And Peggy got a message for me from Jesus/ And I've heard every word/ That you have said/ And I know I've been driven like the snow-"Cooling" by Tori Amos
I need to stop reading things of interest first thing in the morning. It starts my day off with frustration and hopelessness. This morning it was a particularly incendiary post on Revelife in which the writer imagined a conversation between a conservative Christian narrator and a silent pro-gay agnostic humanist Christian "friend". The conversation was one-sided; the pro-gay agnostic humanist Christian "friend"'s remarks were only imagined, not actually written down, and the conservative Christian narrator made the argument that homosexuality, in her/his opinion, is the highest form of selfish hedonism since its sexual expression is only cased in sexual pleasure, without any chance of procreation.
At some point the narrator also made reference to the silent friend being a "Christophobe." The conversation was quite one-sided, and I didn't get the hint that either character in the narrative learned anything, since it was only a costless trumpet blast for the narrator and the other person didn't get a chance to tell me what she/he thought.
I get frustrated when 'Christophobia' is thrown into the equation because it often carries so little acknowledgement of the history of LGBTQ people in this country and their relationship with Christians in this country. On one hand, we in the Evangelical branch of the American Church grew up with stories of the coming tribulation, watching movies like "A Thief in the Night" and Jack van Impe's "Apocalypse" series and "Left Behind"; I wasn't the only one convinced as a child that I'd live to see large scale persecution of the Christian church, including the arrests and executions of most people I knew.
We had the
Jesus Freaks book put together by the band dc Talk about martyrs around the world, and we learned from a young age about the fates of the Apostles. Using Roman numerals, some of us were able to derive the numeral "666" from configurations of the names of Barney the Dinosaur, the Teletubbies, and Ronald Reagan. The devil really was everywhere, and while that knowledge of the truth bred quite a lot of pride in me, it was still very scary. I don't know how widespread this particular idea was, but we had a pastor at the church I grew up in who predicted that persecution would start within the next twenty years and it would start around the issue of homosexuality.
Based on conversations I had with people involved with Exodus International back when I was into that, it seemed to me that the slippery slope right into an Antichrist-led Christian bloodbath would start with hate crimes legislation and legalized gay marriage. I get it. People are scared. Personally, I still get nervous any time I see new technology related to credit cards advertised on TV.
But on the other hand, I can't help but notice how many Christians who hold viewpoints similar to the nameless narrator in the Revelife post have so little to say specifically on the historic treatment of LGBTQ people. They either actively ignore the roles Christians have played in the persecution of LGBTQ people, or they're actually ignorant of what it's like to be queer in relation to the Church. They're so busy trying to sniff out the Antichrist in the name of their own rights that they don't know what people outside their ranks (or on the fringes of their congregations) deal with on a daily basis.
I'm in both camps here. I grew up both very passionate and convicted about my Christian faith and very strongly attracted to men, and I can assure you that any persecution I've experienced at the hands of non-Christians because of my faith, if any at all, was nothing compared to what I've experienced because of my sexuality at the hands of straight people, both Christian and imaginably non-.
Christophobia, in my experience, has had nothing on homophobia, and here in my city where we have hundreds of churches (I'd heard we had 365 a few years ago, but recently I saw somewhere we're up to 600) for only about 253,000 people, you can imagine who's in the majority and who's not.
Admittedly, the accusation of homophobia doesn't hold up each time it's given out. Merely saying you believe God has asked people not to be in gay relationships doesn't warrant you a 'homophobe' label. But I caution against crying foul against any hearts you may find in the LGBTQ community that have been hardened against your message, because to do so invalidates any bad thing any of us have gone through in Jesus's name.
Can we really play the Who's-Worse-Off game between American Christians and LGBTQ people and expect it to be even? Which do politicians usually pretend to be during election time to get more votes: gay or Christian? Which one hurts more to be called in public: 'bigot' or 'faggot'? Who's more likely to commit suicide: a gay teen or a Christian teen? When I tell my story, do its listeners run the words through the filter of my being sick, like they would if I were an alcoholic or a kleptomaniac, or does my experience count the same as that of someone who's now ex-gay or, in insider lingo, ever-straight?
But then, if you think I'm either the ultimate selfish hedonist at worst or a crime against nature at best without any knowledge of my life, my relationships, or my sexual history, what else would you expect me to do but disregard what you have to say?
