Should I Sing in a Concert for the LGBT Movement?

[RaymondG]

You're mischaracterizing my motives. I don't mind money going to sinners--i am fully in favor of that! If I wasn't, how could I accept anyone's charity, because I'm a sinner too.

You seem to be asserting that I don't want to participate because it will raise money for people living in a sin I particularly dislike. That's not what I'm saying, nor what I think. There SHOULD be charities devoted to ending violence against gay people. I would be happy to serve that. I am not happy to serve a foundation that wants to normalize LGBT relationships, says my beliefs about godly relationships is evil, pushes a lie that you can choose to be whatever gender you want or even make one up and force society to say whatever pronoun you want, and believes that whoever matches their own description of homophobia should be sent to jail.

This isn't a singing engagement like any other. We've never raised money for a particular organization before. Everyone will have to wear pride colors. I would have the same reaction if we were raising money for an organization that said anyone who disagrees with alcoholism is a bigot that needs to be reeducated and I had to wear colors in support of obsessively drinking alcohol.

Thank you for letting me practice shooting down false assumptions about my motives, though. I'll need to know how to do that if I take this to the director

It would also be wise to practice guardianship of the heart and mind.....This will help emotionally and spiritually.

I have no judgment concerning you singing or not......I would not think you right or wrong for any decision you choose to make. My posts only asked questions and offers points of interest when judging and making decisions on any matter. They are actually geared more towards the general reader, as I believe you made your decision already and just need help confirming what you already believe.

I would think is wise too, when you speak to the director, to not view their words as attacks....as groups of letters can do no such thing....but as words to be respected even if they are not what you believe or want to hear..... These actions should reap similar respect from all who dont agree with you.....and you may just get out of this in much better shape than you envision.

I wish you nothing but the best....and find no fault in any choice you decide to make.

 

[redleghunter]

I attend a public university and have a choir scholarship there, although I am not a music major. The music director is a Christian and also directs the choir program at a local Methodist church in my town. Today, the director called a meeting for the different university choir classes for some updates, and told us about our next concert near the end of the semester. He said we would be doing a piece called "Considering Matthew Shepard", with the lyrics being a series of poems about the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard, who was killed because he was gay back in 1998.

The director informed us that the concert would raise money for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an organization which promoted acceptance and inclusion of LGBT people and education to "stop hatred and bigotry. "
In the concert, we would remove our black robes to reveal different color shirts underneath, like a Pride flag.
I'm not sure what to do. I listened to the music and read the lyrics; the music itself is beautifully done and much of the lyrics are also beautiful and heartfelt. But there's certain parts that are difficult for me to swallow. There are parts where the boy is compared to Christ, for example there is a section that is labelled "passion", and a poem about a Westborough Baptist protester that goes like this:

"kreuzige, kreuzige! (translation: crucify, crucify)
A boy who takes a boy to bed?
Where I come from that's not polite
He asked for it, you got that right
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
The only good *redacted* is a *redacted* that's dead
A man and a woman, the Good Lord said
As sure as Eve took that first bite
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
kreuzige, kreuzige!
Beneath the Hunter's Moon he bled
That must have been a pretty sight
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
C’mon, kids, it's time for bed
Say your prayers, kiss Dad good night
A boy who takes a boy to bed?
The fires of Hell burn hot and red
crucify, crucify the light, crucify the light . . ."

I might be able to go along with the concert if it weren't for the fact that we're raising money for an organization that I disagree with on a moral and spiritual level. The director was very passionate about it and is known to have a temper, so I'm afraid to speak to him about wishing to abstain from the concert. A big chunk of the people in the music department are LGBT (I'd say about 40% or so), so I also fear social backlash if people learned why I'm not in the concert. I also fear losing my scholarship and getting kicked out of choir, and the whole thing even getting spread around campus (I go to a very small university), because the Foundation is going to get involved with the whole university.

I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I say that I don't want to participate in the concert, I will be accused of disrespecting the dead, or worse, being as hateful as the victim's killers. It will be seen as though I think his death was fine or good because he was gay, and that I think gay people should be harassed and bullied for their orientation. If I go through with the concert, I'll be violating my conscience, and the Truth.

I love gay people; I've had friends come out to me, and I've been very loving to them, because of my love for Christ. And my love for the Living God is very deep; I see Him in the world around me and in his word. I meditate on Him daily. I see Him in the relationship between a husband and wife, a reflection of Christ and the Church, and even as a reflection of God and His relationship with the human soul. This is why the sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman is so dear and sacred to me (although I am not married).

But am I being hateful in some way? I feel guilty for not wanting to sing music about a young man being murdered for his sexual orientation. That's not why I don't want to sing it. But when I take off the robe to show the Pride colors, then it's like I'm saying I embrace homosexuality, and I'm helping to raise money for an organization that would say my beliefs are hateful and should be eliminated.

What should I do? Should I sing or not? Am I overreacting? Please keep me in your prayers.

Perhaps the choir director does not know the full story of Matthew.

The truth behind America’s most famous gay-hate murder

 

[FireDragon76]

I'll just copy and paste a reply I made to another comment.

If you look into the organization itself, and what they're trying to achieve, their methods go beyond tying to stop violence against LGBT people. On their website, they say they are against "heteronormativity" , which is the belief that heterosexual relationships are better than others, and that heterosexuality is inherently normal. They also support the idea that there are multiple genders beside male and female, and transgenderism. They want all of these things to be normalized.

