sophiaserpentia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophiaserpentia) wrote2004-04-25 10:14 am
sophiaserpentia) wrote2004-04-25 10:14 am
(no subject)
This post is inspired in part by a post ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lady_babalon made a few days ago, wherein she noted that sometimes in conversation she will be told that not all Christians are judgmental bigots. She then asked, "When you tell me you're not all like that, how exactly am I supposed to know this? Why exactly am I supposed to believe you?" Her question was fueled by the observation that there have been few times in her life when she experienced compassionate treatment by people she knew were Christians (i.e. clergy and/or proselytizers) and who knew she is pagan and queer, versus the horrendous treatment she has often received.
In my life, I can think of only one example that would give me cause to believe that Christians are truly concerned with the spiritual growth and salvation of queers. The Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil last year was led by a Dominican nun, assisted by a priest. The two apparently did a lot of work with the gay and lesbian community center in New Orleans.
As Catholic clergy, I suspect (though I did not ask them directly) that they believe and are required to teach that homosexuality is wrong. But even still, that did not stop them from seeing the suffering in the community and working to heal it. Their presence alone was moving and healing, simply because of the strong contrast they made with the body of my experience with Christians, and with the treatment of queers by society at large, which is largely fueled and perpetuated by the Christian teaching that homosexuality and transgenderism are sinful.
Outside of that, the only evidence I really have of the goodness and compassion of Christians are comments to that effect which I have received online. The rest of my experience with Christians has been like the treatment we received on Mardi Gras in 2002, or the people who have gone out of their way to pass laws which impede my basic rights, or the people who go on TV and blame people like me for bring God's wrath on America on Sept. 11, 2001, or the people who claimed that AIDS was deserved punishment from God because of "His" disapproval of homosexuality.
Where are the Christian voices on TV or in other media countering that? Bishop John Shelby Spong -- that's it. He's not even considered Christian by many.
Silence equals tacit approval and acceptance. So, until I see a mainstream, tangible movement made of Christians to help heal the suffering of queers, I too am extremely skeptical of the idea that Christianity teaches true compassion (instead of the "easy" compassion Jesus warned against in Matthew 5:43-47).
lady_babalon made a few days ago, wherein she noted that sometimes in conversation she will be told that not all Christians are judgmental bigots. She then asked, "When you tell me you're not all like that, how exactly am I supposed to know this? Why exactly am I supposed to believe you?" Her question was fueled by the observation that there have been few times in her life when she experienced compassionate treatment by people she knew were Christians (i.e. clergy and/or proselytizers) and who knew she is pagan and queer, versus the horrendous treatment she has often received.In my life, I can think of only one example that would give me cause to believe that Christians are truly concerned with the spiritual growth and salvation of queers. The Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil last year was led by a Dominican nun, assisted by a priest. The two apparently did a lot of work with the gay and lesbian community center in New Orleans.
As Catholic clergy, I suspect (though I did not ask them directly) that they believe and are required to teach that homosexuality is wrong. But even still, that did not stop them from seeing the suffering in the community and working to heal it. Their presence alone was moving and healing, simply because of the strong contrast they made with the body of my experience with Christians, and with the treatment of queers by society at large, which is largely fueled and perpetuated by the Christian teaching that homosexuality and transgenderism are sinful.
Outside of that, the only evidence I really have of the goodness and compassion of Christians are comments to that effect which I have received online. The rest of my experience with Christians has been like the treatment we received on Mardi Gras in 2002, or the people who have gone out of their way to pass laws which impede my basic rights, or the people who go on TV and blame people like me for bring God's wrath on America on Sept. 11, 2001, or the people who claimed that AIDS was deserved punishment from God because of "His" disapproval of homosexuality.
Where are the Christian voices on TV or in other media countering that? Bishop John Shelby Spong -- that's it. He's not even considered Christian by many.
Silence equals tacit approval and acceptance. So, until I see a mainstream, tangible movement made of Christians to help heal the suffering of queers, I too am extremely skeptical of the idea that Christianity teaches true compassion (instead of the "easy" compassion Jesus warned against in Matthew 5:43-47).