Alastair Begg said compassion would go a long way. Christian ministries are furious.

After hosting a Christian radio program called “Truth For Life” for the past 12 years, preacher and host Alistair Begg has lost his job all because he urged Christians to show love toward family members who are seen as sinners.

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Begg is by no means liberal. He’s been the senior pastor at the anti-LGBTQ Parkside Church in Ohio for the past 40 years, written dozens of books (affiliate link), and speaks at the sort of conferences that only have male presenters.

But back in September, during an episode of his show, Begg was speaking about the importance of compassion as a way to lead people to his God. He specifically raised a hypothetical about attending the marriage of someone who’s transgender:

… And in very specific areas this comes across. I mean, you and I know that we field questions all the time that go along the lines of “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”—which is a huge responsibility.

And in a conversation like that just a few days ago—and people may not like this answer—but I asked the grandmother, “Does your grandson understand your belief in Jesus?”

“Yes.”

“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?”

“Yes.”

I 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.”

“Oh,” she said, “what?” She was caught off guard.

I said, “Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’”

And it is a fine line, isn’t it? It really is. And people need to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. But I think we’re going to take that risk. 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.

In short, should you give a wedding gift to someone in your family if you believe that person is making a terrible mistake? Sure, he said, because the alternative—not giving them anything—will only confirm that person’s negative beliefs about you. Better to stay close and have a chance to convert them than be shut out of their lives and have no opportunity at all.

As far as an answer goes, it is, at its core, a typically bigoted argument. It suggests that people who are transgender—or in a relationship with trans people—are somehow broken. It says that showing an ounce of compassion—not because it’s the kind thing to do but because there’s strategic value to it—is a better move than cutting that person off out of spite… even though that’s how you may really feel.

Still, that’s not the answer you expect to hear. Plenty of Christians have answered similar questions in popular publications and come out on the other side, saying that even attending such a wedding amounts to condoning sin. Using Begg’s logic, Christians could support all kinds of “bad” behavior. What’s stopping anti-LGBTQ Christians from attending a same-sex wedding ceremony? What’s stopping “pro-life” zealots from supporting people in their lives who want an abortion?

If you’re looking for something better than shunning, but far short of actual love, Begg offers a(n awful) middle ground.

(His response completely ignores the possibility that the bigot wouldn’t even be invited to such a wedding, even if he or she is a relative.)

After that clip was shared on a right-wing website last week, all hell broke loose. One writer claimed, “Christians who attend gay weddings are just like Christians who obey a transgender person’s preferred pronouns: they’re tacitly affirming sin.“ (Truly the worst things anyone can do&hellip Another called it “pastoral malpractice” and argued that Christians should effectively cancel him:

Bad advice is not unforgivable, even when the advice is sinful... However, a biblical standard demands that Begg should not be let into the pulpit or your podcast rotation. He’s shown himself unqualified.

Then, this week, the American Family Association (a Christian hate-group), announced that it would no longer be airing his program on their American Family Radio network. Begg’s 30-minute show had been airing daily on over 180 radio stations, but the Wednesday broadcast was replaced by AFA leaders explaining why they had to shitcan him:

In that time slot Wednesday morning, when AFR listeners would usually listen to Begg's program, AFA informed listeners about the decision in a live broadcast that included [Vice President Ed] Vitagliano, AFA president Tim Wildmon, and AFA vice president Walker Wildmon...

In the live segment, the AFA president likened the unbiblical same-sex wedding to a father being asked by his son, an alcoholic, to drive him 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."

Begg’s staff apparently argued that this was simply a matter of “individual conscience,” but none of that mattered to AFA leaders, who seem to think paying even lip service to LGBTQ people amounts to re-crucifying Jesus.

"This is a critical issue in the body of Christ right now," Vitagliano tells AFN. "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."

This is what it looks like when the last soldiers of the culture war can’t bring themselves to admit they’ve lost. They would rather cut themselves off from the world than admit they were on the wrong side of the moral divide.

To his credit, Begg stood by his initial response. To his discredit, his staff reiterated that Begg was totally anti-gay; he rejected same-sex marriage and believes homosexuality is a sin. It didn’t change the AFA’s decision, though.

These people deserve each other. The advice was bad and the reaction was excessive, and the bigots are all in a race to the bottom to see who can be worse than everyone else.