Saturday, November 22, 2008

Best Billboard Ever: Apology for the passage of Prop H8TE

I still have a week's worth of posts to catch up on. Wondering why I can't keep up even though I'm unemployed? Yeah, I have no answers. Blame late nights on Twitter, Hulu, ABC.com, CBS.com, HBO On Demand, Craig's List and Huffington Post. Oh yeah, and looking for a job. That part really sucks. So anyway, I went to Bar Pink tonight, and noticed this awesome billboard. I'm not much a fan of religion, but I have to give major props to The Mission Gathering Christian Church for giving me a glimmer of faith in humanity and the idea that some religion is there for comfort and love and not to promote hate and division.



The billboard reads:

Mission Gathering Christian Church
Is Sorry
For The Narrow-Minded, Judgmental, Deceptive, Manipulative
Actions Of Those Who
Took Away The Rights And Equality
Of So Many
In The Name Of God.

You can see the Billboard on the corner of University & 30th, above the Union Bank.

33 comments:

Iris Carter said...

What a wonderful outreach in the way christianity is intended. Thanks for sharing the warmth!

Krystyna81 said...

wow - i hope a lot of other churches follow their lead!

Hawthorne said...

This is a wonderful billboard. Glad to know that other people out there are working to show that not all Christians are hateful and bigoted! Props to that church.

(Also, it reads "Narrow minded, judgemental, deceptive[...]". Not Illegal. :))

righthere said...

Beautiful! It's refreshing to see a Church get it right. If only all christians had this much morality and good judgement...

Rosemary Bystrak said...

Thanks for the correction. From where I wrote down the words on the billboard I saw it different than when I actually crossed to take the picture.

Unknown said...

San DIego is like the coolest place on earth!

jess
www.privacy.cz.tc

Expert said...

Christianity actually being tolerant for a change

I need to get my eyes checked.

IMO the most intolerant religion has been Christianity, no one else goes to such an extent to convert other countries with religions different from their own like Christianity does.

I'm sick of Christians, Mormans and all those Abrahamic religions.

Hans Holdings said...

Too bad that they are contradicting what the Bible explicitely mentions. The Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and all other derived faiths thereof, take their word from the OT which explicitely mentions to stone homosexuals.

How about we cut all the bullshit and just do away with the religious nonsense alltogether? Not to mention seperation of church and state as well as the 14th amendment to the US constitution.

Uwibami said...

Pretty awesome! Thanks for sharing that!!! I wrote about it in my Last.fm journal :)

Asleep said...

I am a Christian, and I do not endorse Prop 8. I am neither hateful nor bigoted. People are people, regardless of orientation. All people have inalienable rights to which they are entitled. I do not agreed that marriage is something that Gay couples have a right to. As my religion defines marriage, it takes place beween a man and a woman. Marriage is a sacred union recognized by God, in which he dwells. A covenant. I vote this definition, to avoid the government and my religion from disagreement. If Gay couples want all the legal protection that marriage affords wed couples, I will happily vote to strengthen the laws concerning civil unions. I do not wish too discriminate, but I do not see it as such. I also fear that if the legal definition and religious definition of marriage do not coincide, refusal to marry a gay couple could open up my church to legal action, under charges that they are discriminating. I hope I explained this well, I do not wish to upset anyone. Please remember that you opposition is not always hateful or ignorant, some of us simply disagree with you, respectfully.

brady said...

yeah horray

Unknown said...

asleep - I understand your fear that your church may be forced to perform marriages against its tenets, but please know that this fear is unfounded (perhaps you have been misled). Notice this example: marriage by people previously divorced from others is legal but is not allowed by the Catholic church. The fact that it's legal does not mean the Catholic church is forced to do it! Churches decide what religious ceremonies they will or won't perform, nobody wants to take this away. The problem a lot of people have is when churches want to take things away from the state (to make it more like their church). Whose church decides what's right for all?

Bobby Phillipps said...

To asleep: I understand your disagreement, but the problem I have is that a lot of people of the Christian religion (not all) and other religions are against gay marriage because of what their respective texts say. But the problem is that it's not necessarily what a gay person believes. Perchance the person is an atheist, and doesn't follow the Bible. The Bible is not the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights.

