Challenging a "Gay Cowboy"

The Refiner's Fire was ignored recently when we attempted to contact Scott Bidstrup at the Truth and Reason website to challenge his pro-homosexual, anti-Bible stance. Extremely vocal about his varied and sundry beliefs which include an anti-Israel/pro-Palestine stance, Bidstrup (who opted to leave the U.S. in 2003) claims to have been "the subject of illegal, judicially unauthorized surveillance and harassment by the FBI" - which means he was engaged in some kind of illegal activity and was afraid he was about to be arrested. Be that as it may, we would not be bothering to challenge this "gay cowboy" if he had left the Bible out of it. But, since his website contains a series of anti-God, anti-Bible rants, he needs to be confronted and shown how and why he is off the mark!

Judging from Bidstrup's multifarious long and endless articles, it seems this "gay" cowboy has something to say about everything - from politics to religion. While he may be legally entitled, in the Western World, to rant about his opinion on homosexuality and a host of other topics, The Refiner's Fire draws the line on his skewed opinions about God and the Bible. Let's examine just a few of his assertions:

Bidstrup comments:The Bible is a lot of things to a lot of people, but to Christians, especially, it is a source of inspiration and a guide to daily living. To others, the Bible is a historical document and a source of controversy. To others still, the Bible is a self-contradictory mish-mash of arcane rules and proscriptions, mostly relevant to long-dead cultures in far away places. What is the truth in all of this? The reality is that it is all true to an extent, and equally nonsensical at the same time. The Bible has meaning to all its readers, but it is important to consider that the meaning it has is informed by the prejudices the reader brings to it.....


From there, Bidstrup goes into a long diatribe about what he THINKS the Bible says (including, of course, his thoughts on supposed "failed prophecies" and the Bible's origins. From his biased, ants-eye-view he even tries to challenge Mormonism! (While we also believe Mormonism to be an off-the-mark religion, we don't feel that any atheist has the right or the knowledge to properly analyze it from a Biblical standpoint.)

The Bible is not just some nonsense concocted by a series of ungodly men who wished to fool the world. It is a historically accurate document whose 300-plus prophecies have come to pass already and are still unfolding before our very eyes, as evidenced by events in the Middle East, etc.

Failed prophecies? We challenge Bidstrum to explain how an ancient document written by many authors over a period of several hundreds years - whose completed works, by the way, NEVER contradict themselves! - could possibly have revealed the origins of the universe - which included a description of the roundness of the earth, the placement of the stars, and the hydrolic cycle! We challenge Bidstrum to explain how the Bible is not a science book yet is somehow scientifically accurate.....

We also challenge him to explain how it could be "mere coincidence" that Israel became a nation once more when God used Hitler's Holocaust to make one of His major end times prophecies happen - and it happened in one day, exactly as Isaiah prophesied! We challenge him to explain how Israel defeated several much larger countries in 1967; and why Israel began to blossom ONLY after the Jews regained the Land in 1948 - exactly as the Bible said! We would also ask him to explain how Isaiah 53, written several millenia before the birth of Yeshua (Jesus) could have possibly foretold how God ultimately intended to redeem the world via a Savior who was born exactly as predicted - to a virgin - and why the events of the Middle East are unfolding exactly as the Bible outlined - ending with the fact that the world is already leaning toward the complete annihilation of Israel and the Jews. Plus, we would be interested to hear his explanation for the unfolding of several Biblical prophecies that foretold major end times disasters and diseases of Biblical proportions.....

Since he speaks from a homosexual viewpoint, Bidstrup's hatred for the Bible isn't surprising. After all, the Bible calls what he is doing "an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22, Deuteronomy 22:5). We boldly proclaim these scriptures whether Bidstrup "believes" in God or not, because WE believe in God and the Bible, and we believe that Bidstrup will certainly get his chance to explain his lack of belief to the Creator on Judgment Day! The Bible - which never contradicts itself, is the ORIGINAL the blueprint for morality.

And the Bible tells us that homosexuality is a sin.

Bidstrup comments: Says who? The Bible? Somehow, I always thought that freedom of religion implied the right to freedom from religion as well. The Bible has absolutely no standing in American law, as was made clear by the intent of the First Amendment (and as was very explicitly stated by the founding fathers in their first treaty, the Treaty of Tripoli, in 1791) and because it doesn't, no one has the right to impose rules anyone else simply because of something they percieve to be a moral injunction mandated by the Bible. Not all world religions have a problem with homosexuality; many sects of Buddhism, for example, celebrate gay relationships freely and would like to have the authority to make them legal marriages. In that sense, their religious freedom is being infringed. If one believes in religious freedom, the recognition that opposition to gay marriage is based on religious arguments is reason enough to discount this argument.


Whether Bidstrup "believes" or not, the Bible says that gay relationships ARE immoral - which we'll discuss further along in this article. He is certainly entitled to "freedom from religion, as God allows us all the choice to do it His way or Satan's. There is NO gray area, and there is little time left in which to debate this issue, because - judging from world events compared to the Books of Daniel and Revelation - we are in the proverbial "Twelfth Hour".

Not all world religions have a problem with homosexuality; many sects of Buddhism, for example, celebrate gay relationships freely and would like to have the authority to make them legal marriages. Our question is: Does Bidstrup realize that Bhuddism is a completely MAN-MADE religion that has nothing, whatsoever to do with Yahweh, our Creator? Every other belief outside of the one Yahweh laid before us is man-made and is, therefore, to be shunned!

Let's examine what Yahweh/Yeshua said about homosexual activity:

Revelation 22:14-16: How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! 15 Outside are the homosexuals, those who misuse drugs in connection with the occult, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters, nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality....

