On
October 2, Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg,
Florida, hosted a drag queen during its Sunday service, allowing him/her
to deliver a sermon on “acceptance” and join the ministers at
the altar to assist during the service. Isaac Simmons, the drag queen, who was dressed like a demon, preached the
importance of defeating “systems of oppression” in society and Christianity in order to truly “love
one’s neighbor as oneself.”
Simmons
stated: “We are here to learn and to grow and to deconstruct and to
reimagine what church can be, who church can be for, and how church can
feel together.” It is obvious that Simmons wants church to be “for” him—and
cringeworthy that he talks about how it “can feel together.”
The
demon drag queen added: “[Church] can be a place unafraid to denounce
queerphobia, a place unafraid to name the sin of racism, and to call for an end
to white supremacy. A place where all have equal and equitable access
not just to the pulpit itself, to the sanctuary, but to God themself, and all
that it represents within the community.” Of course. Church is a place to
denounce “queerphobia,” but also to welcome a homosexual drag queen dressed as
a demon sermonizing about acceptance while referring to God as “themself.”
In
other words, we must embrace the hostile takeover fundamental
transformation of the Christian church and religion or be smeared as
bigots.
Incredibly, Simmons, who when dressed
in drag goes by the name of “Ms. Penny Cost” – a blasphemous allusion to
Pentecost and the Holy Spirit – is currently in the process
of seeking ordination in the United Methodist Church. He/she/they is a
first-year seminary student enrolled in the Boston University School of
Theology. He/she/they laughingly noted: “That’s right. They’re going
to give me a church one day!”
Allow
me to preach for a moment, please:
Acceptance,
tolerance, and inclusion are not always good things. Period. Full stop.
Should
we accept high rates of murder? Should we tolerate violent crime?
Should we be inclusive of rape and incest?
Should we
welcome the presence of demon-attired drag queens in our churches telling us
that our religion is sinful and can only be redeemed by their blessed presence?
What might
God themself say?
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