e_blazer
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I really have nothing to add to what Mediocre Man said. It is such a great example of how some people hate "others" (undocumented, Muslim) so much that they can have no compassion for their being shot by an insane homophobic terrorist. It's a short jump from not caring about someone's pain to inflicting it.
@e_blazer (tried to tag you but don't know the trick) there are now 7 Christian ministers who have spoken out in favor of these murders. You would say that's a tiny percentage of Christian ministers and you'd be correct. But three presidential candidates, not of some wacky fringe party but of the Republican Party, stood on a platform with ministers who call for the death penalty for homosexuality, although they have not specifically endorsed these murders. Neither the candidates nor the party nor any elected official of the party so far as I know asked them to repudiate these statements, although Muslims are asked repeatedly to repudiate inflammatory remarks. You said that millions of Muslims support the radical element - I don't know exact numbers; I'd bet in a lot of countries most Muslims are just trying to survive. And that the parallel Christian view is just a tiny number. In the West, yes. But not in Asia and Africa. Uganda narrowly missed passing a death penalty for homosexuality after world protests. The bill is not revoked, just tabled. Homosexuality still carries long prison terms. It is also a crime to know someone is gay and not report him/her. In parts of Africa, "corrective rapes" of lesbians are organized by their own mothers and openly supported by church authorities. Nigeria is also debating a kill the gays bill. There are increases in antigay bills and in extralegal violence in large parts of Asia. These are not just local churches; they are organized and often funded by US evangelicals. The US evangelicals have written off the West as a lost cause. Sure, they can pass bills allowing people to refuse service to gays, but know that won't stand up in court. They are reduced to keeping transpeople from using public restrooms. Pretty small potatoes. But in Africa and some areas of Asia are "real" Christians (their words). I have seen rallies in Uganda of thousands of people holding Christian bibles, raising their arms in Christian salute, listening to ministers and cheering and praying for the death penalty for gays. In Russia under the tsars, homosexuality was a crime. The 1917 revolution abolished those laws, not due to any gay movement but because the Bolsheviks opposed laws that imposed state morality. Under Stalin, as part of the counterrevolution, the laws were reinstated. During glasnost they were loosened. When Putin came to power, he reinstated antigay laws and strengthened them; it is a crime in Russia to simply support gay rights. He did this to ally himself with the Russian Orthodox church. Never much of a Christian, he became what I call a "Christian by convenience" (like his admirer Trump). So you just can't let Christain churches off the hook. I know many Christians feel otherwise, but in public life "Christian principles" means antigay. Sorry, but it does, according to them.
Meanwhile...
Donald Trump boasted that "the gays" love him (is there anyone he thinks does not love him?) and said "ask the gays". The hashtag #askthegays has gone viral with "the gays" telling Trump exactly what they think of him. He, last week, had spoken at Faith and Freedom rally where he promised to appoint Supreme Court justices that would overturn marriage equality, allow people to refuse service to gays if Jesus says so, opposes transgender access to public facilities. Not to mention deporting gays and lesbians to countries where they face extreme persecution.
As to the killers' wife, it's wrong to say she's "as guilty". The most guilty person is the one who pulled the trigger, the only exception being if someone else ordered or hired the hit (think Manson, who never physically killed anyone). She is being investigated and while feelings are running high it's best IMO to withhold judgement until we get all the facts. His first wife said he was an abuser, wife 2 may have been terrified of him. But I don't know, frankly none of us do at this point.
Crandc, I can't justify or explain away all of the hate in this crazy world except to say that it reflects the fact that people make up every "anity" and "ism" there is, and people of all stripes are pretty much messed up.
According to an ABC News poll, 83 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90356 That amounts to about 265 million people. The religious lives of those people range from devout to never attending church. The denominations that they are affiliated with range from Catholic, to fundamentalist evangelical protestants. The doctrines espoused by those churches on homosexuality range from unmitigated sin to total openness (including gay clergy). The mental state of those millions of Americans range from sane to out-of-their minds bonkers. Their education level and understanding of the Bible is all over the map. All of this is not to excuse, but to explain that there isn't any one individual or viewpoint that can be said to be representative of Christianity when it comes to how the church (in the broadest sense) relates to the LGBTQ community. My own viewpoint, is expressed pretty well by this article: http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/...ity-many-christians-get-the-bible-wrong/15775

