Jerry Falwell has been bearing false witness against his gay and lesbian neighbors for a long time . . .

When Jerry Falwell says that people who are gay or lesbian "choose" to be gay or lesbian, he is bearing false witness against his gay and lesbian neighbors (Exodus 20:16).

No human being chooses their sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is something that is decided for you, for reasons of which we are not yet fully aware. In fact, many gay and lesbian young people never even knew that such a thing as gay persons even existed before they realized that new fact about themselves.

If you are heterosexual, just ask yourself this one question, "How and when did I choose to be heterosexual"? The fact is that you did not choose which gender to be attracted to. No one does.

As a gay man, the one question that I have always asked (and never received an answer to) is, "With all of these millions of gay people telling them that it's not a choice, why don't they believe us?"

 

When Jerry Falwell says that gays and lesbians can "change" their sexual orientation, he is bearing false witness against his gay and lesbian neighbors.

Quite frankly, Dr. Falwell has seen thousands of people set free from alcoholism and drug addiction, and he is aware of the power of faith. But Jerry cannot open his heart to the truth about people who are gay or lesbian, which is that sexual orientation is generally fixed throughout a lifetime.

There are countless gay and lesbian people who went through "ex-gay" ministries and they all say the same thing: it doesn't work. Many of these gay and lesbian people once even declared themselves "cured", only to face the truth later that it was all a sham.

The only people who claim that homosexuality can be changed are those who have a religious bias against it. Think about it.

 

What this means for YOU . . .

If you have borne false witness against gay and lesbian people, you are encouraged to consider why you are choosing to say things that even Jesus Christ never said. Did you get those ideas by dealing personally with people who are gay, or are you believing biased sources?

If you are willing to humble yourself as Jesus commanded, place yourself in the shoes of a person who is gay or lesbian. Consider how it would feel to be denounced so wrongly and frequently by people who call themselves religious leaders. It would undoubtedly cause you a great deal of hurt and pain.

Sadly, people like Jerry Falwell cause gay people a lot of anguish.

Sure, we can be tempted to say "what's the big deal, it's just his opinion". But it is a big deal. As you read this, multiple thousands of gay men and lesbian women are living lives that are made more difficult because Dr. Falwell still preaches that being gay or lesbian is a sin that can be changed.

Sometimes, a gay person opens up to his or her family, only to hear that they must "change" something that is unchangeable. How sad, that a message from a minister could cause someone's family to reject them.

Being rejected by one's own family is an incredibly painful experience. The words of Jerry Falwell cause families to reject their children under the mistaken belief that if they reject the child, he or she will change their sexual orientation.

In an interview with the PBS show Frontline, Dr. Falwell admitted, "I get emails and letters every day ... from Christian families who think they've done God a service by kicking their son or daughter out of the house."

While Jerry went on to say that he contacts the letter writer and tells them that what they did was wrong, he fails to see the bigger picture, which is that certain people, in response to the type of anti-gay rhetoric that he preaches, think they are doing a good thing by kicking a gay child out of their home.

Some people really take Dr. Falwell's words to heart. They become angry and combatant when they come into contact with people who are gay or lesbian. Some business owners fire their employees if they discover they are gay or lesbian. Some landlords do not want to give shelter to gays and lesbians.

It is just plain unbelievable that all of these slights are all committed in the name of Jesus Christ. Bigotry against gay people is a sin, and it is a sin against God.