Would Jesus Discriminate Against Gays?

by Michael Jones · 2009-09-10 16:59:00 UTC
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Would Jesus Discriminate?

Opponents of gay rights usually turn to religion to get their message across.  But as a group of churches in Texas are pointing out, there's plenty of reason to believe that Jesus wouldn't discriminate against LGBT folks.  And that's a slogan they're taking to new levels with an advertising campaign all along some Texan highways.

Several billboards have sprung up along Interstate 30 between Fort Worth and Grand Prairie, Texas, calling on Christians to remember that Jesus didn't hate or judge.  And if Jesus didn't hate or judge, then Christians shouldn't be in the business of discriminating against LGBT people.

"The Would Jesus Discriminate? Campaign and program is designed to engage people of all backgrounds and in all communities in the important topic of discrimination in order to spur this shift," said campaign organizers.  "For millennia, societies and religions have participated in discrimination against their members in overt and subtle ways. From perspectives of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity to the more subtle ongoing oppression regarding health, age and language."

The billboards are sponsored by five different Metropolitan Community Churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and their goal is to get people thinking and talking during their morning commute, the afternoon rush hour, or the drive down to the grocery store.  And as you can see from the video below, they're definitely getting the attention of some.

The use of religion to discriminate is not Christlike.  That's the message of these billboards.  And if they get a few folks to re-read their Bibles and understand that discrimination isn't a Biblical principle, then we're all better off with these billboards popping up alongside the highway.

(Photo courtesy of http://planetransgender.blogspot.com)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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