Because Murphy implied it was a “lifestyle” that people choose to engage in. It’s insulting to many LGBTQ who don’t see it as a choice.
It’s as if he said he didn’t agree with the “Black Lifestyle” or the “Asian Lifestyle.”
People couch all types of bigotry behind their Christianity. But the Christianity I practiced doesn’t involve judging people for who they are.
The difference is that a Black or Asian "lifestyle" isn't explicitly considered a sin in the Bible. You can't equate that with homosexuality, a lifestyle that is, at the very least, frowned upon in the Bible. I read the thread and I agree that he worded the "I disagree with the fact that he's a homosexuality" line terribly but that's why he's a baseball player and not a pastor, because it does imply that Bean had a say in the manner.
But his terrible phrasing doesn't discount what his main message was, which was that he may not view a homosexual
lifestyle as Biblical (the emphasis is necessary here, I think, since IIRC it's the
act that's the sin, hence the lifestyle comment, and it's not a sin to merely be a homosexual) but he'll still embrace him and respect him as a human being. People getting mad at Murphy for the comment are essentially telling him to not live his faith when said faith is supposed to come first in one's life if they are truly devout, which Murphy seems to be.
And I do see the problem in that interpretation, since it's essentially telling homosexuals to not act on their impulses, it creates a living hell for them and it would be like telling a heterosexual to not seek relations with women. But sadly, one thing that people need to accept is that the doctrines of the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) just aren't supportive of homosexual acts and it would be a stretch to honestly interpret them otherwise. That's just the reality of the situation. Homosexual
acts (hence Murphy's comments about the "lifestyle") are condemned in Leviticus in the Old Testament and Corinthians (6: 9-11) in the New Testament:
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
John 8:11-12 is perhaps the best way to explain all of this. When Christ encountered an adulterer, he didn't immediately condemn her to hell. Instead he forgave her and told her to "go and sin no more." He loved the sinner and not the sin and forgave her of said sin. That's pretty much what Murphy tried to articulate in his comments.
