Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet

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GreedyTop -> Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/15/2010 11:38:49 PM)
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/torn-by-bullying-suicides-mega-church-pastor-jim-swilley-says-hes-gay/19717048?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl1%7Csec4_lnk1%7C184381

Arpig -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 12:10:39 AM)
Better late than never I guess

PyrotheClown -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 12:46:49 AM)
"He said he's received some sharply negative reactions. "I know all the hateful stuff that's being written about me online, whatever," he said. "To think about saving a teenager, yeah, I'll risk my reputation for that." Hell Yeah(no pun intended) bout time our religious leaders take action against all the hate that's being passed round in the name of the gospel these days

GreedyTop -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 2:43:02 AM)
I agree, Pyro!

takemeforyourown -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 3:09:01 AM)
It's always good when one of God's reps decides to come out. Too bad it takes a kid killing himself to realize how hurtful the closet can be. I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first.

rulemylife -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 4:38:20 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: takemeforyourown It's always good when one of God's reps decides to come out. Too bad it takes a kid killing himself to realize how hurtful the closet can be. I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first. There you go, what would a thread on CM be like without some baseless speculation? Well done!

thishereboi -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 5:10:05 AM)
quote: I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first. I can't help but wonder why it would matter. If you had a child who used to say 2 + 2 is 5, but now says 2 + 2 is 4, are you going to tell him he is smart for figuring out the right answer. Or are you going to tell him it doesn't matter if he had the right answer now, because he got it wrong 2 years ago? Personally I thought the whole idea of education was to teach people, not keep a list of how many times they got it wrong in the past.

AquaticSub -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 5:33:34 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: thishereboi quote: I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first. I can't help but wonder why it would matter. If you had a child who used to say 2 + 2 is 5, but now says 2 + 2 is 4, are you going to tell him he is smart for figuring out the right answer. Or are you going to tell him it doesn't matter if he had the right answer now, because he got it wrong 2 years ago? Personally I thought the whole idea of education was to teach people, not keep a list of how many times they got it wrong in the past. Friend speaks my mind. There were people who were terrified of coming out of the closet at my staunchly liberal college campus because even in a place where men wore skirts frequently there were still incidents of hate crimes. The idea is not to loathe someone for being in the closet but to be thrilled for them when they finally have the courage and the reasons to come out. My humble opinion of course.

flcouple2009 -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 6:02:59 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: thishereboi quote: I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first. I can't help but wonder why it would matter. If you had a child who used to say 2 + 2 is 5, but now says 2 + 2 is 4, are you going to tell him he is smart for figuring out the right answer. Or are you going to tell him it doesn't matter if he had the right answer now, because he got it wrong 2 years ago? Personally I thought the whole idea of education was to teach people, not keep a list of how many times they got it wrong in the past. Yes, because a child learning and an adult who is hiding his own secrets behind a pulpit, speaking about the sins and evils of being homosexual are so similar. i don't give prizes to hypocrites just because they suddenly say, "well guess what".

barelynangel -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 6:19:59 AM)
So you are saying people in this websites "lifestyle" who spoke of how "bad" it is etc etc and then later after recognizing its not so bad actually find their life in same to be hypocrites? Life is full of "guess what's." There are MANY people in this world who at some point or another saw gay or lesbian as a "BAD" thing who have then changed their minds. And for someone who is going THROUGH the concept of recognizing they are gay, damn straight i would expect more than a few of them to be completely negative to the idea before finally finding peace with the identity. ALL people are hypocrites at some point in their lives simply because people change and their outlooks change etc. If you are incapable of accepting that then you are probably a hypocrite also, yes? So all's good.

AquaticSub -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/16/2010 6:22:53 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: flcouple2009 Yes, because a child learning and an adult who is hiding his own secrets behind a pulpit, speaking about the sins and evils of being homosexual are so similar. i don't give prizes to hypocrites just because they suddenly say, "well guess what". Wow. So no adult is ever allowed to realize they were wrong and change lest they be branded a hypocrite. Better for them to continue spouting the same old stuff. Learning, changing and growing ends at childhood! I learn something new every day!

thishereboi -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 5:10:37 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: flcouple2009 quote: ORIGINAL: thishereboi quote: I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first. I can't help but wonder why it would matter. If you had a child who used to say 2 + 2 is 5, but now says 2 + 2 is 4, are you going to tell him he is smart for figuring out the right answer. Or are you going to tell him it doesn't matter if he had the right answer now, because he got it wrong 2 years ago? Personally I thought the whole idea of education was to teach people, not keep a list of how many times they got it wrong in the past. Yes, because a child learning and an adult who is hiding his own secrets behind a pulpit, speaking about the sins and evils of being homosexual are so similar. i don't give prizes to hypocrites just because they suddenly say, "well guess what". So we shouldn't try to educate someone after they reach a certain age? I should just assume that you will always be a bigot when it comes to the right, just like some people will always be bigoted against gays? Sorry, but your logic just doesn't sit well with me. I like to think that people can change and past experience has proven to me that they can. Well in most cases, you might be an exception.[8\|]

flcouple2009 -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 7:13:25 AM)
Thanks I needed the laugh this morning and your always good for one. If your going to practice a religion one should not "pick and choose" the parts they wish to follow. He knew full well that the majority of his church and evangelicals view homosexuality as a sin and an affront to God. He made the choice to hide who he was to suit his own purpose of building the church. He committed a fraud on his entire congregation. He is a con man who now wants to come clean but at the same time keep the fruits of the con. While I might not agree with the views of certain religions I support their right to the beliefs. They also have expectations that the leaders adhere to the dogma. You'll have to explain to me the "right wing bashing" in that.