1 Corinthians 6: 18-20: Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Ephesians 5:11-13: Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.

Revelation 3:15 - "I know what you are doing: you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth!

These are but a few of the many Scriptures that talk about the abomination of homosexuality and immorality, in general. God made it very clear that He hates homosexuality! Furthermore, God places sexually active homosexuals on the same level as murderers and liars:

1 Tim 1:9-11 - 9 We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral - both heterosexual and homosexual - slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching 11 that accords with the Good News of the Glorious and blessed God.

Bidstrup comments: It's against God's law. Well, of course this is a purely religious argument, and it presumes that the homosexual is or should be bound by the religious principles that are propounded here by the religionist.....The fact of the matter is that since this society and its government were founded on the notion of the separation of church and state, to encode in a secular law an idea that has purely religious purposes, is a clear violation of the principle of the separation of church and state. Until the religionist can come up with a sound reason why society benefits by the outlawing of homosexual activity, then there is no moral basis for such a law if one accepts the principle of religious freedom as encoded in the doctrine of the separation of church and state.


"Well, of course this is a purely religious argument, and it presumes that the homosexual is or should be bound by the religious principles that are propounded here by the religionist." Actually, it's not a "religious argument" - it's GOD'S command! If God hadn't created us, none of us would be here, including Mr. Bidstrup. He can be an unbeliever from now till Doomsday, but the fact remains, that life on earth doesn't just "happen". Life begins and ends with GOD! The Bible is proof of that fact, and so far, man hasn't proven otherwise.

The fact of the matter is that since this society and its government were founded on the notion of the separation of church and state, to encode in a secular law an idea that has purely religious purposes, is a clear violation of the principle of the separation of church and state. Perhaps it might be a "clear violation" of MAN'S law, but GOD is the One who's in charge. Simple as that. It is a known fact that every great empire has fallen: Roman, Egyptian, Byzantine - from China, to India, from Persia to Rome. And upon careful study, we discover the reason for their fall is ALWAYS their departure from Yahweh. In the "Old Testament" we see that Sodom and Gemorrah were destroyed, in part, because of their blatant homosexual sins (Genesis 18:20; Genesis 19:1-3).

Deuteronomy 28: 20 "The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me".

Throughout history, God destroyed the wicked and granted mercy to a remnant of people who sought to please Him. When Nineveh repented because of Jonah's warning, it was spared from God's judgment (Jonah 3:10). When Belshazzar did not repent, his kingdom was taken over by the Medes and the Persians (Daniel 5:22-31).

According to Christian Evidences, the fact of God's judgment is not restricted to the Bible: "It is evident throughout all of history. One of the greatest testimonies to this principle is in the fall of Rome. The decadence of ancient Rome is well known and well documented. Infanticide and abortion were commonplace; the pursuit of pleasure for its own sake was taken for granted; peoples' hearts had been hardened. God used the Germanic "barbarian" tribes to execute His judgement upon ancient Rome, but something very significant happened. The Christian Church escaped unscathed. It is impossible to overemphasize the significance of this fact. In A.D. 410, Rome was sacked by the Goths under Alaric. The Vandals took Rome in A.D. 455, and finally Attila the Hun invaded the western part of the Roman Empire and conquered Rome in A.D. 476. The entire Roman Empire fell, but the Church survived. How is this possible? Many of the barbarian tribes had accepted Christianity and respected the bishop of Rome. The Roman bishop was able to protect the people, to a certain extent, from the worst excesses of the barbarians, while the emperor had been powerless to protect them. For example, at one point prior to A.D. 461, the intercession of Leo I saved the city from complete destruction. When the dust cleared, the only thing left standing among the blackened ruins of the Western Empire was the Church, which was ready to bless and educate the barbarians who had brought about this ruin."

Bidstrup comments: Marriages are for procreation and ensuring the continuation of the species. The proponents of this argument are really hard pressed to explain, if that's the case, why infertile couples are allowed to marry. I, for one, would love to be there when the proponent of such an argument is to explain to his post-menopausal mother or impotent father that since they cannot procreate, they must now surrender their wedding rings and sleep in separate bedrooms. That would be fun to watch! Again, such an argument fails to persuade based on the kinds of marriages society does allow routinely, without even a second thought, and why it really allows them - marriage is about love, sharing and commitment; procreation is, when it comes right down to it, in reality a purely secondary function....The proponents of the procreation and continuation-of-the-species argument are going to have a really hard time persuading me that the human species is in any real danger of dying out anytime soon through lack of reproductive success.


That is a totally asinine argument! The reason God created man and woman WAS to keep each other company, to be there for each other's sexual enjoyment, and to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1; Genesis 8:17; Genesis 9:1,7; Genesis 17:6, 20; Genesis 28:3; Genesis 35:11).

The fact that an impotent person or a post-menopausal mother can no longer procreate has nothing whatsoever to do with this scenario. At least they were created with the equipment to be able to procreate, whereas homosexual activity cannot claim the same thing! Furthermore, homosexuals have to invent ways to have sex because they cannot do it the "normal" way. Everything they do is unnatural and forced. God abhors immorality of any kind. That is why we have so many venereal diseases! It is a documented fact that our epidemic of AIDS was spread through homosexual activity.

Bidstrom is but another homosexual who desperately wants to shove his respective biases down the world's collective throat in hopes to convince us that his perverted bedroom acts are "normal". One day he, like all of us, will stand before our Maker to explain his choice to not only dupe himself but the entire world. The only thing left to do for this "gay caballero" is to pray for him...pray that he will lay aside his human pride and begin to seek God.

In the meantime, he is playing right into the hands of Satan's agenda to take as many into the pit with him as possible!