Church Cancels Memorial for Gay Navy Vet
ARLINGTON, Texas ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay. Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off…. “It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,’” she said Friday. Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men “engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing.”
I keep hoping against hope that someday we’ll reach a point where a human being will simply be regarded as a human being, instead of being labelled, categorized, and/or, in the case of Cecil Howard Sinclair, marginalized. Somehow, in my impressive and extensive naivete, I keep thinking that Christians (if they indeed live the teachings of Jesus Christ) will lead the way in accepting people for who they are. Right…and next I’ll be telling you that I still believe in Santa Claus.
Rev. Gary Simons and his merry band of self-righteous, uber-holy troglodytes are the very face of everything that’s wrong with the way so many “Christians” live their faith today. Yes, I understand that homosexuality flies in the face of what these knuckle-draggers believe in, but when you agree to hold a memorial service and then back out at the last minute because of the deceased’s life style…yeah, who’s the small-minded bigot now?
Cecil Howard Sinclair’s life was worth no more and no less than yours or mine. How he lived his life in a free country was his choice, and by all indications he led a fully and happy life. He served his country well, and he gave more than he took. It’s just too bad the same can’t be said for Rev. Simons and his merry band of hateful bigots, who through their actions have demonstrated that holier-than-thou pseudo-Christianity is alive and well and holed up in a megachurch in Arlington.
May all y’all roast slowly in the Hell you so clearly fear. Y’all deserve nothing less.
