Jeremy Hooper Misses the Point

By Peter LaBarbera

Homosexual blogger Jeremy Hooper as featured in the homosexual magazine The Advocate in 2005.

Apparently AFTAH critic and New York City homosexual, “Good As You” blogger Jeremy Hooper is incapable of distinguishing between a hate letter and a heartfelt personal note. AFTAH sometimes publishes the letters we receive from very nasty homosexual activists, to highlight the true nature of a movement that routinely fails to live up to the now-obsolete definition of their chosen descriptor: “gay.” We tell people on our site: “Note: All correspondence sent to Americans for Truth becomes property of Americans For Truth.” Can you blame us for exposing the abject hatred and reverse bigotry of sexual activists who regularly accuse everyone else of being haters and bigots? (There’s something surreal about getting a tolerance lecture from some irate pro-gay fellow who spews vulgarities as he brings the message that I am Satan’s brother, a covert homosexual (of course), and I am going to burn in hell because I oppose homosexuality.)

Now contrast that with a quick note I sent to Jeremy, responding to an e-mail he sent to me requesting a comment about one of his blog posts. I had not read the post, presuming it to be one of the usual straw-man set-ups in which homosexual activist demand answers from the pro-family community using queries that are specifically crafted to make us look unreasonable. (I was right: Hooper’s piece is about the evangelical “endgame,” and concludes — repeating the subject line of his e-mail — in bold letters: Do You Want Us Gone?) Here is Jeremy’s original e-note to me and my response (in bold):

On May 27, 2009, at 5:34 PM, Peter LaBarbera wrote:

Jeremy, this is not for publication, just my heart:  Without having read your post, I can tell you this, Jeremy: I sincerely want you to leave the gay lifestyle, which is sinful. I think God has a better plan for your life. Best–pl
————————-

[Jeremy Hooper wrote:]

From: Good As You [contact@goodasyou.org]
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 7:55 AM
To: Pro-family list 1 [including Peter LaBarbera]
Subject: Do you want us gone?

Your frank response is appreciated.

http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2009/05/audio-support-traditional-marriage-or-get-out-of-the-way.html

– Jeremy

Jeremy Hooper
Good As You
www.goodasyou.org

Please note that I asked Jeremy for non-publication more out of concern for him than me. You see, I really do care for this young man’s soul, and I wanted to communicate that even amidst our public back-and-forth on “gay” issues. Yes, his snarky website upsets me and, no, I don’t pray for him nearly as often as I ought to (Christians should be praying that men like Jeremy would repent and come to Christ) — but in my response I specifically hoped that this would not escalate into another web war. Jeremy and I have had e-mail discussions before in which I told him to go ahead and publish what I wrote. (And today it is generally true: anything you write on e-mail could end up on a website somewhere.)

Anyway, no chance. Here is Jeremy’s post using my sincere message to bash me for being a “hypocrite” — note how he self-righteously purports to “honor” my privacy request [see the actual “Good As You” post HERE]. Jeremy writes:

Hypocrisy, thy name is LaBarbera

On Wednesday, in response to this writer’s request for an on-the-record statement regarding what he and his allies see as their anti-gay endgame, Americans For Truth’s Peter LaBarbera wrote back with this:

There’s nothing explosive under the black bars — but as always, I have and will continue to honor his “not for publication” request.

But now let’s look over at Pete’s AFT site. In a new, rambly, sadly desperate plea for money wherein he attempts to paint the gay activist community as evil, Peter puts forth the following:

AFTAH Asks: Why Are ‘Conservative’ Leaders Selling Out on ‘Civil Unions’? [AFT]

Yes that’s right: He’s using a private email that he’s received as a way of drumming up cash. So apparently, even though he’s against anyone citing his own emails in the public sphere, Peter considers all of the emails he receives not only publishable, but also identifiable by [the] writer’s name. On his end, he wants to be able to operate one way in private email correspondence, and another way on his site. But when it comes to others’ private messages, any usage is fair.

Except, of course, when the emails sent his way, at his own request, turn out to be [kind], gentle, and thoroughly pro-gay. Then he just ignores them.

Stay transparent, Pete!

God loves the sinner but hates the sin

I guess one of the lessons here is that there is so much distrust in this “culture war” — on both sides — that it’s hard to have even a “non-political” exchange between opponents.  I don’t fault Jeremy and his allies for strongly opposing AFTAH — we are against everything they stand for when it comes to homosexuality (morality, public policy, etc.). But I reiterate here that I do care for his soul, and so does God. And Jeremy may not know that I’ve had plenty of extended, civil discussions with homosexual advocates who write through AFTAH’s site.

So the answer is: No, Jeremy, I don’t want you “gone.” I want you to you repent and believe in the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself, came to earth, and died for your sins and mine, so that we might live eternally with Him. In other words, I want you and all homosexuals to “come into the light” and be reconciled to God. I want your changed life as a reborn Christian to be a trophy for God’s redemptive grace and power — as it is with Charlene Cothran, Stephen Black and countless other men and women who once identified as “gay” — rather than your (current) homosexuality-celebrating life to be a monument to man’s stubborn and prideful heart.

The Bible teaches that men are dead in their sins — which is why they need a whole “new life” in Christ. Jesus was not just a good teacher; He is the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins (1 John 4:10). Understanding that many or even most homosexuals may not humble themselves and repent, the pro-family movement aims to resist the larger “gay” agenda of homosexuality- (sin-)based “rights,” and its use of government power to force the acceptance of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) lifestyles on American citizens (including schoolchildren) — even if it means trampling on people’s freedom of conscience and parental rights.

Homosexuality is a different kind of sin in the eyes of most people — there’s a reason it came to be called “queer” — and so they make exceptions in how they treat it that they would never make with other sins. (Even other sexual sins: if the Old Testament is our guide, incest is the closest comparable sin to the “detestable” act of homosexual sodomy; Leviticus 18:22.) But I am more convinced than ever that no matter what set of circumstances and choices resulted in a person’s embrace of a homosexual identity — and many GLBT’s have had tough and tragic upbringings and experiences — “gays and lesbians,” like all sinners, need to step back from their “feelings” and view their life from the Creator’s holy perspective, as revealed by the Bible.

God does have a wonderful plan for Jeremy’s life and for each of us, but the proud embrace of sin — any sin — cannot be part of that plan. This New Testament passage says it all:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (John 3:16-21)

Christians: please join me in praying for Jeremy to come into the light of Christ!