Christian pastor told grandmother to go to her grandson’s “homosexual wedding.” He got fired.

Christian pastor told grandmother to go to her grandson’s “homosexual wedding.” He got fired.

The Christian group that employed him compared attending a same-sex wedding to driving an alcoholic to a bar.

By Daniel Villarreal Friday, January 26, 2024

READ RIGINAL STORY HERE

American Family Radio, the audio broadcast of the anti-LGBTQ+ American Family Association (AFA), has announced that it will no longer air “Truth for Life,” the Wednesday morning program of 71-year-old church pastor Alistair Begg, because Begg said that Christians should attend the marriage of a transgender person.

“My grandson is about to be married to a transgender person, and I don’t know what to do about this, and I’m calling to ask you to tell me what to do,” a grandmother reportedly asked Begg on a September 2023 installment of his podcast.

Begg asked the grandmother, “Does your grandson understand that your belief in Jesus makes it such that you can’t countenance in any affirming way the choices that he has made in life?”

When the woman responded, “Yes,” Begg said, “Well then, okay. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you do go to the ceremony. And I suggest that you buy them a gift.”

While she seemed surprised at his answer, Begg added, “People need to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. But… we’re going to have to take that risk a lot more if we want to build bridges into the hearts and lives of those who don’t understand Jesus and don’t understand that he is a King.”

When announcing the AFA’s separation from Begg, AFA Vice President Ed Vitagliano called the wedding ceremony a “homosexual marriage,” presumably because he sees the transgender bride as a man.

“We were all in agreement that homosexual marriage is just as the Bible declares it, it’s a faux marriage,” Vitagliano said, according to the AFA. “It’s not an actual marriage. It is a sinful union.”

AFA President Tim Wildmon agreed and compared attending a same-sex wedding to driving an alcoholic to a bar.

“Son, I’m not driving you to the bar,” Wildmon said. “If you go to the bar and you’re an adult, that’s your decision, but I’m not going to be a part of that.”

Vitagliano said he saw the issue as one of “individual conscience,” noting that some Christian believers would watch an R-rated film while others would not. However, not watching a movie is less consequential than attending a loved one’s commitment ceremony.

Wildmon said that he phoned Begg to find “reconciliation” over the issue, but Begg refused to back down from his belief.

“This isn’t something that we saw coming,” Wildmon told AFR listeners. “This isn’t like some of the others, evangelical leaders, that have drifted. This is not one that was on the list.”

“If a Christian goes to a homosexual wedding, are they approving of it?” Vitagliano added. “Our answer here is absolutely.”

“This is a critical issue in the body of Christ right now,” he continued. “And this is not only the wrong counsel, but it is deeply disturbing for Christians who want to hold the line against the cultural impact of the LGBTQ agenda.”

Begg’s response might seem like an expression of gay acceptance, but he previously called homosexuality “an unnatural decision” and “an expression of rebellion against God” in a 2022 broadcast. He also supports conversion therapy, the widely debunked pseudoscientific practice that purports to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The AFA considers LGBTQ+ people “immoral,” “unnatural,” and “Satanic;” supports Russia’s so-called law against “gay propaganda” which jails people for any public expressions of LGBTQ+ identity; has said that LGBTQ+ people go to hell, founded Nazism, shouldn’t hold political office, and commit “domestic terrorism” whenever they have sex, according to Media Matters.

The AFA also oversees One Million Moms, a group that regularly launches petitions against any company that features LGBTQ+ people in its media.

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