'Shameless' Character Takes on Anti-Gay Christians: 'I'm Gonna Beat the F*ck Out of' Pastor

January 1st, 2018 7:17 PM

Here's hoping Showtime's Shameless decides to leave worn-out tropes back in 2017. They certainly closed out the year with a bang, with their New Year's Eve episode "Frank's Northern Shuttle Express" having Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) continue to shuttle "brown people" into Canada for a better life while bringing back cheaper drugs for Americans.

New in this episode is Frank's gay son, Ian, confronting a pastor who is, of course, exposing young people to conversion therapy. That is, he's trying to pray away the gay. We can't have a nice Christian, now can we? That would never do.

Ian Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan), who helps to run a homeless shelter for LGBTQIA youth, hears about a pastor who "turns homos back to normal" and goes to check it out with Trevor (played by transgender actor Elliot Fletcher). Trevor also runs the center, and is a trans man who used to date Ian. I know, that's a lot to take in. Here's what happens when the two first go to the church. 

 

 

Pastor: "as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination." 
Congregation: Praise the Lord. 
Pastor: But we are here today to give sweet Tammy a chance to redeem herself in the eyes of the Lord and return back to her flock. 
Ian: Are you fuckin' kidding me? 
Pastor: Matthew 18 says we must confront the sinner and give him a chance to repent. So, I ask you in front of your family, Tammy, do you want to be cured of the homosexuality disease and go back to being a normal girl again? 
Tammy: Yes.
Ian: Jesus. 
Pastor: Do you want God back in your life, Tammy? 
Tammy: I do.
Pastor: He can't hear you, Tammy. Do you want God back in your life? 
Tammy: Yes! Yes. 
Pastor: Then let us now close our eyes and raise our palms to Tammy so that we may light the path for this lost lamb to find her way back to the kingdom of heaven where she can become the beautiful, feminine woman with long hair that she was put on this Earth to be. 
Congregation: Amen. 
Ian: Oh, I'm gonna beat the fuck out of this guy. 
Trevor: Come on, let's get out of here. 
Pastor: Romans, chapter 128. 

Yes, they showed Christians as people who call homosexuality a "disease" and assume that women have to have long hair to be normal heterosexuals. Ian goes home and finds a Bible to study so that he will be ready to go toe-to-toe with the pastor and goes back to the church. 

 

 

Pastor: This poor child couldn't help himself once the devil got inside of him. Psalm 101:3 says, "I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do. I will have no part of it." 
Ian: Romans 13:8-10 says, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves othershas fulfilled the law." 
Pastor: What is your name? 
Ian: Ian Gallagher.
Pastor: Are you a homosexual, Ian? 
Ian: Indeed, I am. 
Pastor: Would you like to come up to the altar and bring Jesus back into your life? 
Ian: Oh, no. I'm--I'm good. See, I already got Jesus in my life. 
Pastor: Corinthians 6:9-10 clearly states, "Neither the sexually immoral nor male prostitutes nor homosexuals will inherit the kingdom of God." 
Congregation: Amen.
Ian: Oh, really? 'Cause Colossians 3:11-13 says, "Here there is no Jew or Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all, and is in all." 
Pastor: Corinthians 6:17-20, "Flee from sexual immorality. All the sins a person commits are outside of the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body." 
Ian: Galatians 5:14, "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping the command: Love thy neighbor as thyself." 
Pastor: The lust of the flesh comes not from the father, but from the world.
Ian: Woe to you, teachers of law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. 
Pastor: You don't actually think you can win a Bible quoting contest with me. 
Trevor: He does. 
Pastor: Are you the queer boyfriend? 
Trevor: Oh, no, I'm queer transgender ex-boyfriend, actually.
Ian: But we'll probably start banging again soon. Hey, any of you queers sick of this bullshit wanna get out of here? We got this brick building over on Ashland. It's the one with all the gay rainbow flags. 
Lewis: I'll go.
Lewis's Dad: Lewis. Get back here. Lewis! Get back here. 
Ian: You wanna fight? I'll fight you, but you're gonna get your ass kicked by a ho-mo-sexual. Let's go. Fags, this way! 

The frequency with which Christians are portrayed as being anti-gay hypocrites is getting ridiculous. The most Shameless thing about this episode is their stale hot take on Christianity.