I joined a group on Facebook recently called: "Against Gay Marriage? Then Don't Get One and Shut The @#$% Up!" Although I don't really appreciate the foul language of it, the premise, I believe is true. If you don't believe in something, that's fine. Just don't let it infringe upon others beliefs. My thanks to you for openly stating that you would vote to strengthen civil unions, though. That's satisfaction enough to me to know that you're not a bigot, zealot, or intolerant. Hats off to you, 'asleep'. :)

kylee said...

hey hans and asleep.

Jesus preached against divorce.

yet..there are a lot of divorces.

and there's also a lot of other stuff in the bible that's a wee bit out of touch with today's society.

just saying.

garth2 said...

the screwed up thing is religionists apologizing to the "other side". how about convincing your fellow-travellers in goofy mythology? sounds like a better move to me. Tell the hate churches to get their act together. convert their members. why talk to people who already believe that human beings all deserve the same rights? talk to the bigoted scumbags in the catholic church, and the bigoted scumbags in the mormon church (including my relatives, yeesh).
those "we're sorry" xtians are doing nothing but patting themselves on the back. it's garbage.

Aaron Paul Ingebrigtsen (Plarndude) said...

I agree with that billboard, I think that's a great billboard, absolutely correct. Now, you may decide to direct hate and stuff at me, but I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I disagreed greatly with the church's efforts and wish I could forget what happened, but I can't. I did NOT vote for prop 102, the Arizona version of prop H8TE. And I wish some good sense would correct this error, and restore True Liberty to this country. I'm very upset that this country seems less and less free, more and more ruled by a particular religious group with similar goals. I'm not saying that religion is bad, I'm just saying that Religion ruled the human race as Government, being the Only Authority, for thousands of years, and America was supposed to be a Bold experiment in Liberty, the ability to govern and be governed without it all being done in the Name of God. We can have God in our personal lives, we can each choose to walk our own path, in this country. Let's keep it that way, shall we?

Mari said...

I am curious, did they give money for prop 8, or are they just apologizing because of embarassment over what other christians have done?

Fuzz said...

i am so impressed with all the open minded Christians posting on this thread. it is truly refreshing. thank you all.

garth2 : i understand what you are saying, but i also think that it is a way of telling all the other "hate churches" the message. it is almost mocking them.. surely they will take some more time to think about it (internally or personally) of they see another Christian church apologising.

jay said...

I am the Creative Arts Pastor at Missiongathering... and I absolutely love the conversations happening here. To read more about why we did this, go here:

http://ourheartsarewithyou.wordpress.com/

Rosemary Bystrak said...

I reserve the right to delete hateful comments. Thanks for checking out the site and for checking out my photo, but I will NOT post hateful comments here. Take it elsewhere. There are plenty of places to spread your hate and bigotry. Yes, I am biased, and yes, on MY OWN BLOG, I am allowed to be. This is not a dialog or a thread. Thanks to the people who have posted positive, loving comments. For those of you with hate, take it elsewhere. It will NOT be published on my personal website.

jay said...

Thank you Rosemary. Thank you for posting this and thank you for keeping it civil and productive.

Through these types of dialogue, we can begin to build unity for all.

Unknown said...

Words are not deeds. That's a baby-step.

T said...

am I allowed to think that Christianity shouldn't really care about Prop 8? that perhaps it should be thinking about people on an individual basis?

it doesn't seem like billboards or propositions or donations will make this life any better. it seems like only love can do that.

Being from CA, I didn't vote on Prop 8. I'm not upset about the results, nor am I pleased with them. I'm going to focus on loving my neighbor--the one I can see and talk to and get coffee with in the morning.

If I'm a Christian (and I am) I had better hope that my God can love people always--because I'm a liar, a thief, and an adulterer, among other things. And I have to hope that he will change those.

If homosexuality is a sin, a personal understanding of God will make that clear to the person seeking Him. If it's not, then it won't be a problem. So love everyone regardless.

Because it's not about whether or not America allows same-sex marriages. It's not about anything America does at all. Because fill-in-the-blank-sexuals can love and be loved regardless of law and circumstance.

