What if words are the new sticks and stones?

"Gay Stoning" cartoon by nakedpastor David Hayward Do you like this cartoon? Well... not like... but appreciate? Get a print HERE. Killing someone is a way to remove someone from our lives for whatever reason. In the Old Testament stoning was a way to punish sinners and remove them from the community. We can call it scapegoating. We may not use stoning to remove or separate people from our community, but we can use words and policies. They have the same effect of removing them from us. We'd like to think we've progressed the violence of the Old Testament. But have we? I believe that often those who commit suicide because they've been ostracized and alienated because of their sexuality or orientation or for any reason are showing us that in reality we have murdered them already, and they're just finishing it and making it manifest physically. We should be moving away from exclusion to inclusion.