Julie Atwood received a phone call from New Hope Missionary Baptist Church informing her that she had 24 hours to find a new place to hold the wake for her son, Julion Evans.
Why?
The church learned that Evans was married to a man-Kendall Capers.
What the actual fuck?
It’s so completely fucked up to begin with that a church would deny the funeral for anyone on the grounds of their sexuality. Once again, religious beliefs trump human decency. All because a group of humans decided that the words in their holy book were more important than treating other humans with decency. To them, it doesn’t matter that a man has died and his friends and family wish to hold funeral services at their church. What matters is that they believe in a deity whom they think opposes homosexuality.
This is reason #659 that religion is detrimental to society. Religious beliefs help provide the basis for humans to treat one another inhumanly. Once again, a religious organization has decided to place its beliefs in an invisible, inaudible, unknowable entity over the needs of actual human beings. The sadness and grief experienced by family and friends of Julion Evans means nothing to them (or, if it does, it doesn’t mean enough). What matters to them is following their interpretation of a collection of stories, myths, and allegories compiled over a couple of thousand years and rewritten innumerable times. That is more important than the grief of humans? That is more important than granting a grieving family the dignity and respect of seeing their loved one put to rest?
The church’s pastor had this to say:
“I’m not trying to condemn anyone’s lifestyle, but at the same time, I am a man of God, and I have to stand up for my principles,” Pastor Jenkins told reporters.
Oh, well since you weren’t trying to condemn anyone’s lifestyle, I guess you’re magically off the hook for condemning someone’s lifestyle. Oh, wait. No, the fuck you’re not. You’re not standing up for principles. You’re putting your bigotry out there for all the world to see and dressing it up in the trappings of “sincerely held religious beliefs” as if that someone makes your actions any less deplorable. It doesn’t. Regardless of how you dress up your beliefs, they are still bigoted and discriminatory. That you hide behind your religion to justify those beliefs paints your religion as disgusting. You can’t see that because in this pervasively religious society, people think religious belief is beneficial. Would that more people realized how detrimental religious belief is for humanity.
There has been public outcry on social media over the actions of the church:
On Twitter, even at 10 PM Friday night, several angry tweets per minute were still flowing.
On Facebook, aside from flooding news feeds, the vocally outraged dug up the church’s Facebook page — it does not appear on their website — and left literally hundreds of scathing reviews and comments.
As of this writing, there are 222 one-star reviews and seemingly hundreds of negative comments — about 20 per hour were being posted Friday night.
A sampling:
“Right-wing Christians like these kinds of ‘Christians’ claim there’s a war on Christians in this country. There isn’t a so-called war, but if there were it would be because of actions exhibited by these kinds of churches.”
“Well, you are a shining example of why I no longer believe in God…if a loving God existed, He would not allow people like you to use His name to harm others.”
“In Timothy 2:8 we read: ‘I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.’ Which is why you also don’t allow funeral arrangements for women with braided hear or who wear jewelry. Am I right?”
“The pastor of this church isn’t standing on principles he is standing on judgment and bigotry. I ask him to contemplate and meditate on this question… Would Jesus approve of this? Would this be the actions of the Savior? I think you need to bow in front of the Lord and pray… pray for true guidance from Jesus. This family chose this church for a reason so where is the compassion of community? If I were a member of this congregation I would find a new church.”
“Jesus would have conducted the service and provided comfort to the family and the husband in their time of grief. I am not a Christian, but you have to walk the talk. I am reminded of the time that Jesus came across a group of people who were stoning a prostitute, Jesus said – he who hath cast no sin shall cast the first stone and the crowd slunk away. As a man of god you may be close to sinless – until this decision.”
“And this is the cancer within your religion. You teach only hate. And praise yourself for doing so.”
“I think you may have forgotten Matthew 24:40. When did Jesus EVER turn his back on someone in need? The way you treated that bereaved family, you treated Jesus himself.”
“Someone in your congregation just wrote back to me, ‘Compassion has nothing to do with biblical principles.’ Wow. Well, turning your back on a man’s funeral is certainly a great example of that, now, isn’t it?”
“I am deeply saddened to see God’s message to the world distorted in this way. Dear, dear Pastor Jenkins…We look to you to teach us of God’s love, mercy, and compassion, not complete and shameful intolerance. Even if your church does preach against a gay lifestyle, is there no place in your heart for God’s mercy, forgiveness, and compassion? Do you refuse to conduct funeral services for people who break other of what you understand to be God’s laws and rules? Really? Do you really do that? Refuse funeral services for those you know to be what you consider sinners? Would that not include everyone in your congregation who is not perfect in God’s eyes?
“I am so saddened by this; so saddened to see God utterly misrepresented in this way.”
“Shame on you for cancelling that young gay man’s funeral. I’m sure God would be so proud of you for being so judgemental. And organized religion wonders why so many people are slipping away?”
