Using the poor as pawns in the culture wars

Michael A. Jones of change.org reports that three churches in Michigan have stopped feeding the homeless because some of the churches they were working with supported LGBT rights.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The three churches weren't asked to have anything to do with LGBT people, but because their partners in combating hunger didn't preach about immoral homosexuals, they jumped ship.

The churches, all in Kalamazoo, Michigan, are Agape Christian Church, Word for Life Church of God, and Centerpoint Church. They had worked with five other faith communities in a program called "Martha's Table." Some of these five other churches take a progressive stance on LGBT issues, so Agape Christian Church, Word for Life Church of God, and Centerpoint Church all said good-bye.  And in essence told the homeless to fend for themselves.

Said a lay pastor from Agape Christian Church,  "An immoral lifestyle has eternal ramifications in Scripture." Another pastor said they couldn't  work next to people of faith who don't agree with their biblical worldview, even if the homeless are collateral damage in the faith wars.

Of course, this is not the first time the poor have been used as pawns in battles over homosexuality.  The Roman Catholic Church has threatened to pull its support of Washington, DC's homeless once a same-sex marriage bill becomes law.

As the Frederick, the character played by Max Von Sydow in Hannah and Her Sisters, says, "If Jesus came back, and saw what's going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up."