When Truth Becomes a ‘Crime Against Humanity’

By Pastor Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D.

I am a Bible-believing Christian Pastor and as such I oppose homosexuality and the now global movement to legitimize it in society. The Bible teaches that homosexuality is s sin specially condemned by God as an “abomination” destructive to both individuals and society (Leviticus 18:22f). It is the only sin which prompted the destruction of a city by fire and brimstone (Genesis 19). It is the only sin chosen to epitomize the “reprobate mind,” meaning the mind given over completely to darkness and deceitfulness (Romans 1).

My job as a pastor is to preach this truth without apology or hedging so that people who suffer with a homosexual “orientation” can repent and be delivered from their bondage (Ezekiel 3:18), and society can be spared the damaging consequences of affirming that sin (Jude 1:7). Many homosexuals from the very beginnings of Christianity have been healed of this affliction (1 Cor 6:9-11).

I also preach against the hatred and violence that some direct toward homosexuals. That too is a sin (Matt 22:39).

History affirms the Bible. This homosexual movement does in fact exemplify the conduct described in Romans 1, so much so that since its rise to power it has silenced or destroyed nearly every opponent that once stood against it. Nearly everyone, including a significant number of my fellow clergy, are now afraid to speak against homosexuality for fear of retaliation.

Being one of the few pastors with both knowledge about the “gay” movement and willingness to preach it unequivocally, I have become, by default, one of the leading voices in the world on the topic. The tactics used against me have escalated commensurately: first ridicule, then intimidation, then vandalism, then death threats and bomb threats, then lawsuits, then character assassination (globally).

This week I became the first American ever to be sued in U.S. Federal Court under the Alien Tort Statute for violation of the international law of “Crimes Against Humanity of Persecution” for my preaching against homosexuality in Uganda. Being also an attorney with international human rights credentials, I know this suit is baseless. (My comments about it are posted at DefendTheFamily.com). Nevertheless, it represents another serious effort to silence me, and to misrepresent the homosexual issue to the American people.

Implicit in all “gay” propaganda (and this lawsuit) is the narrative that all disapproval of homosexuality leads inevitably to hatred and violence against homosexuals. Why? Because disapproval of homosexuality is a mental illness called homophobia, an anxiety disorder grounded in fear of homosexuals. Thus, in “gay” logic, to preach against homosexuality is to provoke mentally unbalanced people to do violence against these innocents whom they irrationally fear.

In Uganda, the “gay” movement seemingly found the ideal case to fit its narrative. A white American pastor preached against homosexuality to a society of backwards, homophobic Blacks, leading to pubic debate and a legislative bill dealing harshly with homosexual conduct (which I opposed), culminating in the murder of David Kato, a leader of the “gay” movement there. Finally, proof of the thesis.

However, missing from the media frenzy (and the pages of the lawsuit) is the simple fact that David Kato was not murdered by a deranged “homophobe.” He was killed by a “gay” male prostitute whom Kato had bailed out of jail to be his live-in lover. This man, now serving a 30 year sentence in a Ugandan prison, confessed to bashing in Kato’s skull with a hammer when he failed to pay him for sexual favors as promised. The reality supports my thesis, not theirs.

Their thesis is in truth a paranoid delusion. Opposition to homosexuality is not an anxiety disorder. Disapproval of a person or thing does not equate to hatred or violence. And one person’s criticism of a political movement is not proximate cause for a third person’s wrongful actions toward the members of that group. It is perfectly rational to oppose a form of sexual conduct with serious moral, sociological and public health consequences. It is paranoid to interpret those reasonable views as hate.

This movement, which the Bible warns is given over completely to deceitfulness, will not tell the truth in this or any other situation in which its drive for control conflicts with the good of society. It and its allies devote vast resources to sell the illusion that homosexuality is a benign social phenomenon and that its detractors are malevolent bigots. No one anywhere can be allowed to disagree.

But I know the truth of the matter, and I am bound by my love of Christ and His Word to tell it, even if that makes me a “Criminal Against Humanity‘ in international law.