MrRodgers -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 7:51:56 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: rulemylife quote: ORIGINAL: takemeforyourown It's always good when one of God's reps decides to come out. Too bad it takes a kid killing himself to realize how hurtful the closet can be. I am glad he came out, but I can't help but wonder if he spoke against the 'evils' of homosexuality more than a few times first. There you go, what would a thread on CM be like without some baseless speculation? Well done! Speculation yes, baseless no.

MrRodgers -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 7:57:52 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: flcouple2009 Thanks I needed the laugh this morning and your always good for one. If your going to practice a religion one should not "pick and choose" the parts they wish to follow. He knew full well that the majority of his church and evangelicals view homosexuality as a sin and an affront to God. He made the choice to hide who he was to suit his own purpose of building the church. He committed a fraud on his entire congregation. He is a con man who now wants to come clean but at the same time keep the fruits of the con. While I might not agree with the views of certain religions I support their right to the beliefs. They also have expectations that the leaders adhere to the dogma. You'll have to explain to me the "right wing bashing" in that. You are correct as he was hiding not in a closet but behind a mask. That mask was his role in creating whatever congregation he managed to form. This guy sounds a like lot a repub fiscal conservative that after 8 years of blindness, has only now...seen the light. Almost everywhere it seems now in our civil and religious life, wall street and throughout govt....you can cut the hypocrisy with a knife.

GreedyTop -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 8:19:13 AM)
oh FFS.. can we PLEASE leave politcs out of this? I've already had ONE thread moved to P&R, much to my horror..

AquaticSub -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 8:19:28 AM)
So let me get this straight... You would rather the guy continue to live a lie? What is the motivation for coming out and being honest if this is the crap they get? Seriously - people spewing this stuff make it hard for public figures to stop hiding. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. It doesn't matter what they do, they are going to be hated and ripped apart. If this the reception they get, they might as well stay in hiding and have to deal with less crap.

flcouple2009 -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 10:22:39 AM)
I would rather he didn't commit a fraud on his congregation. He built the entire church on a lie. So no I am not gonna say job well done and give him a cookie for now coming clean. Nothing he did is fair to the congregation. You can't lead a church when the majority of your flock believes homosexuality is a sin and an affront to God. Be gay, be happy, go live your life. But you can't be the Pastor of a church where most of the people involved feel being gay is a sin. I firmly believe religion shouldn't be trying to force all of us to live the way they wish. I also believe that they should left alone as well. The members have a right to expect the leader to follow the beliefs of their religion. If he can't then he shouldn't be there.

AquaticSub -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 10:40:59 AM)
Until people STOP lavishing abuse on religious officials and other public figures for coming out as homosexual, they are going to continue to feel pressure to hide it. This sort of disgusting condemnation on someone who is finally having the guts to say "Yes I'm gay" isn't helping in any way. It creates an even more hostile environment that only encourages people to stay in the closet. If you read the article, you'll see that some people stayed and some people left and that no one was pressured into staying. This is EXACTLY the same as a religious leader have a change of heart in any other matter. Some people will stay, some will go. Perhaps his church will break apart, perhaps it won't. Perhaps because he was willing to step forward, other people's minds will be changed. But instead of thinking about the positive things that come from a person gathering up the guts to come up, some people are ready to hang them. Frankly, if this is what a public figure gets for coming out, I'd encourage them to stay in the closet. If you are going to be lynched, you might as well deserve it and live more comfortably in a lie.

subkatslut -> RE: Mega Church Pastor Comes Out of the Closet (11/17/2010 10:57:58 AM)
In reading the article I don't see where he is forcing anyone to live the way he wishes. At the end he specifically says "My position is not about gaying up the church," Swilley told CNN. "It's about people being who they are." That's a church HE founded. People come and go all the time for many reasons. Some may leave in fact many might leave because of this. Others will come. There may even be many who have been members and actually now feel more at home then they ever have. That's the nature of churches. It's why churches split up and branch off constantly. Disagreements in beliefs is one of the major reasons. Homosexuality is a big debate now in many churches. Many feel it's been misinterpreted and the reality of it is that there have been other things "religion" has backtracked on over the years. I actually think it would be more of a disservice if for the last how many ever years he's been spewing how wrong it is and influencing all his members in that direction that it would be wrong to not share what he's now no longer blinded by. They can then decide for themselves what they choose to believe. They can also choose to leave or stay. Also this- "It's about people being who they are." is what it's supposed to be about anyway. Look at it this way. If you thought your wife was cheating on you and you proceeded to tell your entire family that and you later discovered it wasn't the truth would you not feel some obligation to tell them as well? Or would you rather let them continue hating her and for her to feel their animosity unfairly because of you? I would hope not. When a mistake is made we try and right it to the best of our ability. I'd say that's exactly what he's doing and yes we all make mistakes even you.

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