We sat discussing the impending referendum on 'Gay Marriage' in Ireland last Friday. The other bloke was aged in his late 50s, I'm in my early 50s - we are both Christians.
He opens by saying that it is clearly wrong as we were made to have sex: man and woman. I calmly question whether it is all about sex and whether people are born gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender. 'No' came the response "it is down to how they were raised and their parents".
"What if someone were to say to you that their child came out as a girl recently, now dresses as a girl (wonderfully in my opinion if I can add that), and that I was their father. Was it my fault?"
A few sentences of saying that they were not accusing anyone but eventually we got to saying 'Yes'.
I explained that being gay was common even in Jesus' day and the Romans and the Greeks were in fact quite content with the whole idea; however, by this time nothing was going to persuade them at all. This is a great book (also available in alternative online and local booksellers) to discuss the background to being gay and what the Bible says.
This got me thinking. Do we really have a significant group of people in our churches who want to deliberately marginalise a group of people who are struggling and being traumatised by their gender and sexuality. How could Jesus say so many things about love and His church now wish to be so cruel, so disparaging about a section of our society who just want to
...love each other - wasn't this the greatest commandment?
We have a lot of people, in their mature years, who due to upbringing and their beliefs, which were really well learnt whilst in Sunday School, who now firmly believe that being LGBT is totally wrong: scripturally and morally. In fact you could probably just limit that to gay, and possibly lesbian, as only being gay was illegal in the past: not too sure many 'more mature in years' christians would actually be au fait with bisexuals and/or transgender individuals. We certainly were not until our child came out - our story is here.
He opens by saying that it is clearly wrong as we were made to have sex: man and woman. I calmly question whether it is all about sex and whether people are born gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender. 'No' came the response "it is down to how they were raised and their parents".
"What if someone were to say to you that their child came out as a girl recently, now dresses as a girl (wonderfully in my opinion if I can add that), and that I was their father. Was it my fault?"
A few sentences of saying that they were not accusing anyone but eventually we got to saying 'Yes'.
I explained that being gay was common even in Jesus' day and the Romans and the Greeks were in fact quite content with the whole idea; however, by this time nothing was going to persuade them at all. This is a great book (also available in alternative online and local booksellers) to discuss the background to being gay and what the Bible says.
This got me thinking. Do we really have a significant group of people in our churches who want to deliberately marginalise a group of people who are struggling and being traumatised by their gender and sexuality. How could Jesus say so many things about love and His church now wish to be so cruel, so disparaging about a section of our society who just want to
...love each other - wasn't this the greatest commandment?
We have a lot of people, in their mature years, who due to upbringing and their beliefs, which were really well learnt whilst in Sunday School, who now firmly believe that being LGBT is totally wrong: scripturally and morally. In fact you could probably just limit that to gay, and possibly lesbian, as only being gay was illegal in the past: not too sure many 'more mature in years' christians would actually be au fait with bisexuals and/or transgender individuals. We certainly were not until our child came out - our story is here.
How do we approach these Christians who are so well set in their beliefs?
Running through the main aisle of the church and then protesting outside the Church with rainbow flags flowing majestically from our shoulders may sound attractive to us but it will probably only confirm their doubts even further. We are soon to go to Pride in London (27th June) and will proudly hold aloft our banner (above) but the message has to be subtle. We don't want to
Running through the main aisle of the church and then protesting outside the Church with rainbow flags flowing majestically from our shoulders may sound attractive to us but it will probably only confirm their doubts even further. We are soon to go to Pride in London (27th June) and will proudly hold aloft our banner (above) but the message has to be subtle. We don't want to
"ram it down their throats!"
we want to show them that love is the answer. If they can see by our actions that we truly believe that we should love everyone, that we have experienced the trauma ourselves of being a parent of a LGBT child, that we can ask of others questions which allow them to ponder and analyse what they really believe, we may see a change of opinion.
I would ask that even after the celebrations following Ireland's wonderful referendum result, we as Christians in our Churches need to: show that love towards all; to listen and reflect on what others say because...
I would ask that even after the celebrations following Ireland's wonderful referendum result, we as Christians in our Churches need to: show that love towards all; to listen and reflect on what others say because...
This isn't an academic exercise but our opportunity to deliver love through equality
This great cartoon from @nakedpastor has been cropped; the full cartoon can be found here. He's brilliant - please see more of his work.