Equality would be great, but the world is imperfect. Drastically so.

And I sure hope Love is bigger than that imperfection. And I have faith that it will be. For the sake of both sides of the issue.

My apologies for not loving. I don't know that I can apologize for the church.

I don't know that I can apologize /for/ humanity. But I sure as heaven can apologize /to/ it.

Why? For love.

It seems like that's where we have to start.

--Tom

Snafu 919 said...

Prop 8 is a great response to the legislating by the CA Supreme Court. When groups can't sway public opinion they go to the courts to force it on everyone else instead of talking to people. At least in California the rule of the majority is respected. (Nevermind the minority rights rights argument seeing as there was never a gay 'right' to marry.) Ultimately, I think prop 8 is a lesson in not abusing the courts.

Aaron Paul Ingebrigtsen (Plarndude) said...

It has never been easy for me to argue with anyone about anything, I get very emotional, and I almost always find that it is impossible to convince the other person that I am right about whatever it is. But that doesn't mean I should remain silent in the face of something wrong. We should all stand up and speak out, even if we never get through to Most people. We might still get through to Someone. Strange as it may seem to some, I believe what my church preaches about Marriage, I just don't think it is right to force our beliefs on others. I am a Libertarian politically, so no matter how I feel about homosexuality, I will always defend people's right, I say RIGHT, to do whatever they want as long as they are neither hurting anyone else, nor infringing on anyone else's rights. Blessed Be fellow brothers and sisters, and that means Everybody.

Jen said...

Wow Tom, Well said!

I think its interesting how those who are for Gay marriage say that those who aren't are being judgemental and should vote for it even if they don't agree with it whether its because of religion or personal beliefs but the people who support Gay marriage can use anything to support their belief. Isn't the whole point of voting to tally how many (that care to do the voting) are on either side of the issue. So... what has the most votes wins. If the gay marriage people had the most it would have passed so I guess as loud as the gay rights people are they lost that vote. Too bad for them.
- Jen

bob said...

we certainly need more love in this world,people who love each other shouldn`t be denied the right to express that love through marriage.I think some people fear homosexuality is contagious ,the truth is that love is contagious and the more loving happy people we have the better for all of society
peace

Mari said...

But Jennifer, when people told lies and used fear to sway opinions, I think those were immoral tactics. I am also disturbed that the majority of the pro prop 8 money came from outside California.

It's sad to bar same-sex couples from marriage. No one will force churches to perform marriages, just as they can turn people down now. This was for a civil ceremony, and it should be a basic civil right.

Rachel Stoykovich said...

Christians do not take their word from the old testament. Christians believe in grace. No real christian would ever support the stoning of a gay person. It's awesome that this billboard says the message that it does. Regardless of what church you belong to, there are people who can corrupt it and ruin the message of love for everyone. We're only human. It takes courage to apologize for things like this.

Hello there said...

Well if I am ever hateful and bigoted (which I probably am \=) well then I'm sorry about that. I'm not perfect but I can try to be more like Jesus and that's the main goal of Christianity. The most I can do is witness and let my lifestyle do the talking. I'd hate to be a hypocrite after all...well too late for that. Man I really do need Jesus ha ha.

fireflyrev said...

For all the positive comments to be found on this billboard,and for some few improvements christianity might be making, the usual intolerance for any other religious perspective is also found on that billboard: "CHRISTIANITY FOR ALL"
Rather presumptuous don't you think? Many of us who are not christian have been supporting such objectives for years. However, I am pleased to have the Christians on board.
I am, by the way, a Unitarian Universalist minister, not a christian, but committed to creating community that embodies the widest possible diversity.

Alex said...

Respect!

test said...

The real issue is the constitutionality of laws that strip individuals of their civil rights on any grounds, religious or otherwise. The only reason these types of laws are still in place is that bigotry against homosexuals is still acceptable to most Americans. If California had just voted to prevent black people from marrying, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Such a law would be so ridiculously unconstitutional that it would have never even been brought to a vote. Once discrimination against homosexuality falls by the wayside, these issues will disappear. Thankfully, most of the younger generation of Americans reject the intolerance and ignorance of the generations currently in power and the next few decades should bring us much more justice on this front.