Violence against gay people happens and is a tragic issue, and should be stopped. But I don't agree with their methods. Their twitter page is highly critical against those that hold to Biblical views of male and female relationships.

In other words, they would view me as the hate they're seeking to eliminate because I believe that heterosexual relationships within marriage is what God intended for humanity. Anything outside of that is sin.

If you don't have anything against gay people, what do you find objectionable about the Matthew Shepherd Foundation? How exactly do you see that as "promoting" homosexuality? Is it "promotion" to protest the cruelty and condemnation that many gay people have faced in their lives? You do not have to agree that homosexual acts are moral but I think you can understand how everybody deserves to be protected from hatred because their religious beliefs or lifestyles differ from what is considered acceptable by some.

 

[Mountainmanbob]

Well I was doing okay I guess until I read down to where they compared the boy to -- I can't even say the name.

It's not good for us to lie but, I would call in sick on that day.

M-Bob

 

[RaymondG]

On this forum, a reply to anyone outside of the OPer is considered debate. I even had a post removed on this thread that replied to no one, but was still deleted because they thought it was meant for someone else. It is best that this , much needed conversation is started and finished in an area inwhich we can reply to each other without breaking rules and having or posts deleted.....

 

[(° ͡ ͜ ͡ʖ ͡ °) (ᵔᴥᵔʋ)]

Maybe the OP can come "down with the flu" the day of the concert.

 

[RaymondG]

Lying because we dont want to support sin???? an interesting proposition, indeed.

 

[scottmcc2]

When you are old and talking to your grand kids. Will this be a story you will be glad to tell them? Do what you think is right as you understand the Scriptures.

The idea of Romans 14:23 of doing things you are doubting about is not faith. This is a good guideline.

Read Romans 1:18-32

 

[MournfulWatcher]

If you don't have anything against gay people, what do you find objectionable about the Matthew Shepherd Foundation? How exactly do you see that as "promoting" homosexuality? Is it "promotion" to protest the cruelty and condemnation that many gay people have faced in their lives? You do not have to agree that homosexual acts are moral but I think you can understand how everybody deserves to be protected from hatred because their religious beliefs or lifestyles differ from what is considered acceptable by some.

No, it is good to protest the cruelty against gay people. It is bad to go about doing that by striving to normalize LGBT relationships and genderfluidity and remove the rights of others to abstain from believing and participating in those things (eg. Being legally compelled to use a pronoun you don't want to use). There's more to what they believe than their mission statement. You have to ask how they are trying to achieve those goals.

 

[MournfulWatcher]

Lying because we dont want to support sin???? an interesting proposition, indeed.

I agree, I think that would be rather hypocritical. Plus I would get in big trouble for missing a concert, and showing up to class the next day seeming perfectly fine.

 

[FireDragon76]

No, it is good to protest the cruelty against gay people. It is bad to go about doing that by striving to normalize LGBT relationships and genderfluidity and remove the rights of others to abstain from believing and participating in those things (eg. Being legally compelled to use a pronoun you don't want to use). There's more to what they believe than their mission statement. You have to ask how they are trying to achieve those goals.

LGBT relationships are already normalized for millions of people in America. There is no "trying" involved. A largely symbolic protest isn't going to change that.

 

[MournfulWatcher]

LGBT relationships are already normalized for millions of people in America. There is no "trying" involved. A largely symbolic protest isn't going to change that.

It isn't symbolic. I'm just against the movement and don't want to participate in something I believe is immoral.

 

[FireDragon76]

It isn't symbolic. I'm just against the movement and don't want to participate in something I believe is immoral.

You can't serve two masters. You can't claim to be against the victimization of gay people, and at the same time oppose groups that actively fight to end the stigma against those same people.

 

[MournfulWatcher]

You can't serve two masters. You can't claim to be against the victimization of gay people, and at the same time oppose groups that actively fight stigma against those same people.

I can if they think that I should be legally compelled to use pronouns I don't agree with and think that my beliefs about marriage should be illegal.

 

[FireDragon76]

I can if they think that I should be legally compelled to use pronouns I don't agree with and think that my beliefs about marriage should be illegal.

Nobody I know of is trying to make conservative Christian views of marriage illegal. The Matthew Shepherd Foundation certainly isn't. In this country, churches are free to marry whomever they see fit. But Christians cannot expect those with different viewpoints to be compelled to live according to the dictates of their religion.

 

[MournfulWatcher]

Nobody I know of is trying to make conservative Christian views of marriage illegal. The Matthew Shepherd Foundation certainly isn't. In this country, churches are free to marry whomever they see fit. But Christians cannot expect those with different viewpoints to be compelled to live according to the dictates of their religion.

They would like my views to be. Here's an article they shared in praise of a law passed in Switzerland banning homophobia on penalty of three years in jail. And from their Twitter page they would certainly find my views of marriage as "homophobic".

Twitter

 

[St. Helens]

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[PloverWing]

I can if they think that I should be legally compelled to use pronouns I don't agree with and think that my beliefs about marriage should be illegal.

Setting aside the legal question (because placing legal restrictions on free speech is its own issue), and just asking about your everyday life:

Does it violate your conscience to use other people's preferred pronouns, if it's a pronoun like they/them or if the person appears to be transgender?

 

[justme6272]

Absolutely not.

 

[sunshineforJesus]

I dont think it would be a wise idea,given you dont want to give any false impressions you support gays.