Creep of the Week: High Point Church

Say what you want about Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. Sure their message is despicable, but at least they make themselves clear. No gays or their families are given false hopes that they may be treated like human beings there.
The same can't be said for the High Point Church in Arlington, Texas. Earlier this month, the church pulled the plug on a memorial service for a Navy veteran after they found out he was gay. The family of the deceased had a whopping 24 hours to make alternate plans.
Cecil Sinclair died at age 46 from an infection stemming from prep-surgery for a heart transplant. Though he did not belong to the church, High Point offered to do the service there because Sinclair's brother was High Point's janitor and a member of the congregation.
But then Sinclair's obit mentioned his life partner and the church took issue with some of the photos submitted for use in a video montage celebrating his life.
All of his life. Even the gay part.
And so High Point told Sinclair's family no dice lest it look like the church was approving of homosexuality. Because everyone knows that homosexuals carefully time their deaths in order to make the biggest political and social impact possible. Besides, it wasn't like a man had just died and a family was grieving or anything.
"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,"' said his sister Kathleen Wright. ÔøΩÔøΩ
"We did decline to host the service – not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle," Rev. Gary Simons told The Associated Press.
According to Simons, it wasn't simply that Sinclair was "an unrepentant sinner," but that his sin would be featured as part of the service.
In other words, if Sinclair's family treated his homosexuality as a dirty little secret and either barred his partner from attending or insisted he stay on the down low during the event, Simons would have welcomed them with open arms. But because Sinclair's family loved and accepted him, that didn't meet High Point's standards.
According to The Dallas Morning News, "The pastor said that he could imagine a similar situation involving a different sin. Perhaps a mother who is a member of the church loses a son who is a thief or murderer, Mr. Simons said. The church would surely volunteer to hold a service, he said."
"But I don't think the mother would submit photos of her son murdering someone," Simons said. "That's a red light going off."
While I like to think that most people would not equate a photo of someone, say, chopping someone else's head off, with a photo of a man standing next to his same-sex partner, Simons clearly does.
Which is why I think churches like High Point should clearly post "Heteros Only" or "No Gays Wanted (Dead or Alive)" signs in their stained glass windows. At minimum they should inform families that only totally shame-ridden closet cases like Ted Haggard are welcome to have memorial services there.