By now, you've heard the news. A gunman killed five people and injured at least 25 others at an LGBTQ nightclub late Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

​Yesterday, authorities identified Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, as the sole suspect whom they took into custody shortly after arriving on site at Club Q. Police are still investigating the gunman's motive and whether the attack constitutes a hate crime.

Today, I want to take a moment to look at this story and unpack concepts like murder, hate, sin, and hate crime, from a Christian point-of-view.

IS HATE A CRIME?
Putting aside the reality that we'd be hard-pressed to actually come to a consensus on a definition of what hate actually means, we must press in for some semblance of clarity on the word. Especially since concepts like hate crimes and hateful rhetoric take center stage in unfortunate circumstances like what occurred at Club Q.

So, the immediate question that needs to be asked and answered is this: is hate a crime? To say it a bit differently, since this is a blog post on a Christian Worldview platform, is hate wrong? 

Much to the shock and surprise of nominal Christians, the bible actually never condemns hate. At least not outright. In fact, biblically speaking, there are both positive and negative aspects to hatred.

For example, a Christian should hate those things that God hates; indeed, this is very much a proof of a right standing with God. “Let those who love the Lord hate evil” (Psalm 97:10a).

The closer our walk with the Lord and the more we fellowship with Him, the more aware and awake we will be of sin; first our own and then the sin of the culture. The more we understand God’s holiness and the more we love his character, the deeper our desire will be to be like Him. This means that we will not only hate the things that are contrary to His Word and nature, but we will also be bold in speaking out for these things; as God makes his appeal to the world through us.

So, hate in and of itself is not anti-Christian. Though the world certainly defines this word in different terms, Christians must understand clearly that there are things in scripture God explicitly tells us he hates and tells us why he hates them.
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Of course we must also understand that there are sinful ways to push against evil. There are many spiritually treasonous acts which have happened—throughout history in the name of God—which are themselves hateful, sinful, and evil. Evil is never overcome with evil, but rather with good (Rom. 12:21). 

IS CALLING SINNERS TO REPENTENCE A HATE CRIME?
But here's the catch. Our culture has not only embraced certain forms of evil, but has also labeled certain forms of godliness as evil. Case in point: when the news broke of the violence and murders at Club Q in Colorado Springs, with it came the denunciations from the culture of those who have taken a biblical stance and condemned sexual immorality; including the practice and celebration of homosexuality.

Here are a few examples:
"Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate."
| President Joe Biden

"We can not, will not, allow hate to win. We must end this in our time. No rest until all of us, including all of us in the LGBTQ+ community, can be, and feel, safe."
| Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

"You can draw a straight line from the false and vile rhetoric about LGBTQ people spread by extremists and amplified across social media, to the nearly 300 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this year, to the dozens of attacks on our community like this one."
| Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD

So, it would seem, that culture's issue isn't simply one man's evil decision to murder people at Club Q—for reasons still unknown at this point—but also, and maybe even more pointedly, the inequalities, condemnation, and legislation which seems to be coming from those who refuse to affirm and celebrate the evil practice of sexual immorality. 

In essence, calling sinners to repentance is considered false and vile rhetoric. And at least according to some proponents of sexual immorality, should not only be considered extremism but should also carry direct responsibility for what happened at Club Q on Saturday night. 

THE CONFUSION WITH SIN & HATE
Which brings me to my final point. What we've discovered in all of this mess is just how messy the rules of engagement can be, for Christians who are trying to stand with one foot firmly planted on side of cultural-acceptance and one teeny little pinky toe lightly touching the side of Biblical truth.

On one hand, it is absolutely right for Christians to lament the sinful, hateful, dreadful, evil murders which took place at Club Q. Murder is evil. Murder is wrong. Murder is sin. Christians should be the loudest voices crying out over all forms of the devaluation, destruction, and dissipation of the value of human life.  

The lives that were taken, at Club Q, were connected to people who bore the image of God; regardless how they chose to represent him or reject him. There is no room, within Christendom, for any followers of Christ to do anything other than mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep; because of the (5) souls who were murdered. This is our biblical command and responsibility as followers of Christ.

Yet, murder isn't the only sin in play here, is it? So, why is it that many professing Christians will openly and publicly wail at the loss of life in a gay bar, but refuse to openly and publicly mourn the very existence of the gay bar? 

