On November 29th, Buzzfeed “reporter” Kate Arthur released a political hit piece on HGTV’s newest rehabbing couple Chip and Joanna Gaines. The article titled, “Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Church Is Firmly Against Same-Sex Marriage,” attempts to relate the couple’s church attendance to their own belief on same-sex marriage. The Gaines have never stated their own belief on the controversial issue, but yet the “reporter” seems to state their stance for them. The “reporter” seems to care more about saying that they are anti-gay and smearing the family than reporting on the facts of the matter. So here are the facts of the case.
Chip and Joanna Gaines are devout Christians who are strong in their faith in God. They have never made one public post on social media about their stance on same-sex marriage, nor have they made any statements on their television show about what they believe when it comes to same-sex marriage. The couple makes very public statements about their faith on their show, so if they were to make any such statement on same-sex marriage, it would have made headlines already. In addition, since the piece has been published HGTV has come out to say that same-sex couples are welcome on the show at any time, just like any of their programs. In a secondary article, Arthur points out that in the first three seasons of the show, there had yet to be a LGBT to appear on the show and somehow equate that as evidence to further her argument. However, Arthur ignores the idea that maybe LGBT couples aren’t moving to Waco, Texas because of the history of Waco.
Now it is no secret that there is friction between some in the LGBT community and some in the Christian community. Waco’s growth is mostly tied to the growth of their local Christian university, Baylor University. So with friction between the communities, why would you think about moving there with loved ones? While it is hard to find accurate demographics of what the LGBT population is in Waco, the large Christian culture would reflect that there would be a small LGBT population. So with a small population within the community, wouldn’t it make sense that unless they actively searched for a LGBT couple, that there is a chance there hasn’t been a LGBT couple because the Gainses haven’t had one as a customer? If there were a very large LGBT population like in a city like Los Angeles, then maybe there would be a bit of validity to Ms. Arthur’s comments, but Waco is quite the opposite Los Angeles.
Lastly, Ms. Arthur, if you end up reading this, I have some questions for you. Number one; do you have any friends who are Catholics by any chance because I don’t know if you have heard, but the Catholic Church takes a pretty similar stance on gay marriage as the Gaines’ pastor. Do you publically chastise them for their association with or support of the Catholic Church? If you don’t, that would be a pretty big double standard that you are presenting to the general public. My last question is do you realize the dangerous generalization that your “report” has about Christians in general? Your “report” implies that Christians are like sheep that will blindly follow their leaders simply because they are the leaders. I can tell you from the life of someone who grew up a Christian; you don’t always believe everything that comes out of a pastor’s mouth. You are able to think for yourself in the way that God wants you to live through Him and that may mean that you go against what your pastor says in his weekly sermon. A generalization that Christians blindly follow a church leader is dangerous to use on a platform that is viewed by so many.
