What is
hard for me to fathom is why some leaders in “anti-bullying” organizations feel it is acceptable for them to demonstrate the very characteristics they say
they decry.
One such
occasion occurred recently when Mr. Dan Savage, founder of, “It Gets Better Project” was asked to address a large
group of high school students at the National High School Journalism
Conference. He was invited to
specifically give a speech on anti-bullying! But, rather than speak against
bullying, Mr. Savage used a 3 1/2 minute segment of his speech to deliver a vulgar, expletive-filled
tirade against the Bible and those who believe in it. Many Christian teens in
the audience stood and walked out. And what was Mr. Savage’s response? He cursed and shamed them. He did the very
thing he was suppose to be warning others against!
It's to
be expected by followers of Jesus that there will be persecution against them
and increasingly so as we get closer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!
But, should we simply overlook anti-bullying organizations/personnel that
"bully" others with whom they have disagreements? Clearly the answer
is "no!" Had Mr. Savage made the same comments about Islam I believe he would have
been excoriated by the media and society in general. Christianity, however, is
increasingly open game for many forms of attacks and hate speech without hardly
a word spoken by those that are quick to expose "bullying" on every
other front.
We can
disagree with one another and make our arguments for our perspectives without
resorting to name calling, cursing, and belittling other people. Mr. Savage
clearly does not understand the scripture he purports to know and used it
repeatedly out of context in order to belittle and bully Christian young people in
attendance at the conference. And...the crowd that cheered him on is just as
wrong as the speaker for not walking out themselves in support of those that
were being bullied. Even if they agreed with the speaker's basic beliefs about homosexuality being an acceptable lifestyle, they should have rejected the tactics of the speaker to bully the Christians that were present.
I include
below the link to the YouTube video that documents the manner in which this
speech was delivered. I ask that only mature adults watch the video as it is filled
with expletives and other demeaning content. I have also included a link to an
excellent resource addressing some of the issues that Mr. Savage misrepresents about the Bible. Nothing that he says is a new attack on scripture and has long
since been answered scripturally/logically by those that truly want to
understand these issues.
I don't personally believe that Mr. Savage has the desire to discover the truth about what
the scripture teaches. It seems from this video that his primary emphasis is to confuse and
attack Christian young people that he perceives as his enemies. Let's remember what scripture teaches
us about this kind of persecution...
“God blesses you when people
mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things
against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For
a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were
persecuted in the same way." (Matthew 5:11, 12 NLT)
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PLEASE BE WARNED...THIS VIDEO IS LACED WITH EXPLETIVES AND OTHER FOUL LANGUAGE. IT IS INCLUDED SO THAT PEOPLE WILL SEE THAT THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED! IT IS DISTURBING AND SHOULD ONLY BE WATCHED BY THOSE WHO ARE MATURE ADULTS. I BELIEVE THAT MORAL MINDED PEOPLE WILL BE APPALLED!
As I mentioned above, this book is an excellent resource for those who want to discover what the Bible actually teaches on some of the matters Mr. Savage assumed it taught. Always remember the #1 rule of Bible interpretation: A (biblical) text used out of its context is a pre-text for error! Mr. Savage should leave biblical interpretation to those who undertand the most basic principles of hermeneutics.
