Saturday, August 11, 2007

A Cold And Callous Church

Cecil Howard Sinclair was a kind and generous soul who died too young. At 46, he was an navy vet who passed away from an infection while waiting for a heart transplant. The High Point Church in Arlington, TX offered to provide a funeral service for him because his brother worked as a janitor there, a very nice gesture for the bereaved family. But the service was not to happen because the Church canceled on them because the obituary mentioned he was survived by his life partner, basically being gay does not allow for compassion from High Point and Rev. Gary Simons.

From The Huffington Post:

Simons said the decision had nothing to do with the obituary. He said the church offered to pay for another site for the service, made the video and provided food for more than 100 relatives and friends.

"Even though we could not condone that lifestyle, we went above and beyond for the family through many acts of love and kindness," Simons said.

Wright (Sinclair's sister) called the church's claim about the pictures "a bold-faced lie." She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging.


Not only did Simons and the church lie to Sinclair's family, their hatred towards people who's sexual orientation is different than them stretches into the afterlife. Now Simons claims he had no idea that Sinclair was gay, even though it was made known almost immediately by the family. The church ended up paying for a service at another location, but not under their name. Wright called it a slap in the face, it seems like they also punched them in the gut, spit on them and began kicking when the family had fallen.

The church claims that they did not want to be seen condoning homosexuality, a sin in their eyes. It is more like they do not allow for compassion for another human being, just because of a different lifestyle that harms no one.