‘CHRISTIAN’ Church In Tennessee EXPELS Whole Family For NOT ABANDONING Lesbian Daughter

[Segami]

CHURCH WALKING IN CHRIST'S FOOTSTEPS..........I THINK NOT!!!....

Kat Cooper is a detective with the Collegedale Police Department in Collegedale, Tennessee. Her family has attended the same church for three generations and because they love her, they are no longer welcome by the congregation. The Ridgedale Church of Christ discovered the Cooper family supporting Kat’s fight to get the city to extend government employee benefits to gays and lesbians. Kat herself is also a lesbian. So when the Ridgedale Church saw a picture of her family in attendance at the city council meeting in which the council approved the new measure, they issued the family an ultimatum: apologize in front of the congregation for not hating your lesbian daughter or be kicked out of the church.


Naturally, the Coopers chose to leave the church rather than submit to the hateful values it now practices. That seems to suit minister Ken Willis just fine. He claims that it was the duty of the church to reject the Coopers for openly standing by their daughter instead of abandoning her. In his eyes, the family should have chosen hate over love. That’s interesting, considering the fact that Jesus commands us to love our neighbors no matter what in the very Bible conservative Christians cherry-pick and misinterpret to justify their hatred of others. Church is supposed to be a place that welcomes anybody. Apparently that is no longer the case. And religious fanatics wonder why people are leaving the church in droves. Because of their un-Christian action of rejecting a family for daring to love their own daughter no matter what, the Ridgedale Church has experienced an avalanche of outrage on their Facebook page. Feel free to visit them and add your voice to the many who are calling this so-called “Christian” church out for their hate.


Gay rights are human rights. Homosexuals only seek the same rights heterosexuals have enjoyed for over a thousand years. They want to be able to marry their consenting partner, the person they love. Just as many heterosexual couples want religion to play a role in their marriage, the same applies to many homosexuals as well. No church that claims to practice Christian values should abandon families for loving their children, just as no church should practice hatred against homosexuals. Churches can hide behind their Bibles all they want, hate masquerading as religion is still hate. Hate, not love, should be rejected by churches. Any church that disagrees isn’t a church at all.


http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/08/27/tennessee-church-expels-family-over-lesbian-daughter/

The Coopers of Collegedale, TN had been members of the Ridgedale Church of Christ for over three generations. That all changed when they were photographed at a city council meeting that voted 4-1 to approve same-sex benefits to government employees. The Coopers' daughter, Kat, is a lesbian and a detective with the Collegedale Police Department and had been leading the cause to have those benefits extended to gay couples. Because they showed up to support her, the church met privately with Kat's parents, aunt, and uncle and gave them an ultimatum: repent for their sins and ask forgiveness in front of the congregation, or leave the church, the Times Free Press reports.

The sin of Kat's relatives, according to minister Ken Willis, is that of endorsing her 'lifestyle', which he says the Bible is explicit about. While Willis doesn't expect the Coopers to disown Kat, he says that while parents should still love their children they shouldn't support their sin; love the sinner, hate the sin. But it would also seem that loving a sinner is itself a sin, judging from the actions of Willis and the church authorities.

Willis insists that since Kat's actions and support from her family were made so public, they had no choice but to take action. The implication evidently is that if Kat had stayed in the closet or kept quiet about her lack of rights then the church wouldn't have had to punish her family for loving her. After 60 years, the Coopers chose to leave the church rather than repent for a sin they did not commit. Kat's mother is still driven to tears by the events, but the family remains resolute in the support of their daughter.

http://www.towleroad.com/2013/08/tennessee-church-kicks-out-family-for-supporting-lesbian-daughter.html

[Sissyk]

1. Not very christian

of them, is it??

They are better off not in that church, anyway. Good luck to the family and in Kat's fight for equal rights!

[cleanhippie]

7. Not very human of them, is it? Being a xtian does not mean being a good person.

In fact, it seems that often, it's quite the opposite.

[Sissyk]

20. Correct!

Not very human of them, either.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

2. Jesus would be very proud

[Segami]

5. Proud?...Only if 'their Jesus' was really,....

'Machine-Gun-Jesus'.........

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

8. Maybe I should have used

Ten sarcasm things rather than just one?

[Segami]

10. No,...your first 'sarcasm' was quite clear....

I'm just piling onto your statement.....'their' hypocrisy has no limits.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

12. Ah I see

I misunderstood.

[Segami]

13. btw- Welcome to DU!!

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

14. Why thank you!

[Lithos]

26. I do not believe in Jesus...

But for consistency sake, Jesus would be proud of this family. The Church - meh, they are hypocrites.

[safeinOhio]

3. If the church wants to toss out everyone that sins.....

they might as well lock the doors.

[cleanhippie]

9. Being LGBT is not "sin."

[safeinOhio]

17. I wouldn't know.

As a Secular Humanist I don't believe in the concept of sin.

[cleanhippie]

22. I don't either, but labeling it as such perpetuates the nonsense.

Glad we can agree.

[FiveGoodMen]

30. The trouble is, their book labels it as such.

Their only sensible option is to see that book for the lie it is and get out of that church.

