We've got to deal with the fact that the church has been violently prejudiced against gay people. We've murdered them; we've burned them at the stake; we've run them out of town for something over which they have no control. And that's immoral.
Interpretation
The quote addresses the historical and ongoing injustices faced by the LGBTQ+ community due to church-sanctioned prejudice.
John Shelby Spong's quote confronts the moral failings of religious institutions that have persecuted gay individuals throughout history. By acknowledging that these acts of violence and discrimination occur over an inherent characteristic—sexual orientation—the quote urges society to recognize the immorality of such prejudice and highlights the need for compassion and acceptance.
In practice
You can use this quote to spark a discussion about tolerance in a social justice seminar.
When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it.
The church is like a swimming pool. Most of the noise comes from the shallow end.
Christianity is not about the divine becoming human so much as it is about the human becoming divine. That is a paradigm shift of the first order.
I would like the church to be a place where the questions of people are honored rather than a place where we have all the answers. The church has to get out of propaganda. The future will involve us in more interfaith dialogue. ... We cannot say we have the only truth.
It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.
The cross reveals that we're called to a deeper, fuller experience of what it means to be alive and open to new dimensions of life which our religious boundaries - creeds, atonement theologies - have kept us from experiencing.
As frightening as this may sound, what you see in the books is the way I see the world. And so far I haven't seen anything, either in Florida or elsewhere, to dissuade me from it.
This is true liberty, when free-born men, having to advise the public, may speak free.
If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is a benevolent universe. God is not someone to be afraid of, but is the Ground of Being and on our side.
A discussion should be a genuine attempt to explore a subject rather than a battle between competing egos.
I am ashamed every day, and more ashamed the next. But I will spend the rest of my life in this living space writing these notes, this journal, recording my acts and reflections, finding some honor, some worth at the bottom of things. I want ten thousand pages that will stop the world.
Self-righteousness is the inevitable fruit of simple moral judgments.
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