Skipping to the Piccolo David W. Shelton

Truth in Action Ministries (the religious group started by D. James Kennedy as Coral Ridge Ministries) posted a video this week that used the iceberg that Titanic hit in 1912 as an analogy for how the “radical homosexual agenda” will sink American society. The short film features a small army of anti-gay activists and preachers, all presenting a sordid picture of American culture of those horrible gays get their way and are able to claim equality.



Watch highlights from the video and read my full analysis after the jump.

The discussion over LGBT rights and equality is rife with emotion, debated with passion, and unfortunately, peppered with misinformation. Many of the discussions from those opposed to LGBT equality use words like “lifestyle,” “behavior,” and my favorite, “sodomy.” Of course, there’s the even more religious sounding variation — sodomite. We talk about issues like marriage, the workplace, and even walking down the street holding hands. Through it all, an astonishing discussions, arguments, and debates are based on the single greatest myth: that sexual orientation is a choice.

Quick. Think of a public figure who made statements about homosexuality outside of his regular job and was dismissed from his job as a result. Now imagine the right wing outrage that came as a direct result of this dismissal. First Amendment! Censorship! If you were thinking of Phil Robertson, you assume correctly that the rage was instantaneous. If you were thinking of the slightly more recent article written by former Minnesota Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe, well, his outspokenness was on the opposite side, so we get crickets from the right wing.

Yes, we are all tired of the Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty “controversy.” My own posts on Facebook on the topic drew fever-pitched debates and even resulted in one person un-friending me because I insisted that it has nothing to do with “Freedom of speech.” Once I stopped reading and rolling my eyes at the ridiculous comments on the whole ducking issue, I realized that if this was the front line of today’s culture war, then it was nothing more than a distraction of where the real battles were being fought.

Early last year, I discussed the emerging debate over religious liberty versus LGBT equality. Sadly, the debate has only gotten more fever pitched due to the incessant drumbeat of hateful bigots like Matt Barber, Peter Labarbera, Bryan Fischer, and a myriad of other anti-gay blowhards. The fruit of their vitriol has started to bear; this time in the case of a Colorado bakery called Masterpiece Cakeshop.

Imagine for a moment a private conversation between five evangelical pastors and one gay rights advocate. I think any of us could expect a wide range of possible outcomes of such a gathering, especially since three of them have (or had) strong ties to the Assemblies of God, one a Nazarene, and a Methodist. And then the gay guy — me.