Queer and Christian?
20.05.2005I am one of those people that finds it easier to be Queer in a sometimes hostile Christian environment than being Christian in most Queer environments. This is not due to a wishy-washy faith or embarassment about my beliefs, but rather the fact that Christianity has been used to do massive spiritual violence against my community.
If you look carefully, it’s not the agnostics or athiests in this country doing the Queer-bashing, it is, for the vast majority of the time, Christians. While there are other world religions who find homosexuality (etc) incompatible with thier teachings, American Christianity has it down to a nasty and political science.
Even here on Jay’s blog, I feel the need to name my brand of faith, to separate myself from James Dobson, et al. I feel the need, again, to explain that my experience of Jesus of Nazareth is one of radical inclusive love. Perhaps I’ve internalized the negative voices of some Christians too much, or perhaps being paranoid doesn’t mean someone isn’t necessarily out to get you. Maybe I do need to define a bit what I believe for the beginning of this blog conversation…
To be as brief as possible, Liberation theology comes out of Latin America and basically states that God is on the side of the Oppressed. If you look through all the texts Christians call their Bible, you will see that God stands in alignment with the marginalized, the oppressed, the widow and orphan, the refugee, women, Samaritans, Lepers and anyone else who is ostracized by their society. I find it interesting that Jesus’ words of accusation were for the religious leadership of his day, not for the people they called "sinner". I wonder who he would call a serpent today….
I will talk more about my activism, Christian, Queer and Disability, later. For now, I will leave you with my conviction that all of us are beloved children created in the image of a Creator God who delights in our Queerness and calls us to a revolutionary view of Creation and Relationships!