A Christian watchdog group has made startling discovery about Evangelical churches in America that is sure to leave you #shocked.
The groundbreaking findings come from a project called Church Clarity, which conducted a detailed analysis of America’s 100 largest megachurches. Researchers observed that when it comes to any sort of diversity, these churches are completely lacking.
Go figure.
Related: Christian group targets millennials with sick beats and hella tight homophobia
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First, none of America’s largest mega-churchs have policies that affirm LGBTQ people and relationships:
According to CC’s analysis, a paltry 35% of these mega-churches have clear LGBTQ+ policies, and 54% actually hide their positions (e.g. sermons and blogposts) deep inside their websites. This seems to indicate that many non-affirming mega-churches are not as boldly opposed as one might assume, and some of these large congregations may be currently reconsidering their positions and policies.
Or perhaps they keep their homophobic views deliberately hidden because, deep down, they know they’re wrong?
Related: Christian extremists furious that Donald Trump won’t be ripping away all LGBTQ rights immediately
The report also finds that the 93% of megachurches are led by caucasian male pastors. Only one is lead by a female pastor, and even she must share the title of “co-pastor” with her husband:
Despite the Christian calls to diversity, equality, and justice, America’s mega-churches are still lagging in the race department. These churches may preach a Gospel of inclusion, but they disproportionately prefer white men for their top leadership positions.
Does any of this surprise you? Us neither. But it does sorta help explain why over 80% of white Evangelicals voted for both Donald Trump and Roy Moore.
As the old saying goes: Birds of a feather stick together.
Related: Evangelicals say they are more likely to vote for Roy Moore after child molestation allegations
ChrisK
Well, I’m sure this is interesting..to someone. I stopped caring what the churches thought of me a long ago.
Knight
And yet here you are commenting. Pretty much an idiot, aren’t you?
OrchidIslander
@knight, pretty harsh don’t you think? He is not attacking or disparaging anyone and his right to speech is still free. Your attack is over the line and uncalled for.
TheGregoryProject
@Orchid., well said,
TheGregoryProject
and I couldn’t agree more, @ChrisK.
o.codone
Knight’s response is not over the top. You have to understand that ChrisK has a history of ongoing, persistent, low-grade stupid comments, all mis-spelled and with grammatical and structural errors, SO, telling him to just STFU is pretty much an everyday occurrence.
Brody
This progressive “movement” to demonize white males is going to backfire gloriously when the liberal white males who believe they’re exempt from their own self-hatred are taken down by their own cause.
Ummmm Yeah
It already happened. It’s part of why Trump got elected.
o.codone
It’s happening in Hollywood right now.
Kangol
Not surprising. The main people who have actively and successfully worked against LGBTQ rights have been white evangelical Christian pastors and megachurch leaders, the Roman Catholic Church (whose prelates are almost all old, often closeted white men), and the Mormon Church. A rabidly anti-gay evangelical Christian is our current Vice President, and the current President has been appointing anti-gay/anti-trans judges to the courts faster than any other recent president. How any gay people can defend this hateful crap is beyond me, but there are quislings in any group.
sydboy007
I’m mean like yeah we know how well gays are treated in the middle east under Islam. Escape Trump’s America and move to the truly progressive middle east where religious minorities and the growing alphabet community receive far better treatment than they do in the West.
Paco
@sydboy007 – So in other words… American gays should just be happy that the evangelicals only want to pass laws to make life unbearable for them instead of tossing them from rooftops. Kindly GFY
DC70
@Paco: I <3 you
KaiserVonScheiss
And you hate white people. We get it.
Heywood Jablowme
More likely Queerty and the “watchdog group” were simply trying to preclude charges to the effect that “black churches are homophobic too.” Sure, many black churches are homophobic. But none of them are large enough to get into the Top 100 Megachurch list.
Kangol
You’re sounding very snowflakish, IJS.
sydboy007
@Heywood so a small homophobic church that’s predominant white would get a pass from you too?
Black churches in Africa can be extremely homophobic.
Heywood Jablowme
@sydboy007: Not at all. (Where do I give any of them a “pass”?) My point was this is an article about American MEGA-churches, that’s all.
charlietex
The saying is birds of a feather flock together. It isn’t birds of a feather stick together
KerryB
Religion is about money and power, it has very little to do with faith.
