Christian Fundamentalist Homophobia, Part Two: The Argument is in the Eyebrows

Trigger warning: The following post contains frank descriptions of the hate speech against LGBTQ people that my church used to inculcate fear and contempt in its youth. It’s probably not something you want to read if you’re already having a bad day. I have decided to write about homophobia for two reasons: first, to demonstrate the falsity of fundamentalist rhetoric about “hating the sin and loving the sinner,” and, second, to shed light on the tools fundamentalists use to instill fear of LGBTQ people in their children.

Christian Fundamentalist Homophobia, Part One: Generalized Anxiety and Images of Depravity

Trigger warning: The following post contains frank descriptions of the hate speech against LGBTQ people that my church used to inculcate fear and contempt in its youth. It’s probably not something you want to read if you’re already having a bad day. I have decided to write about homophobia for two reasons: first, to demonstrate the falsity of fundamentalist rhetoric about “hating the sin and loving the sinner,” and, second, to shed light on the tools fundamentalists use to instill fear of LGBTQ people in their children.

The myth of the failing world

The end is near, it’s nigh at hand
The bride is gathering, the world is failing
Israel’s awakening, nations are breaking
Our prophet taught us, we believe
The end is near

This is the refrain of a song frequently crooned after services by the song leader in my church. It is accompanied by a mournful, minor-key melody that instills a sense of cold urgency in the hearer. I used to sit through it, my teeth gritted, afraid to walk out of the service during this song (however much I hated it both for its doom-and-gloom message and its lack of musical quality) because I was afraid that someone (be it the Holy Spirit or the song leader) would suspect that I was making some sort of rebellious statement against the song. Other people in church came and went freely, but I sat rooted to my chair, contemplating the politics of when to leave after the church was dismissed. This was complicated by the fact that I was a musician, and already felt compelled to stay long after everyone else to maintain the spirit of the service. But I digress.

I want to talk about the dismal outlook of Message believers on “the world.”

The fear of falling apart

During his altar calls, William Branham liked to tell a story about a young deacon’s daughter who rejected the voice of the Lord for the last time. It was a popular story, and unsurprisingly so, for it was based around the chilling words of the girl herself.* It was the perfect example of the sin and destruction that awaited those who left the Message. If we left, we could rest assured, without the Message we would fall apart.

The fear of falling away

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Hebrews 6:4-6.

Growing up in a Message church, I lived in mortal terror of this verse. After all, was not I the perpetual repentant? Wasn’t I the one always on my knees, begging God to give me His spirit once and for all – again? This verse was poison to the imperfect heart: any failure, no matter how banal (complaining about a frozen computer, making a thoughtless remark to a brother or sister), was evidence that obviously Christ was not yet the ruler of my spirit. Every time I fell to my knees, pleading for Jesus’ forgiveness, I wondered if His patience hadn’t yet run out.

The Message teaches that God is in the process of leaving the altar where His blood previously atoned for the sins of His children. There will be a time, they say, when the doors of the ark (metaphorically) will be shut. Those with the Holy Spirit at that time will be sealed in eternally, and those without will be condemned to the Tribulation. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know whether or not you’ve got the Spirit… other than “just knowing.” For a teenager convinced that the world will end before she’s old enough to drive a car, this doctrine can cause paroxysms of fear.