by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Calling something “sin” that separates you from God and the righteous is the modern idea of “hate speech.” But the truth is that pointing out sin is love. It is like a doctor pointing out cancer. It may not be what we want to hear, but it is what we need to hear so that we can get it properly addressed and save us from the pain and misery of what untreated cancer can do to us.<\/p>\n
If I point out that there are two genders, not three, four, or ten, that is not hate speech. That is truth! God made us “male and female<\/em>” (Genesis 1-2). That is all! It is hateful to try to force us to recognize a third classification. God has the say! He made males and females. He expects us to accept what we are and be thankful to Him for who we are. We do not pretend to be other than what our birth shows that we are. If the baby has no choice, we have no right to change how God made us. God’s word talks about those “who exchanged the truth of God for the lie<\/em>” (Romans 1:25), and then they pursue “vile passions<\/em>” and “exchanged the natural use for what is against nature<\/em>” (Romans 1:26-27). Thus, the homosexual movement, the transgender movement, and the bisexual movement are built on lies people tell themselves. After convincing themselves of the lie that we can over-rule nature and God, they then expect the rest of humanity to play into their self-deception and give them approval. Romans 1:32 says giving approval<\/em> is also a sin.<\/p>\n The modern deception hates any religion that will point out sin. The only sin to this modern philosophy is if you call something a sin that should not be approved. To us, it is like doctors approving of cancer. Sin is a cancer of the soul, the mind, and the heart. It either entirely rejects God or tries to make God in their own image, that is, they want only a god that accepts any sin that we accept. They call their imagined god “loving” because he never disapproves of us. They call any disapproval “hate” and will not be satisfied with you ever telling the truth.<\/p>\n If the pattern we see holds up, they will remove articles like this or shut down churches that continue to read Romans 1 or I Corinthians 5-6. They hate the truth and truth-tellers. Jesus said, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed<\/em>.” (John 3:20).<\/p>\n There is the old philosophy that “there is no truth.” Pilate asked, “What is truth?<\/em>” He didn’t want to face the truth. People pretend there is no truth because they hate the truth. Truth is needed in our day. People need to hear it. Love shares the truth so people can return to a proper relationship with God. Truth is not hate. Truth is love. It uncovers the cancer of self-deception. It uncovers those issues of departure from holiness and fellowship with God. The greatest life is in harmony and fellowship with God. Teaching about how and why to be reconciled to God is what love demands. That should never be allowed to be called hate.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Calling something “sin” that separates you from God and the righteous is the modern idea of “hate speech.” But the truth is that pointing out sin is love. It is like a doctor pointing out cancer. It may not be what we want to hear, but it is what we need…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1735,35,392,179,305],"class_list":["post-82085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-hate","tag-homosexuality","tag-lying","tag-sin","tag-transgenderism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hate-speech\/","url_meta":{"origin":82085,"position":0},"title":"Hate Speech","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 5:10-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One popular trend arising around the world is to criminalize talk that is branded as \u201chate speech.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now we all know that \u201chate\u201d isn\u2019t good, so these laws passed quickly and easily \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But what exactly is \u201chate speech?\u201d I found definitions, such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84565,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-preaching-is-offensive-to-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":82085,"position":1},"title":"Your Preaching Is Offensive to Me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tom M. Roberts via Truth Magazine, Vol 43, 1999 \"Then His disciples came and said to Him, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?'\" (Matthew 15:12). The history of speaking \"the oracles of God\" (I Peter 4:11) is a history of controversy. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86288,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/desensitizing-our-moral-outlook\/","url_meta":{"origin":82085,"position":2},"title":"Desensitizing Our Moral Outlook","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton I remember that early TV entertainment had some moral guidelines. In the 1950s the Dick Van Dyke Show was your average TV viewing. The couple was presented as married, but bedroom scenes were of two separate single beds. Later, in the 1970s, you began to see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20662,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-separate-a-man-from-his-deeds-hating-his-sins-while-loving-his-soul\/","url_meta":{"origin":82085,"position":3},"title":"Should we separate a man from his deeds, hating his sins while loving his soul?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding the love of God for man: I believe that God can separate the man from\u00a0sin.\u00a0 Therefore, God can love the man, but hate the sin.\u00a0 Do you agree with this?\u00a0 Are there scriptures that indicate this? Where Jesus tells us to love your enemies\u00a0in Matthew 5, I believe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25842,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-hate-anyone\/","url_meta":{"origin":82085,"position":4},"title":"Does God hate anyone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God hate anyone? And if so, who? Answer: \"These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26006,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hate-the-sin-but-not-the-sinner\/","url_meta":{"origin":82085,"position":5},"title":"Hate the Sin, But Not the Sinner?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: II Peter 3 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is common to face criticism when a strong stand is taken \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I noticed in the papers many years ago , that the Methodists and Episcopals were in a quandary. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The majority wanted strong stands against homosexuality, but a large element objected \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The objection was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}