Eric Alva is a former marine who lost his right leg after stepping on a land mine in 2003. He is the son of a Vietnam War veteran and the grandson of a World War II veteran. He was the first marine to be injured during the war in Iraq. And he is also a proud member of the LGBT community. He began serving his country in 1990 and continued to do so even after ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ went into effect later that decade. His squad members knew that Alva was gay, but they didn’t care. He was their brother in arms. Fast forward to the present and Alva is now an advocate for human rights and fights for laws that protect gays, veterans, and women against discrimination.

The San Antonio City Council is currently considering strengthening the city’s anti-discrimination policy to do just that and will make their final decision next month. Alva attempted to speak to the council in support of the effort. That’s when a group of alleged Christians led by anti-gay pastors viciously booed him and shouted him down.

According to Raw Story,

A crowd led by several pastors rallied in front of City Hall before moving to the City Council chambers, where over 200 people had signed up to speak for and against the proposed changes. At the rally, Pastor Charles Flowers beseeched the Council to “vote ‘no’ to this ordinance, and ‘yes’ to the reign of the kingdom of God.

Another opponent, Richard Morales, called the fines for those who violate the ordinance “an infringement on our freedom of speech, our freedom of religion.””

There you have it, folks. The very same people who claim to be “real” Americans who “love” this country and “support” our troops and veterans actually shouted down a veteran who fought for his country and sacrificed a limb in the process. He literally spilled his blood and nearly lost his life fighting for us. And this is how these “Christians” treat him. But Alva didn’t leave the podium quietly, he had a message for the hatemongers in the crowd.

To all you people that preach the word of God, shame on you because God loves me, like the day I laid bleeding on the sands of Iraq and that’s why he saved me.

Understandably upset, Alva commented on Facebook about the events that unfolded.

Well I just left city council chambers and I feel like crying. I have never seen a city so divided and hateful towards each other. All of mankind should be ashamed. I already spoke and even some of the religious groups even booed me as I spoke. Such disrespect as they preach the word of God.

Alva is right. It is sheer hypocrisy for supposed men of God to preach hate toward fellow human beings. After all, aren’t humans supposed to be created in God’s image? Did Jesus not say that we should love each other? Hate is not a Christian value and any self-professed Christian who openly hates others is no Christian at all. Even the Pope has spoken out against hatred of gays, telling reporters on a flight back to Rome from Brazil that,

If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says they should not be marginalized because of this (orientation) but that they must be integrated into society. The problem is not having this orientation. We must be brothers.

People who hate others have no right to claim that they are Christians. And people who boo soldiers who bravely risk their lives in war for our country have no right to call themselves Americans. Alva is a hero. Unlike these “Christian” cowards, he fought for this country, and even after losing his leg, he continues to fight for equal rights and personal liberty here at home. The anti-gay crowd are fighting for the opposite. They don’t care about the Constitution and they don’t care about our troops and wounded veterans. They only care about themselves and their hateful ideology. They are bigots who want their interpretation of the Bible to be the law of the land. So who will Americans stand by? The war hero who had the guts to fight for his country and now fights for love and equality? Or the cowardly “Christians” who preach hate and boo soldiers?