"Love the sinner, hate the sin."

[Casualfanboy16]

 Author's Note: Accidentally put this in Pinned Rants and Replies! Sorry! I moved it here and I can't get rid of the other one

 

The classic Christian catchphrase "Love the sinner, hate the sin" has been the bane of my existence in recent years. I'm very fed up with it in particular, since I'm making a whole post about it lol. I'm tired of hearing it or any variation of it, or people who don't exactly use the phrase itself, but have an attitude that embodies this phrase. It's something that really gets under my skin and I feel the need to address it. Anyway, on with the post...

 

On the surface, this phrase may not seem all that bad to some people. That, despite your sin, you are still loved. Again, nothing bad about this, right? Well, that's where you'd be incorrect. Even with good intentions, this phrase is nothing more than a shallow statement. So let's start with the first part of this phrase: Love the sinner. To Christians who say this, they may not see anything particularly wrong with this part. However, the word "sinner" already carries a negative connotation. I mean sure, we're all sinners, but who wants to be called a sinner? How do you think you sound to somebody outside of the faith? Do you think that would make people happy being called a sinner? Surely not. Even with the word "love" at the beginning, you are still labelling them as a sinner, which is a negative thing. Do you not see the problem here? Nobody appreciates being called a sinner. You can go "buT wE're aLL siNnErS" all you want, but, again, understand that putting the label "sinner" onto someone is not going to convince them that you have good intentions and it's just a shallow phrase that means absolutely nothing to the person recieving it.

 

Next, let's address the second half of the phrase: hate the sin. For starters, let's just state the obvious here... hate is a strong word. People say that for a reason. Secondly, let's examine the word "sin". Again, the word contains a negative connotation, obviously. However, let's think about how when the whole phrase is used? What group of people is this phrase typically used for? LGBT people. 

 

This phrase has often been used in the context of LGBT issues. Christians typically use this to say "We love you as people, but we don't support your sin". Now, when you think about LGBT people, their "sin", as Christians call it, is wrapped up in their sexuality (or gender identity, or both). When Christians use this, LGBT people don't hear "We love you despite disagreeing with your sexuality". What they typically hear is: "We claim to love you, but actually we equate your identity, that is a part of you, as a sin just so we can't imply that we support it, but give you a rather conditional form of acceptance and love for who you are".

 

This phrase doesn't mean anything to me, and lots of other LGBT people you spout this to. You may have good intentions, but ultimately, you are not going to convince them that that phrase is done out of love. It's bothered me for the longest time, but I never had the ability to articulate it well enough until recently. I never heard this phrase used in any other context, like drug or alcohol addiction, criminals, and the like. It's always been directed towards the LGBT community. (I have never heard it used elsewhere in any other context, but correct me if I'm wrong).

 

But if you did use this phrase or have an attitude similar to it towards someone who was struggling from, let's say, a drug addiction, how would that make them feel? I mean sure, drug addicts probably don't tie their addiction to their identity and such like an LGBT person would; however, do you think being labeled as a sinner would make them feel good? Wouldn't that just enable them to use more drugs? I mean, again, the word sinner is inherently negative and carries a negative connotation. How would you feel if you were not Christian and somebody that was came up to you and used this for whatever reason that may be? Put yourself in the other person's shoes and realize the impact and weight the "sinner" label carries. Instead, treat them with actual love and respect and not by saying or embodying the traits of some shallow nothingburger of a cliché Christianeze catchphrase.

 

Hopefully I conveyed this well enough so that the off chance a Christian stumbles across this who happens to use it will understand where I'm coming from. I will never go back to Christianity for as long as I live, but hopefully Christians who come across this post change the way they see this phrase and realize how unhelpful and damaging it can be.

 

Best regards,

Casual

[TheRedneckProfessor]

59 minutes ago, Casualfanboy16 said:

Author's Note: Accidentally put this in Pinned Rants and Replies! Sorry! I moved it here and I can't get rid of the other one

I deleted the other one for you.

[Casualfanboy16]

1 hour ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

I deleted the other one for you.

Thank youuu!!