A public display of godlessness should never be viewed, by Christians, as spiritually or culturally neutral. What other decadent establishments would Christians so lackadaisically embrace? The existence of a "gay bar" should be something that makes Christians weep. That brings them to the same kind of mourning and lamentation as the murders of those people who were killed in that very establishment.

Murder is sin and so is homosexuality. Unrepentant murder leads to spiritual death and so does unrepentant homosexuality, sodomy, fornication, and sexual immorality. The only biblical distinction made between murder and sexual immorality is that Paul considers the later to be more egregious, because it is man's choice to sin against his own body.
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So, while the nation mourns, rightly, about the (5) murders which occurred at ClubQ in Colorado Springs, Christians should also spend some time reflecting; asking ourselves whether we are more prone to grieve the loss of life because of one man's senseless acts of violence or the spiritual callousness of an entire culture because many men and women have embraced sexual immorality so much—that we literally establish public venues where this form of sin can be celebrated, elevated, and normalized.

An interesting thing has been happening in advertisement over the past several years. If you've been paying attention, and not simply falling for the subliminal messaging of the marketing manipulators, then you've noticed a slight change in what is being presented as normal in television commercials and social media ads.

Now, mind you, I'm fully aware that my white privilege and bigotry likely disqualify me from speaking on such things. However, since we're both already here, why not stick around a little bit longer to see if I have anything of value to say.

GAY DADS, SINGLE MOMS, AND MULTI-RACIAL FAMILIES
Now, please don't misunderstand what I'm saying or even implying. I'm not trying to equate every form of representation we see on TV as immoral or shameful. In fact, there are many examples of representation that are not only biblical but are honorable, noble, and helpful.

Is a multi-racial family sinful? Of course not. However, I'm also trying to expose the reality that there is an intentional effort to normalize certain things that are marginalized, while removing or replacing things are actually more normal (i.e. common, traditional, usual). Some of these things are morally neutral, but many of them are not.

There was a time, in the not-too-distant past where marketers actually cared about presenting a form of normality and morality most Americans agreed was good. Because of these idealistic efforts, far more time was spent, by marketers, trying to shape a positive image of American culture rather than simply celebrating the things within the culture that were shameful.

Today, marketers spend way more time formulating and baking-in as many virtue signals as they possibly can, into their 30 second bits or their promotions on social-media. That's why modern commercials are filled with gay dads, single moms, and multi-racial families. It's not because they are trying to present a fair representation of the general population. On the contrary, they're trying to manipulate the general population into believing that things—many of which were considered wicked, unprincipled, depraved, and perverted—are not only normal but are also pervasive and prevalent.

And why is this you might ask? Because representation has now become a primary aim when trying to peddle products and manipulate people.

WHERE ARE ALL THE STRAIGHT, WHITE, CIS-GENDER MEN AT?
But if that's truly the case, and representation matters, then where have all the straight, white, cis-gendered men gone? 

Seriously. If a person being able to "see themselves" rightly represented in advertisements and media is as important as we're being led to believe, then why aren't we seeing more of the predominant population of American males in advertisements and other media? Again, the answer is simple. Equity.   

NORMALIZATION, REPRESENTATION, AND MARGINALIZATION 
The one major theme that normalization, representation, and marginalization all have in common is their connection to a very specific way of viewing the world and its structures. This ideology or worldview, can be summed up as the dynamics of power.

Marxism, which is primarily a political philosophy, assumes that the ruling class has historically oppressed the lower classes, and thus social revolution is needed in order to create a more far and equitable society. Marxism teaches that the best system of government is one in which wealth and power are distributed equally. And not just equally, but also equitably; meaning, the inequalities and inconsistencies in outcomes must be traced back to the differences in power which either provided or prevented equal outcomes.

So, in advertisements—and other forms of media—it is important to ensure the people with power are not able to hold onto that power. It must be taken from them and redistributed to the marginalized. This is done to ensure that marginalized people are more equitably represented, so they might have the ability to rise above the implicit biases and systemic oppression which have prevented them from achieving and/or obtaining power.

