Protect our youth this easater


 

Peace through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, amen.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is striking — almost cynical — that the United States Supreme Court chose this week, of all weeks, to release its opinion on conversion therapy. Traditionally, the Court waits until the final weeks of its term in June to announce major decisions. This time, however, they issued their ruling early. Perhaps they intended to give conservative priests and pastors something to preach about on Easter Sunday, the second most attended day in the Christian year after Christmas.

Yet our calling as members of the universal Church is unmistakably clear. We are not called to preach cruelty or shame, least of all on Easter Sunday, the day our Lord and Savior rose from the tomb. We are called to love our neighbors. As Jesus teaches in Matthew 22:39: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This commandment carries no exceptions. It does not exclude anyone based on identity, and it does not bend to personal discomfort.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Chiles v. Salazar allows states to continue the practice of conversion therapy under the justification of “religious freedom.” But conversion therapy is not freedom. It is not healing. It is not love. It is a form of violence cloaked in theological language, and no amount of courtroom rhetoric can make it holy.

Any pastor or priest who claims otherwise denies the resurrection and Christ himself — the very backbone of our Christian faith. Those who endorse or recommend conversion therapy reject the fundamental truth that all believers are baptized into God’s family, marked with the sign of the cross, and promised eternal life, as taught in Martin Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms. Even without formal theological training, the truth is plain: Scripture is clear about what it says and what it does not say.

The eight justices are wrong. And we, as the body of Christ, are called to imitate Christ by naming that wrong — by calling out hypocrisy and bigotry where it appears. We must bind this sin to them until they repent and release an opinion that does not lead to self‑harm, despair, or suicide among vulnerable youth.

As we celebrate Easter — the feast of resurrection, new life, and God’s radical embrace of humanity — we must remember: Jesus did not die so that children could be shamed into silence. He did not rise so that His name could be used to justify psychological torment. He rose to break the chains of sin, death, and the devil — not to forge new ones.

Therefore, let us preach love. Let us preach truth. Let us stand with the vulnerable, the outcast, and the condemned. And let us declare, with full hearts and clear voices: “Protect our youth.” Let us demand equality for all, love for all, justice for all, and truth for all.

I say this in Jesus’s name, amen.

Location: Washington County, PA, USA

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