Are Christians homophobic? Are homosexuals Christophobic? Can we ever find common ground, or at least a place where we can meet in the middle and talk honestly and respectfully without being afraid of each other?
True
Comments (7)
In the USA? Forget about it! American Christians think the Bible should be the law of the land and goddamnit something that's a sin should be illegal. That's why frivolous debates like SSM and abortion are still at front and center in that country. There is no secular reason to not give the LGBTQ community equal access to tax benefits, property benefits, and adoption services that become available in a legal marriage. Just like there's no good secular reason to deny women their reproductive rights. America is a theocracy, period. That is one of the reasons I left. Why should I have something I don't believe in pushed on me through the law?
Until Christians in America decide to stop legislating Christianity, there will never be rest. Honestly the best case scenario would be for the prop 8 case to make it all the way up to the SCOTUS and then they overturn it. Then you WILL have to suck up your bitching. Until then, I will continue standing up for the rights of the LGBTQ community.
One last thing I want to say, and this is more in response to the other person: Christophobe? Seriously? Christians get special treatment in America. Non-Christians are marginalized, have no shot at public office, and can't even run for public office in 7 states! George HW Bush has said atheists shouldn't be considered citizens or patriots. A girl was kicked off her high school basketball team for refusing to say the Lord's Prayer after basketball games. Don't EVEN try to claim persecution.
@StatelessPilot - Very much in agreement. It's ridiculous how sensitive and persecuted the christian majority feels - 'War on Christmas' and all that. I can understand that having over a thousand years of cultural hegemony threatened by the increasing number of people who have chosen to opt out can have a pretty distressing effect (people start asking difficult questions), but (particularly in the US) the Judeo-Christian worldview is still allowed to have a pretty commanding control of the population in total by deign of that (ever-slimming) majority. And when that's the case (and that is overwhelmingly the case), it's absolutely bizarre to label the party that is already firmly labelled 'the other' (any minority in opposition) with an accusation that they're 'intolerant' of the larger party that is doing all the coercing and controlling them.
Further, it's clear that what's being attempted here is a political trick of language. "I'm a homophobe? Oh yeah, you're a CHRISTOPHOBE." It's a deflecting mechanism, signifying an attempt at further divisions between people and nothing more.
@StatelessPilot - Haven't you vehemently defended the right to a foreskin, yet now you advocate abortion? I don't understand you on those two matters. I get that you are all for other's rights to do whatever the hell they want, yet those are two things that stand in hypocrisy of each other.
@Celtic_haven@xanga - If you want to go there let's go there. I would have much rather been aborted, because then I'd never have had to go through life knowing my sex life will never be as fulfilling as if I were a whole man. At least with abortion I'd never know any better, so I see abortion as nowhere near as bad.
ZerosRequiem, I honestly feel for you. No you are not writing for pity, so I will say I feel sympathy (maybe it 's the same thing). Anyway, this issue really breaks my heart for gay Christians everywhere because it is a struggle. Some say they are born that way, some say they have always felt that way, and some think they became that way. Either way, I don't know. As a straight Christian, I honestly feel for gay Christians because I don't remember every choosing to feel attracted to the opposite sex; I just did, and even though I feel that way about gays as well, we obviously have been taught that this is something that is unnatural and therefore brought about by sinful desire, by demonic spirits, culture, etc. The way I see it honestly is that gays are judged too harshly. I believe what the Bible says that it is a sin, however I don't understand the persecution of gay people because I don't think it's a worser sin than cheating, lying, lusting in our hearts, adultery, and murder in our hearts, hatred, etc. and all other sins that I and everyone is guilty of. I think our sins are equal and that is why Christ died for us. It is a struggle. And I know that just like I struggle to tell God to please take away the lust in my heart and mind, a lot of gay Christians pray to God take away this lifestyle that they may or may not want from their hearts. We are all sinners and gayness should not define a person if my violating other people in my heart lustfully does not define me. It's hard, it's a struggle. I can't say I completely understand or even understand much at all because I am not gay, but I do understand that it is not a greater sin and just as Christian gays my continually struggle with that in Christ, I continue to struggle with my own sins in Christ. God bless and keep you always. And thanks for sharing because it's great to get such perspectives from the outside. Also, check out "Pray the Gay Away" (Lisa Ling's show Our America) - very informative and insightful about Gay Christians in America. And very heartbreaking. That is where I learned about that Exodus thing you talked about in your post. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIw6ngIqaD0
Watch the entire vid.
Beautiful. You make great and true points.