Paco
The evangelicals will be in for a shock, after they awaken from their Trump induced euphoria, how damaged their reputations are, as being a moral authority for anything.
The blind support for racists, accused child predators, divorce, adultery, prostitution, pornography.
They’ve sold their souls for political power. Their only response will be… “but the gays”.
I hope they enjoy the continued dwindling of their aging flocks until they are once again returned to their backwoods tents led by con men where they have always belonged.
Heywood Jablowme
Very well put. Aside from “but the gays,” they’ll also squawk “but the innocent unborn ‘babies'”. But they’re even more hypocritical about abortion than they are about gays. Whenever their own mistresses need an abortion, well of course that’s an exception! I almost hope the Supreme Court does outlaw abortion; that would be such an explosive and politically unpopular move it would thoroughly destroy the Republican Party.
sydboy007
Same could be said about left leaning groups too. Anyone what sick of Hollywood virtue signaling about men when increasingly it seems the men from the left treat women quite poorly?
Paco
@sidboy007 – Since you seem to want to justify the right’s misdeeds by pointing out the left’s misdeeds, the left are holding their sexual predators accountable unlike the right that elected one as president and tried to elect one to the senate. Or have you not been keeping up? When is the right wing going to hold their predators accountable?
am_psi
Birds of a feather FLOCK together. And they flock both ways. How many White pastors are there in predominantly Black churches and mosques? How many female Imams are there? And are Black people suddenly more accepting of gays, because according to Pew in 2017 only 63% of African Americans thought gays should be accepted in society as opposed to 70% of Whites & 73% of Hispanics. And 63% of Whites think you can be moral without being religious as opposed to only 47% of Blacks believing the same.
davidjohng
63%, 70%, 73%….I’m surprised it’s that high. I remember a poll done in the early 1980s in Canada that had it at 10%. Just a reminder of how far public perception has changed in my lifetime and continues to change.
Knight
As has been said here already, this is simply human nature; when it comes to spirituality most Americans instinctively want to hear a message that validates their personal choices and lifestyles. And they want to be around other people LIKE THEM. This goes for ALL colors…not just white people. We rented an apartment to a Guatemalan pastor and his family (NEVER again) who had a church within walking distance. We met him there once, and of course the entire church was Central American (judging from the accents, almost all Guatemalan). Of course, the entire sermon/songs were in Spanish which precludes most white or black people from attendingwanting to stop by. But the SAME thing is repeated at a Samoan church, a Tongan church, a filipino “Iglesia ni Cristo” whatever and a “black” church all within a 5-minute walk from each other. The Catholic church in the area is of course completely mixed, and the whitest church is the Lutheran one which is completely gay-friendly (run by a white woman).
The point being, in the US religion is completely ‘have it your way’, and if you don’t like the message one place, you just walk on down the road to a place you DO like, as opposed to modifying your life to your beliefs.
Zambos271
The most segregated time in the U.S. is on Sunday mornings.
You are correct. There are very few integrated churches.
Knight
Zambos but of course, let’s NOT do a study on Synagogues…because you know…jews are off limits. The funny thing is, every time I’ve driven down Robinson, 6th or Melrose on a Saturday, it looks like “attack of the clones” as the jews file out of synagogue. The hassidic ones all wear the same clothes and look like each other (a lot of in-breeding going on there), the conservative ones have different hair-styles, but all look very-upscale. The reform look like they could simply be WASPs with pot-holders on their heads. Just not a lot of cultural variation or “diversity” going on there at all. But shhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
Vince
All organized religion is a sham and crutch for weak minded people. Much like the Dr. Knight.
Knight
DCTRoll aka “vince” do us all a favor and shove a pistol up your vagina and pull the trigger. No one wants you here (hence why you are no longer posting under DCTroll).
Pneumatikon
JESUS IS THE ONLY EXPLICITLY PRO-GAY FOUNDER OF A RELIGION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. That’s the tragedy of this fight between the gay community and Christians who go to church.
I’m a Christian and very proud of it. It’s the greatest religion in the world and it’s built the greatest civilization in the world. That’s why everybody wants to move here and wants what we want.
