Jacob covers a sad story of Jeanne Assam’s church, many of whom she saved after taking down a mass shooter, rejecting her because she came out of the closet. Heroics don’t know any sexual orientation. It’s certainly within her church’s prerogative to reject her views, but we’d like her to know she’s still a hero to many of us.
16 thoughts on “We Still Welcome Her”
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Sad. I exchanged some emails with Ms. Assam some months back, and she certainly hinted that she was struggling with sexual orientation problems. I am guessing that the problem was not that New Life Church rejected her because of her sexual orientation, but that remarks made by individuals there made her feel rejected. That’s not quite the same thing.
Clayton – regardless of who in her church rejected her, it’s kindof the same thing. i mean, church is built on community, and if members of that community ostracize a member, it works the same way. she might not have been outright told to leave, but if she’s made to feel horribly uncomfortable by those she helped protect, why would she stay?
The current pastor of the church is quoted as expressly welcoming Ms. Assam, and he points out that the congregation knows she is their hero.
If her feelings were hurt by a small number of members, the overwhelming majority seem to be quite welcoming to her.
In my experience, gay activists typically have a very high appreciation for civil rights in general and often of the Second Amendment in particular. Pink Pistols’ one-time motto “Armed Gays Don’t Get Bashed” is just one example.
Whether the New Life Church kicked Jeanne out isn’t clear, but there’s good reason to believe the atmosphere there is less than welcoming to openly gay members. The result is the same though–Assam is no longer part of their community.
Gun rights activists should be careful that we take our allies where we find them and not create superfluous litmus tests, especially on unrelated cultural or political issues, for whom we will or won’t accept into our community. It doesn’t take too many gratuitous or snide comments about “so-and-sos” (fill in the blank) to drive otherwise excited, valuable allies away.
It strikes me as unbelievably intolerant to ostracize one of your sheepdogs. It’s disappointing, but sadly I’m not all that surprised by the reaction.
Ms. Assam will always be a hero. Her sexual orientation doesn’t change one thing about her character.
Antigunner heads exploding in 3…2…1…
Homosexuality is a sin, and in the church environment it is considered deviant.Whether Homosexuals consider themselves this way or not, it’s how many moderate and conservative Christians see the issues.They do not hate the person but find the sin offensive. This woman did a good thing and deserves the credit, however expecting to be accepted on the same basis by all after coming out is unrealistic. It may not be good gun politics but it’s how they see the religious politics and that is what matters to them. Me i don’t care I don’t want to know either way straight or homosexual, you don’t need my approval and don’t expect it. What you do behind closed door is between you and God. However if you start “I’m here, I’m queer!!” routine things are gonna go south real quick.
If being a hero were a free pass to violate laws and/or rules, whether those of church, state or whatever, then we would have to empty out a lot of prisons.
@guest “If being a hero were a free pass to violate laws and/or rules, whether those of church, state or whatever, then we would have to empty out a lot of prisons.”
If violating laws and/or rules of churches was enough to put us in prison there’d be no one to hold the keys.
I told Ms. Assam about Dr. Robert L. Spitzer’s groundbreaking study of reorientation therapy–that about half of those who made the effort (and obviously, this is going to be those who are committed to the effort) were successful in changing not just behavior, but sexual orientation.
Christianity is not very accepting of homosexuality for the same reason that it is not very accepting of greed, sexual promiscuity, and a host of other sins. (The American church, however, seems to turn a blind eye to gluttony.) Those who are trying to turn away from sin are always welcome; those who insist that their sin isn’t sin are obviously not in the right place.
Complete agreement. I’m sorry that there are people there that made her feel uncomfortable, and I’m sorry that in the conflict between her faith and her sexual orientation that she let one take precedence.
Without having been present, I do not know where the discomfort came from. Did other members of the congregation say cruel, cutting, un-Christian things about homosexuality? That’s Ms. Assam’s view. Or did her discomfort with the discrepancy between her sexual orientation and Christianity make her feel uncomfortable?
I know someone who attends church who has a serious alcoholism problem. It caused the failure of his last two marriages (and very nearly sent him to prison, except that the very young lady was too drunk to remember enough for police to pursue a rape charge), and prevents him from holding even the most menial of jobs for any length of time. The only reason he isn’t homeless is that he is renting from someone at church–and is now nine months in arrears on his rent.
This guy has a serious problem. He is a sinner–and a sinner who is reluctant to admit how serious is problem is. Imagine if he suddenly decided his alcoholism was not a sin, but a “gift from God” (as some homosexuals try to claim about their sexual orientation). You can imagine the reaction at church if he was openly arguing that his sin was not.
“Johnnysquire Said,
March 1st, 2011 at 9:33 am
If violating laws and/or rules of churches was enough to put us in prison there’d be no one to hold the keys.”
*****
Unfortunately, there has never been a shortage of jailers where there’s a will to lock people up.
I am felling less sorry for Ms. Assam by the minute. She is making public statements about the pastor which sound like cheap shots, since she could easily prove him to be a public liar by just showing up at church. Of course, if he’s not lying, well, she wouldn’t be the first person to deliberately create a controversy when they’re trying to sell a book…
“Clayton E. Cramer Said,
March 1st, 2011 at 10:30 am
You can imagine the reaction at church if he was openly arguing that his sin was not.”
*****
Paraphrasing Orwell: some “gifts” are more equal…
@Guest “Unfortunately, there has never been a shortage of jailers where there’s a will to lock people up.”
I meant that we’d all be in jail. The Christian version is that we’re all sinners, the secular version is that it’s practically/logically impossible to follow all the Bible’s rules.
I’m not a believer, but I’m sure that you are aware, as I am, of the Christian Bible’s message (not only) of damnation, but that of salvation.
How various churches weigh/interpret/execute it is another matter.