(Well, I guess they're already out of that church, so that's a start)

[cleanhippie]

32. Unfortunately, it's not just that church. While there are some more progressive sects, most agree

Last edited Tue Aug 27, 2013, 01:51 PM - Edit history (1)

With labeling LGBT as "sinners." Surely you've heard more than a few spew this gem: "love the sinner, hate the sin."




On edit:

[tblue37]

35. Did you really mean "love the DINNER"--or is that just a typo?

Actually, though, I could see going into a really noisy restaurant and saying, "Love the dinner--hate the din!"

[cleanhippie]

40. Yes, typo. But that's funny, love the dinner, hate the din!

Well played!

[FiveGoodMen]

36. "Love the dinner, hate the sin"

Is that a philosophical approach to eating shellfish?

[cleanhippie]

41. I suppose that's one way of looking at it.

Thanks for the catch.

[GeorgeGist]

15. So you believe ...

that being a lesbian is a sin.

[safeinOhio]

16. Sorry folks, I'm talking about what

church people pick and chose as a sin to toss others out.

I've always said that if you gave me some judgmental religious person an hour and a polygraph machine I'd have them looking for new loopholes in the bible in an instant.

[RC]

18. That would be a good thing.

Why would anyone care who someone else sleeps with? They're pissed because they know they have no chance with her now, or what?

[NuclearDem]

4. You know, just like Jesus would have!

[beerandjesus]

6. God, I hate these people so much.

I try to be patient.... but sometimes I almost wish there were a Hell for people like this to go to.

[cleanhippie]

11. There is, these people and many like them call it Heaven.

It's going to be FULL of them. What a paradise!

[theHandpuppet]

19. Love your sig line

The world would be so much a better place if people followed those words.

[cleanhippie]

21. Thanks. Sagan was very wise.

[Zorra]

23. I will not eat food prepared by conservative christians, and avoid using any

service provided by conservative christians.

I believe that some of them are deranged, and most of them are full of hate, and I don't want to take a chance on them poisoning me because they believe that their god commands them to kill LGBT's.

I don't use their services because I believe they will cheat me, or otherwise cause me some type of problem with a purchase in doing a service.

For example, I would never bring my car to a conservative christian mechanic for service or repair, because I believe that there is a significant risk that they would purposely damage my vehicle.

[AtomicKitten]

24. The church is not particularly Christ-like, is it?

I applaud the family for embracing their daughter in the face of this kind of exclusion. Love trumps hate.

[RevStPatrick]

25. They're not "Christians," they're "Leviticans"

And/or they are The Upside-Down people.

Everything they "think" and "believe" is upside-down to reality.

See?



These people have no idea what they are doing...

[E-Z-B]

27. Didn't Christ sit with the prostitutes and tax collectors?

[Snake Plissken]

28. They love Jesus so much that even Jesus wouldn't be allowed to attend their church

The Ridgedale Church of Christ would have no choice but to expel him due to his alternative lifestyle.

[Stuckinthebush]

29. Crappy "church"

Hopefully, the Coopers will find a much better place for their time, energy and money.

As for the crappy church - they have been identified as crappy and will suffer the consequences in time.

[LittleGirl]

31. remove their tax exempt status! nt

[KamaAina]

33. Where is the word 'lifestyle' in the Bible?

Maybe I've just got the wrong translation.

I should consult with my friend the classic professor to find out how you say 'lifestyle' in ancient Greek.

[valerief]

34. That's religion for you! More US against THEM. Religion--the OTHER makers. nt

[heaven05]

37. In the 80's

Last edited Wed Aug 28, 2013, 04:24 PM - Edit history (1)

I attended a southern baptist church(first mistake). Yes, I was a dyed in the wool evangelical christian. Not ashamed of that either. Yet when I fell in love with another christian who was of a different race than I and she I, it was the (second mistake). First we were asked not to sit together in church services. We objected(third mistake). Three strikes and you're out. The 'official' reason was then given, "some of our members are offended by your relationship". I asked. "why"? Preacher just looked at me. I knew why, I just wanted to hear him say it. I then entered another question, "if god gave miriam leprosy until she recanted her rebellion against her brother moses, she had used the fact that moses had taken a cushite(black) wife as an instigation of her jealous rebellion and god never told moses he was wrong for taking that race wife then why were we wrong?" He jumped up and shouted, "this is my church!" I jumped back, two seconds from busting his nose, "yeah that's the problem, it's your church and not god's church." My friend pulled me out of the office, I was seething. Well his church has grown into a local mega-church, so god had 'blessed' him and I guess I was wrong to love the right person at the wrong time. We were together for eighteen years. The situation above is an extenuation of that line of thinking. I want no part of bigoted, racist and close minded individuals who claim to know the love of jesus. I hope Kat's family finds another church more open to their family. I never went looking again. My religion is personal.

[dembotoz]

38. they sound like a fine church going family-i hope and trust they will find a new better church soon

i would be proud to meet them

[madrchsod]

39. "suffer the little children unto me for theirs is the kingdom of god"...

he did`t exclude anyone in that message.

they should find an accepting church or join the universalists.