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD BY ELIMINATING THE COMPETITION
Since equity is the chief aim, in this line of thinking, then the rules of the game must be rewritten. In fact, because we've been led to believe that the teams are stacked in favor of white men, the new rules don't even need to be fair, just, or principled. The game must be played, with advantages that favor the underdogs. And since this is a zero-sum game, it cannot end in a tie. Those without power must be assured victory and those with power must be defeated.

TWO GAY DUDES AND A CAMPFIRE
With the social-media algorithms being as eerily accurate as they are, there is absolutely no reason why the social-media feed of a straight, white, cis-gendered, Christian, married father of three white, Christian, cis-gendered kids would have advertisements depicting two gay men collecting wood for a campfire. And yet, it's things like this that I see on my social media feeds all the time. As the userbase on these platforms—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social media application knows everything about us. They know what we like, what we buy, what we say, how we vote, how we spend our money, and ultimately how we think.

Yet, efforts are still being made, not simply to sell us products, but also to sell us ideas and worldviews and culture. We are being manipulated. We are being desensitized. We are being reprogrammed by intentional media programming.

There is a certain worldview that these advertisers, platforms, and mainstream media organizations are trying to sell. A world in which two gay men (and their faux-family) are just as normal as a God-fearing and Christ-exalting nuclear family. A world in which a single mom—with her three fatherless children—has just as much power, influence, and acceptability as a woman who is married to the father of her children and raising them (to fear the LORD) under the headship of her husband's teaching, instruction, and shepherding care.

THE ENEMY'S ENDGAME
Pilgrims, there is an endgame here. It's the deconstruction and devaluation—of the importance to our culture—of the biblical nuclear family; through the overrepresentation and attempted normalization of the marginalized but modern family.

The enemy has spent his entire existence, since his own fall from God's grace, trying to cast a shadow at the foundations of God's creation and the things which God called very good. He does this in the same way he always has. Through deceit and manipulation; as he misrepresents truth and offers false freedom. He peddles fake-power, to those who are tempted by it, and offers the illusion of equity to those convinced that their guilty conscience is actually just a product of religious engineering, social-injustice or the intolerant brutality of those who have chosen to live under the mighty and repressive hand of religious bigotry.

The enemy accomplishes his aims, by normalizing the feelings and experiences of godlessness. Through his manipulation, in the media, those who are enslaved by their own sin begin to see themselves represented as righteous and virtuous and normal. In this fake morality, people are convinced that the real injustice is God's restrictive commandments or his repugnant rules as-well-as his minions who continue to enforce his unjust injunctions, in order to maintain their own power over those who have been marginalized by biblical tyranny.

THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL
But here's the thing. God wins! Evil will not get the final word. Victory has already been achieved, through the person and the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Certainly sin continues to have some authority in this world, but only as much as God allows, in order to accomplish his purposes for the fame and glory of his name; and the joy and blessing of those whom he has set apart as holy.

The enemy knows this. The daemons know this. They recognized Christ when he was casting them out of sinners and rebuking them in the name of God. The question isn't if God will get the final word, but rather who will be found in his favor when he finally says, "ENOUGH".

This is where Christians come into the picture. We are Christ's ambassadors and he is making an appeal to the world, through us. In a culture that is becoming increasingly hostile to the things of God, when Christians refuse to make waves, cause trouble, stir the pot, or push back against the gates of hell—with the power of the gospel—we are not thwarting God's plan. We are, instead, rejecting what he has called us to; namely, to be holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:16).

The godless world is being lied to and manipulated by forces of evil and principalities of darkness which have mastered their craft. Their one and only goal is to rob from God the glory due his name by creation which was made for that single purpose. This evil mission is accomplished when sinners are convinced that their sin isn't a matter of right or wrong, but rather a matter of marinization or a lack of power...representation...and normalization. They have been convinced that the best way to push back against this repressive righteousness is to silence the majority and ensure their lifestyles and sin are being celebrated, marketed, glamorized, and normalized; while those who hold to Biblical convictions are being subtly desensitized or eliminated along the way.

Will we push back against the enemy's efforts or will we stay silent and watch as a godless world continues down the path of destruction; on their way to hell? The question isn't whether God will hold unrepentant sinners accountable for their choices. We know he will, because he told us he will. The real question becomes: will there be Christians who are brave enough to intercede for sinners and plead with them—to repent and believe in Jesus and be rescued from the wrath and righteous judgment of God.
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