Also… the gay rights “leaders” in general are actively at war with Christ’s Church. And if you keep doing what you’re doing you’re going to Hell.
But… Christians in general are also guilty of a centuries long campaign of slander and libel against gay people. There are gay couples in Luke 17:34-35. Two MEN in bed (the Greek doesn’t say it but the context demands it) and two women “grinding in the same [place]” according to the actual text.
IN BED.
God takes one of them… and leaves the other one behind.
In addition this passage is flanked by Luke 17:24 and 17:37. This points you to Zeus and Ganymede. Luke was written to a Greek audience. They would have known exactly what he meant.
In the past they inserted a passage from Matthew to throw you off the scent. (The part about two men in the field.) Now they’ve started translating the “men” as “people.” Or adding “corn” to the “women grinding.” The “in the same [place]” has always just been translated as “together;” glossing over the fact that the Greek is explicitly telling you the women are in bed. The same phrase is in Matthew 22:34, Acts 2:44, Acts 4:46, and Acts 14:1. In every instance you will see that an awareness of THE PHYSICAL LOCATION ITSELF is important for the narrative.
We’re losing a lot of souls over this. And we’re hobbling Christian theology, too. There’s an entire thread dealing with life, death, the Rapture, and twinship. And we gays are the foundation of that thread. It’s pretty extensive. It’s right under our noses and we’re missing it. All because some Church leaders centuries ago went down that catastrophic road.
The Devil’s double-dipping on this one I tell you.
draven
Very informative thanks. I’m a Christian. Since I was 12 years old. Never in the closet. I’m 56 years old and black American. Never had to many problems because of it tho. Very accepting parents. I’m also 6’3.25 190 lbs. Extremely good-looking. Not vain though. Also pretty successful and very blessed.
irbaboon
YOU ARE FULL OF DOO-DOO
Ummmm Yeah
And nearly every single black church and most hispanic churches are anti-gay. And if you checked pretty much all of the biggest non-white churches are too. So you have no point.
Brody
The “point” of the left is to trash straight white men and Christianity while praising black lesbian atheists (like Oprah) and bisexual biracial Muslims (like Obama), because they genuinely believe that you and I are too stupid to see through their hypocrisy.
draven
I just pray at home.
SiamSam
Good point, Queerty, good point. We obviously have enough anti-gay religious bigots in America already. Makes no sense to import more of them from Third World sh1t holes where Catholicism and Islam rule supreme. Thank you for making Trump’s tough immigration case for him.
Knight
LOL!!!! they make this too easy for you….
Brody
Sam, the fact that you and I think so much alike makes you my new best friend.
deppa
That is very true. The 100% Black Southern Baptist churches are WAY more anti-gay than most 100% lily white churches in this country. For.Sure.
draven
I rather not go to a place where they preach against me. Churches are beautiful inside. One of my favorite is Trinity Church on lower Broadway in NYC. When in NYC I go visit. Say my prayers. I have beautiful pictures of churches and Jesus. I have church ? in my heart in my love and in my soul.
sydboy007
Would querty like to do a review of the top 100 mosques in America just to, you know, compare the level of homophobia?
Would the mosques be more diverse? Would this impact on the level of homophobia?
Knight
Syd well, here’s a dirty secret: Imams/muslim clerics often molest young boys when they teach them how to wash/”wudu” their genitals. It’s a very common thing around the world and only now finally making headlines in the West, since previously it was seen as a “cultural matter” that the West should just close their eyes to.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1453786/Acid-attack-on-boy-who-refused-sex-with-Muslim-cleric.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/25/middle-east-child-abuse-pederasty
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/elgin-courier-news/news/ct-elgin-imam-sex-abuse-plea-met-20160825-story.html
SiamSam
@Knight It’s horrific. These men were probably molested themselves at a young age. And so the cycle of sexual predation on young and innocent boys in the Middle East and Islamic countries is repeated, generation after generation. But we mustn’t be “Islamophobic!” or “intolerant”! Oh, oh, but what about those Catholic priests! (As if that’s never been publicized or condemned before.)
