A Queer Christian Homeschooler's Thoughts on RFRA

Besides the Gamergate hashtag (eww), I've never seen something tweeted about so much in my feed. Nor have I witnessed such blatant ignorance and homophobia.

The RFRA hashtag is a mixture of trashy, disgusting tweets comparing the LGBT rights movement to Nazi Germany, and then tweets from people in the LGBT, Christian, and LGBT Christian communities who strongly oppose the bill. I try not to read through the RFRA tweets that much unless they're from my friends, because the rampant homophobia exhibited by some Christians is absolutely sickening. (Not to mention depressing!)

Another reason why I'm not in it much? Because there's a lot more screaming at each other than there is people actually listening.

The "Christian vs. LGBT" debate has always been a popular one. (And an especially difficult one for us LGBT Christians.) Whether it's conservative politicians comparing homosexuality to bestality, or LGBT rights movement leaders talking about how bigoted the conservative Christian side is, there's always someone with an opinion. And it's not always pretty. Either side is always met with a crapload of backlash. Instead of having civil discussions, some resort to name-calling and more bigotry. Hardly any of us actually sit down and have a well thought out discussion.

So as a queer Christian teenager, here's what I have to say:

Many conservative Christians are never going to change their theological beliefs when it comes to how LGBT people should be treated. Sure, not all conservatives maintain the same theology over the course of their lives. Some of them do change and become more loving to the LGBT community even if theologically, they don't agree with their sexuality. But for those who don't? They're not going to back down. They believe that their theology is the end-all when it comes to the topic of homosexuality. They believe that their theology should be what America takes its laws from. (Pretty damn scary thought, if you've read Leviticus.)

For me, the problem doesn't lie within their theology, per se. People having theological differences and disputes is normal, healthy even. But it becomes a problem when a Christian uses their theology to bash the LGBT community. A Christian's individual belief system cannot (and should not) apply to the rest of humanity. Not everyone is the same! Not everyone is Christian, or is even religious. The idea that we need to have people governed by Christian ideas of morality just isn't going to work out.

Still, despite all the bigotry and steaming hatred coming from some parts from the conservative Christian community, I do have some conservative Christian friends. We may have theological differences, but we still (respectfully) debate the gay marriage argument. And more than that? We discuss morality, divine salvation, equal rights, and love. They treat the LGBT community (and myself) like people instead of mere sex acts.

Why can't more Christians be like this? It would make things a whole lot easier, and honestly, I think we would get a whole lot more productive discussion done.

So in the end, when it comes to RFRA? Personally, I'm not a big fan. People shouldn't be able to discriminate in the name of religion. The people responsible for this bill here in Georgia and Indiana need to add non-discrimination policies to the bill that extend to the LGBT community too. I think it's possible to have LGBT rights and (the true kind of) religious freedom co-existing. Or maybe I'm just naive...

Love Thy Queer Neighbor

(KJV) Mark 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

While browsing the internet back a couple of months ago, I ran across someone by the name of Steven Anderson, a pastor in Arizona. Someone had uploaded a video of his sermon from November 30th 2014 called “Pastor calls for killing gays to end AIDs”

Despite the scary title, I was intrigued and watched the video anyways. This is one of the things he said:

“Because if you executed the homos like God recommends, you wouldn’t have all this AIDs running rampant.”

There’s a lot of problems with this so-called sermon (especially with that quote), but the one I want to address is love. Or rather, lack thereof.

In the NT, Jesus preaches a lot of love. Lots of love. Lots of forgiveness. Way different from the OT.  He gave us an example to follow, yet how many of us actively work to emulate His example? I’m not saying we’re going to be able to maintain that example 24/7. We’re only human. But I think that for those of y’all that are in leadership positions within the Christian ministry, y’all need to work extra hard. You’re in a position where you’re (supposed to be) representing God and Their Word. You need to be thinking real hard about your sermons. What sort of message are you sending out to the world? What image of God are you giving others? (Non-believers included.)

Because I personally don’t see how demeaning people by throwing out slurs and telling them that they should be stoned in order to have an “AIDs-free Christmas” is going to bring them to God. And for those of us who are both gay and Christian or bi and Christian, how do you think we feel? Some of us are still struggling to accept our intersecting identities as gay or bisexual Christians. Your hateful (and frankly, quite frightening) rhetoric isn’t helping matters. If anything, we feel even more rejected and lost. By screaming for our deaths, you’re not bringing us any closer to God. Why? Because the only attitude you’re exhibiting is hate, and since you’re a man or woman of God, then God must also hate us. Or so we think.

I’d like to ask pastors like Steven Anderson to consider what they’re saying, and maybe, hopefully, seek out some civil discourse with those in the LGBT and LGBT Christian communities. See what our side of the story is. See that we’re not really all that scary. Some of us profess the same faith in God that you do.

And above all, follow the words of James 1:19-20: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.