A Christian's Response to Macklemore's Christian-Bashing Gay Anthem

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By Dianna Hobbs: EEW Magazine Cultural Views & Issues

On the heels of the Supreme Court’s twin decisions in favor of same-sex married couples, a gay anthem
that reduces Christians and the Bible to perpetuators of hatred merely littering the world with homophobia,
has hit Billboard’s Top 20.

“Same Love,” the Ryan Lewis-produced single off Seattle-based rapper Macklemore's album Heist, was
released in 2012 in honor of his two gay uncles and a gay godfather.

The Christian-bashing rap, which spews disrespectful rhetoric toward people of faith that believe
homosexuality is a sin according the Bible, was originally recorded in connection with a campaign for
“Washington Referendum 74,” which headed toward approval, thereby legalizing same-sex marriages in
Washington State.

“The right wing conservatives think it's a decision/And you can be cured with some treatment and
religion/Man-made rewiring of a predisposition/Playing God…” Macklemore raps.

“If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed,” he continues. “That holy water that you
soak in has been poisoned.”

The hook vocals, sung by lesbian singer-songwriter, Mary Lambert, say, “And I can’t change/Even If I
tried/Even if I wanted to…”

According to Billboard "in the week ending June 30, “Same Love” had its best streaming week to date,
collecting 1.1 million U.S. streams (up 20%), continuing its double-digit percentage growth for the second
consecutive week."

The raw and emotional video for the song features lots of guy-on-guy kissing and has racked up in excess
of 55 million YouTube views.

In an interview, the rapper, who recklessly paints Christians with a broad-stroked brush and casts us all in
the same distasteful light for standing on our faith, explained his misguided efforts with Q13 FOX News last
year.

“It was something I was constantly around as a kid, seeing a committed gay relationship, yet, not being able
to be married by law. So it was something that was personal,” he said.

“I also grew up in the Catholic church and I grew up in the Hip-Hop community, two institutions that are
known as being somewhat homophobic. So it was something I wanted to write because of my upbringing with
my family, but, also, just, kind of the culture I grew up in.”

Loving family members is wonderful and noble, and also, wanting to shift cultural paradigms is something
every passionate leader hopes to do. But it is neither wise nor right to infringe upon Christians’ religious
freedom and desecrate the Holy Word we live by to get a point across.

Yet, this is the day and age we live in. Faith is under attack and the Bible is being ripped to shreds by
overzealous, irreverent voices in America who desire to overturn God’s laws for their own pleasure and
comfort.

No doubt, the battle for the minds of Americans—and those around the world—is in full swing. There is an
all-out war of ideologies and neither side is backing down, especially not Believers in Jesus Christ that see
how clear the Bible is about homosexuality as sin.

Movements like those launched by Macklemore show us that we are in a fight for the moral consciousness
of a generation. Christians are being marginalized and categorized as lacking compassion and being full of
hate. We are said to be preying upon innocent gay victims that did not “choose” to be that way.

Gays like to argue, “I was born this way; therefore, I cannot change.”

Guess what?

Born again Christians (John 3:3) are also “born this way”—into righteousness—therefore, we cannot
change our biblical viewpoint, nor reverse the supernatural transformation that has happened in us.

We, too, can say, don’t ask us to deny who we are just because it makes you uncomfortable, gay community.
Furthermore, for same-sex loving people that feel hated and singled out, guess what else? You don’t have
a patent on pain.

Christians feel that too, every single day. In fact, in Mark 13:13, Jesus told us to expect to be hated, but to
stand firmly anyway.

Public ridicule, misunderstanding and persecution are crosses we Christians must bear to “come out of the
closet” about our faith and live out loud.

And we won’t stop.

Not even a popular song, whose writer wants to make his uncles and godfather feel better at the expense of
millions of good, loving, God-fearing Christians, can deter us.

Named one of the "70 Most Influential Black Christian History-Makers" by Black Christian News Network, Dianna Hobbs is an
award-winning urban faith-based media specialist, and Founder of Empowering Everyday Women Ministries.