Skip to main content

Where Are You, iEmanuella?

One of the things I love about the web is finding fascinating people and resources. Last week, a video was shared on my Facebook feed. You can see the first thing that I saw below, a young girl showing words on card. Like me, you've probably seen dozens of these. I chose to watch it out of curiosity. The video wasn't just a story of a young woman growing in her faith, it was also a call to action. A challenge to love people first, regardless of their choices or if they agree with you. At the video's end was apparently the girl's online identity in white text over a black: iEmanuella




Googling her name, iEmanuella apparently made quite an online presence. The video above was published in 2012 and was viewed millions of times before it and her entire online presence was deleted. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, everything. Gone.

What happened?

After Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson shared his views on homosexuality, iEmanuella created a video entitled "Real Talk On Homosexuality." I have no idea how many videos followed the first one but the one below seemed to be her last. She shared Scriptures pertaining to homosexuality and compared being gay to other sins. More importantly, she shared how she had to process someone close to her being gay. Here's that video:



While mainstream bloggers cheered her on for her first video, many then turned on her for this video. Forget the fact that she was trying to be honest and have a dialog on the topic. All many seemed to hear was that she was saying being gay was wrong and a sin. For this, she was bullied offline. It's comical to me that the same people who claim she produced an "anti-gay" or "hate" video see no issue with their calling her names, wishing her death or threatening to hurt or kill her. And for what? Making a video? Sharing a differing opinion?

Gay activists, are you that nearsighted that your only course of action is to be hypocritical and promote a message of love and tolerance while you use hate and intolerance on others? Are you so insecure with yourself and agenda that just because someone has a differing viewpoint and millions of video views, you justify silencing them and celebrate when this is accomplished?

Whether you agree with what iEmanuella shares in her last video or not, the behavior and campaign that led to her closing her online presence was wrong. Period.

I pray she is well today, has taken from this experience many teachable moments, and continues to grow in her faith.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

See You Around, Mike

Three weeks ago, I attended the memorial service of a dear Brother in Christ. Sunday, June 10, would've been his 56th birthday. I miss my friend. But what's sad is that I didn't miss Mike until he was gone. At least in the middle of the odd month, but definitely by the last week of it, Mike would always reach out to me with a request. It was usually to load a certain worship music video or some game show music. Sometimes, he needed some specific slides created or sound effects. Mike put a lot of thought into preparing the lessons. For certain lessons, Mike asked the kids to write something that was bothering them or something that was a sin. Then he had them take hammer and nail to that card and attach it to an old rugged cross. Mike often brought in props to physically connect the Bible stories to the kids. For example, when he dressed as an innkeeper and walked in a wheelbarrow full of fresh cow manure. He was adding the smell of a barn to the lesson just to help
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »

Reverse Discrimination of Christmas

With Christmas slowly fading from your memory, did you find yourself this year taking a stand for Christmas? I'm not talking about stealing the stand beneath the Christmas tree. Perhaps you missed it but 2009 was the year of sticking it to retailers who refused to display or say "Merry Christmas!" Boycotting secular businesses because they aren't promoting Christmas: righteous or ridiculous? I'll vote for both.
2 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »

Embracing Sin With Hearts Wide Shut

Lately, there's been a lot of buzz about homosexuality, gay marriage, and equal rights. Having a conversation about this topic continues to be difficult especially within faith-based circles. Why? Because we're unwilling or unable to identify sin. Or worse, that which we know as sin we're embracing with hearts wide shut. "I didn't say anything different from what any Bible-believing Christian would say if you want to be true to the Scriptures." Kirk Cameron recently made this statement in reaction to the backlash he received during an interview with Pierce Morgan. The interview was supposed to be focused on Cameron's latest film, Monumental, but instead Morgan pressed him on topics such as homosexuality and gay marriage. Cameron explained that he opposes gay marriage in part because he considers homosexual behavior "unnatural" and believes that it's "detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization
8 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »