Will we know them by their fruits?

Question

Christ tells us that bad fruit cannot come from a good tree. Homophobia is an example of bad fruit, because it leads to acts such as the following:

A Texas man charged in the slaying of Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kenneth Cummings Jr. said from jail that he was doing God's work when he went looking in Houston gay bars for a gay man to kill.

"Sexual perversion" is the "worst sin," Terry Mark Mangum told reporters July 21 from the Brazoria County jail where he awaits trial, explaining that he believed "with all my heart that I was doing the right thing" when he stabbed Cummings in the head with a six-inch knife.

Cummings' charred body was found days later on Mangum's grandfather's ranch near San Antonio.

(As reported online in The Advocate, 7/27/07)

"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit." (Matthew 12:33)

I'm shocked but not surprised to see how the sin of homophobia has such power over some responders such as Doktor Christ, Me, and edmond dixon. Instead of speaking out forcefully against a sin which led to the murder of a human being, it's more important for them to clutch tightly to their sin of homophobia and revile gay people. This only offers further proof of my point--and they don't even realize it.

Answer 1

Massive misinterpretation and reinforcement of poor Christian teachings and doctrines in some self-identified Christian groups lead to this kind of thing.

Not all of us are that wacked out enough to KILL a man because he is committing what is believed to be a sin.

Christ taught the following to Paul:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. "

The fruit of a tree of poor doctrine led to the murder of a fellow human being, which is not consistent with Christ's teachings.

Answer 2

This murderer had a choice. He chose to do what he did, and by society's mores and the law of the land, he is in the wrong. It has nothing to do with the 'permissiveness' of society. By this logic I should be able to kill anyone who is divorced or who has seen an escort (the married man is in deep sh-t). What do you think they are doing inside a strip club? Strengthening their marriage?
People have the opportunity in America for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Where Christians came about as the self-appointed arbiter of what is moral in America I don't know-they are NOT above the law. What I do know is that murder is a capital offense and his excuse is no excuse. He deserves what is coming to him. My condolences to the victim's family.

Answer 3

Hello,

Well we should follow Christ's example here. Adultery in 1st century Judea was a very serious crime and sin punished by death. When the woman in adultery was brought to Christ to brand him either a breaker of religious law or a hypocrite he said let he who is without sin cast the first stone. He would not comdemn the woman, told her to go and sin no more.

Based on his example the murderer of Kenneth was not doing God's work but the work of a devil. By the way, the nuns and Jesuits taught us that there were sins far worse than sexual ones... murder was the first!

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 4

It's really horrifying that in the 21st century such barbarity still exists, and is still explained away by misguided religious ideas. The thing that scares me most of all about stories like this is that I have no doubt but that there are many people out there who agree with the actions of the murderer.

This world is a scary place.

Answer 5

Yours is an example of the bad fruit of their words betrayed the "bad root" in their hearts. How many times has a person said something that perfectly revealed their heart, and then said, "That’s not what I meant!" when it was exactly what they meant!

Jesus lets us know that we should look at the fruit a person bears. One who is truly of God will display love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance both in public and private because they know serving God is a 24/7 deal. The "evidence" you bring up obviously doesn't show true fruit of a Christian following Christ.

Answer 6

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: comes with a covenant relationship with God, covenent: binding agreement made by 2 or more parts. Fruit- the result or product of any action or agreement by 2 or more parties. Spirit- life giving force, presence of God. LOVE- a deep affection or liking for someone or someone or something. JOY- a very glad feeling: happiness: delight- anything causing this. PEACE- freedom from war or disturbance: an agreement to end war or disturbance. LONGSUFFERING- bearing trouble patiently or for a long time. GENTLENESS- the act of being kind, patient, polite, courteous and never being harsh or unkind. GOODNESS- the act of being beneficial, honorable, virtuous, devout, kind, enjoyable, dependable, and desirable as well as pleasing. FAITH- unquestioning belief, complete trust or reliance. MEEKNESS- humble, patient and submissive. TEMPERANCE- self control......everyone should check themselves for these fruits of the spirit daily , and by doing so, can achieve a covenant relationship with God.

Answer 7

Ignorant people are led to do these things and I don't think religion is the primary concern of the people who are influencing their actions. What I'm waiting to see is someone at least trying to file a civil suit against some hate-mongering evangelist for their part in instigating these acts. Religion is so malleable that whatever good any religion inspires is almost always more than outweighed by the evil it also inspires- my personal opinion.
The tail end of another passage about good fruit vs. evil fruit preceding the one you quote, and practically a blanket condemnation of fundamentalist evangelists:
Matthew 7, 22-23
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
I love that passage.

Answer 8

That act and others like it are beyond my comprehension... why would a human do that to another in the first place, regardless? < rhetorical > But to say it was done in the name of God, that is incomprehensible, where do they get this stuff? Parents were bad trees?..hm mm .. but can good fruit go bad regardless of the tree?...

Answer 9

funny... it was always my understanding that murder was one of the few "worst" sins... never knew that sexual perversion ranked up there with murder... just another example of interpretting one's religion in such a way as to justify their position on a very narrow topic

Answer 10

Apples.