When the Equality Riders (a group of students traveling to anti-gay schools to present an inclusive message of Christ) went to Lee University in mid-March, someone (believed to be a woman and teenage boy) painted “fags mobile” on their bus. Some Lee University students helped the Equality Riders remove the graffiti.

Today Mike Ensley of Exodus International took credit. Not for the graffiti, but for the clean-up.

While the reports on ER’s website credit the hospitality demonstrated by Lee University as acceptance of their message, I suspect it probably had a little more to do with the fact that, just two days before, Scott Davis, David Fountain and I shared our stories and taught seminars for thousands of students and faculty. I’m not surprised that the result was a greater outpouring of love. When will they realize that hate doesn’t come from us?

Ensley was probably not being ironic.

So, Mike, let me give you a timeline for when I’ll realize that hate doesn’t come from you:

When you stop spreading malicious lies such as all gay people were molested or had a poor relationship with their same-sex parent, that gay people do not have committed monogamous loving long-term relationships, and the myriad myths you propagate about the sex lives and “health risks” of all gay people. When you stop seeking to enact laws that would deny rights to gay couples that are taken for granted by straight couples, take away gay people’s children, and – in some states – incarcerate gay people for expressing their love to their partner sexually. And finally, Mike, when you stop lying to gay people about the methods, reach, failure rates, and agenda of the Exodus International.

Once you’ve done that, Mike, get right back to us and we’ll let you know whether you’ve convinced us that hate doesn’t come from you. In the meanwhile, you’ll understand why I think that your “love the sinner, but destroy his life at every opportunity in every way” type of message is more likely to result in vandalism than in clean-up.

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