Knight
Siam as a lifelong Catholic, I can tell you the jewish media had a very transparent agenda to mischaracterize and over-emphasize/exaggerate the abuse in the Catholic church…the real figures would surprise you (i.e. that as a percentage there is less abuse in the Catholic church than any other denomination, including jewish) http://www.themediareport.com/fast-facts/
But regarding islam, yes, child rape is a part of their up-bringing. Yes, its mostly man on boy sex, but in places like Pakistan and India, young girls have also been pimped out regularly. Not sure if you heard about the most recent case of Ansari, but if you read the article below, the money-line is “The same community was rocked by a child sex abuse scandal in 2015, when a pedophile ring discovered in a village near Kasur was found to have molested and assaulted more than 200 minors for six years,” In other words…it’s only a “scandal” because the West found out about it.
http://www.newsweek.com/rape-and-murder-7-year-old-girl-could-have-been-prevented-pakistani-court-says-781728
Blackceo
Typical…whenever there is an article like this you can always count on the chorus of “….but Black people are worse” even though the power lies in those who make policy (i.e. Congress and state legislatures certainly not run by Black folk, and these megachurches also not run by Black folk. Yes, there’s homophobia in every community. :rolleyes:
Anyway…I was raised Catholic but I stopped dealing with organized religion a LONG time ago. I only go to mass like 2 or 3 times a year (Christmas Eve, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday) and that is only to appease my parents. I took my roommate home with me for winter break my first year in college. He was from Europe and wasn’t flying back home. He’s non religious and I remember taking him to Christmas Eve mass and him saying “is this a religion or a cult” and I said “what’s the difference”
Knight
BlackCEO no one was making a value statement (at least I didn’t see one). The point is it is human nature to gravitate to one’s own kind, and this is evident in religion. This was the examples we were citing.
gymmuscleboy
Queerty, you are so effing racist. “All run by white dudes” as a criticism? What if they were all run by black dudes? I bet you would love that because you love to judge people by their skin colour. It’s time you start judging people by their values and character rather than the colour of their skin!!! Disgusting.
Brody
Sorry, gmb, but here in the states, it’s very en vogue these days to trash all straight white men for all crimes against humanity—ever.
To criticize anyone who isn’t hetero, white, and male is a crime against political correctness and shall not be tolerated by the virtuous, tolerant left.
DCguy
Knight, Brody, am_psi, UmmmmYeah, SiamSam, deppa, KaiserVonScheiss
Are all different screenames for the same troll, formerly named Mo Bro, and before that BJ McFrisky.
So you have the one anti-lgbt, pro GOP troll on here breaking most of his screenames to defend anti-lgbt bigotry again. What a surprise.
ChrisK
Yes and the new word for the day is “deflection”. Will accuse the other side of doing what we’ve been doing. It’s a conservative value after all.
Raphael
In that context, it would be best if referred as “U.S.”. Like it or not, America is “also” (only?) the continent, and since Evangelicals exist in all its extension, it would be good if it were clear that the project is referring about the United States, not America as a whole… For accuracy and professionalism purposes, of course.
DC70
Organized religion can be truly hurtful. I went to one of the “inclusive” churches in Los Angeles – known to be a champion of the LGBTQ+ community and founded by gay pastors. It was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had and it wasn’t just based on one visit. I kept going because there was palpable love and compassion in the congregation, but there were also extremely petty factions (just like any church).
The hatred I heard from congregants to their own people (snickering while people gave praise testimony, talking about dyk*s and fa*s within earshot was not shocking, but it was jarring. The body of Christ is all of us. ‘We’ believers are the tabernacle. I raised the issue with the parishioners and staff and it was never addressed. One of the Pride marches that the church was going to take a shuttle to in West Hollywood entailed a sign up sheet. The line to sign it was delayed while people asked to see the official church shirt for LA Pride before they’d go, to see it it was fashionable enough. I got an artist to donate a huge sculpture that they still use and when he went to meet the Pastor, he was treated so rudely I was embarrassed.
These are just but a few examples of how bad it was. I know there are people who’ve been completely turned off by religion based on condemnation, but to feel it palpably coming at you in a “gay” church was awful and after trying to come to terms with their cold, rote Christianity, I left the church. I can read a Psalm at home and feel 10,000 more times edified than to sit with a bunch of GCBs.