Orlando and the Complicity of the Church

A Statement by the Western Methodist Justice Movement in Response
to the Mass Shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida

by Rev. Frank Wulf

As I write this reflection, a little more than two days has passed since the massacre at Pulse in Orlando, Florida.

Pulse is a well-known and popular gay venue that has always attracted large crowds of LGBTQ persons seeking to celebrate life and have fun in a safe and welcoming environment. Unfortunately, the events of Sunday morning have made it abundantly clear that there is no real safety, not even in places that LGBTQ people have traditionally claimed as their own.

So today, we mourn the violent and untimely deaths of 49 sisters and brothers, pray for the physical healing of 53 others who were wounded, and seek the spiritual and emotional restoration of a great many more whose sense of wellbeing has been profoundly violated.

However, as we grieve our losses and seek healing for our woundedness, let us never forget that this horrific act of violence did not take place in a vacuum. It took place in the context of a long history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and violence both in this nation and around the world. While it seems clear that the killer was motivated in part by a perverse and twisted understanding of Islam, what seems far clearer is that his decision to kill was rooted in a deep-seated hatred and fear of LGBTQ persons that transcends any particular religious ideology. 

In spite of recent legislative and judicial advances in the United States that have enabled us to believe that we are making substantial progress in our struggle for full inclusion, large swathes of our culture continue to be plagued by the pernicious belief that LGBTQ persons are sick, sinful and wicked, and that any tolerance of sexual and gender minorities threatens our national wellbeing. The ongoing nasty debate about transgender persons and public restrooms is a particularly relevant case in point. So too are our bitter United Methodist battles over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. 

It is too easy to assume that the massacre at Pulse was nothing more than a terrorist attack by a radicalized Muslim with ties to ISIS. It was that. But, it was also a homophobic attack specifically aimed at the LGBTQ community. The killer did not murder and maim our sisters and brothers in Orlando just because he assumed they were Americans. He shot them because he perceived them to be different… other… less than… queer! In the brokenness of his own mind and soul, he had already decided that LGBTQ persons were abominations who had abdicated any right to live in peace and security. So, he bought a gun and killed with a self-righteous sense of impunity.

We bewail the ease with which people in this nation are able to gain access to military-style assault weapons that make these mass-killings possible.  And we advocate for rational policies of gun control that are designed to keep these weapons out of the hands of those who might use them in horrific acts of violence. And yet, gun control is not enough. Acts of violence do not begin when people enter gun shops with the intent of purchasing weapons. Acts of violence begin with the inculcation of hate and fear. Violence begins when we teach people to abhor rather than to embrace difference… when we label some people as sinners and abominations… when we ridicule and condemn what we do not understand… when we identify particular groups and individuals as incompatible with our most fundamental beliefs.

It should hardly be surprising that there are those who will take our teachings seriously, and who will move to the next step of engaging in lesser and greater acts of harassment, intimidation, humiliation, and violence. How could it be otherwise in a culture like ours that glorifies violence and exalts it as an appropriate way to solve problems and to resolve contradictions? The massacre in Orlando is the inevitable consequence of combining our idolization of violence with easy access to guns and with the mass promulgation of hate by too many so-called teachers of values.

And let us not kid ourselves. What happened in Orlando is just the tip of the iceberg. Violence against LGBTQ people – especially trans-women of color – happens every single day! The hate in this society is palpable.

We need to do more than merely mourn the tragedy in Orlando, as important as our mourning is. We need to work at making positive change in our world. We need to use the power of our many faiths to transform people’s hearts and minds so that they might begin to see LGBTQ persons not primarily as sinners deserving of God’s wrath, but as precious children of God who are fully and completely embraced by God’s all-inclusive love.

As United Methodists, we need to begin with our own denomination. Whether we like to admit it or not, our historic denominational stand against the full inclusion of LGBTQ people feeds the undercurrent of fear and hatred that still permeates our society and our world. In fact, we give ideological sanctuary to those who choose to continue discriminating, oppressing and violating our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. The time has come when we must clearly and unequivocally reject statements that denounce “the practice of homosexuality” as “incompatible with Christian teaching.” And, we must get out of the business of institutionalizing homophobia at all levels of our church’s life.

Intolerance and oppression are more than mere inconveniences for LGBTQ persons inside and outside the church. In fact, they kill! The gunman in Orlando did not act on his own, whatever the press may report. He acted in the context of a culture that tolerates and sometimes even encourages hatred and fear.

Our United Methodist complicity in the creation and maintenance of this culture is not the way of Jesus, who was sent to us by God as a manifestation of God’s love for the whole world. (John 3:16-17) So, we must do more than merely shake our heads at the tragedy of Orlando. The time has come for us to repent and to change our ways. Now is the time to say “No more” to the culture of hatred, fear, violence, and death that permeates this world. Now is the time to embrace and empower our LGBTQ sisters and brothers for life and for ministry. Now is the time to follow Jesus! Now is the time to choose love!