase that is not revealed in the gospels. Upon reading this, everyone quietly departed except for Christ and the accused. Observing that no one was left to judge the woman, Christ said, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

While Jesus did not tell the woman that what she had done was justified, he also did not berate her in the public square. When he preached a message of condemnation, he was addressing the misguided leaders of the church, but when he spoke with the general populace, he assumed the role of a gentler rabbi.

Those who aim to follow Christ’s example should be the ones patiently scrawling their message in the dirt, not the ones collecting stones to throw. They should consider the Savior who ate dinner with the adulterers and criminals, the one who died between two thieves.

With that said, there is another party at fault here. Among the throngs on the sidewalk Monday were many people who responded to the street preaching with equal spite and hatred.

Students of all persuasions were cursing and screaming and quoting whatever random Bible verses came to mind. Some were swinging condoms over their heads and making lewd comments.

On Saturday, the SC Pride Parade will take place in the streets of Columbia. Once again, there will be offensive banners and loud proclamations of a controversial ideology. If the behavior of students Monday is any indication of how they will comport themselves this coming weekend, then the outcome is sure to be equally childish and counterproductive.

This is America. Gay or straight, Christian or atheist, we all have a right to make fools of ourselves on any sidewalk or street we choose. But instead of raising our voices, would it not be worth the time to sit and discuss our moral differences as adults?