Christian Repentance for Sin (of Homophobia)

January 11, 2012 — Terence Weldon

Repentance for sin is a fundamentally important issue in the Christian faith. We are all called, generally and collectively, to repent for our sins. From time to time, I get a very direct and personal challenge in a comment here at QTC, to repent for my own sin, the one that (allegedly) cries out to heaven: the sin of homosexuality.

I do not deny that, like everyone else, I am a sinner, and admit it regularly, in every Mass, “I have sinned through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”. I’m not going to get into full confessional mode here, and announce the details of my sin, but I will declare what is not included - “homosexuality”. Loving a man is not sinful, but hatred is. This is why, when I am challenged on-line for my supposed sin of homosexuality, I sometimes remind my challengers that homophobia is a sin, for which repentance is due.

Last year Symon Hill, a British man who had previously been a prominent religious campaigner against homosexuality, made a very public contrition, and embarked on a march or repentance to atone for that sin. Along the way, he stopped at numerous churches along his route, preaching not against homosexuality, but against homophobia. He is far from alone.

In the US, Kathy Baldock, who describes herself as “a straight Evangelical Christian walking a path with my God and striving to follow the examples of Jesus”, is passionate about making atonement for this sin. She is heavily involved in promoting dialogue between church and LGBT communities, and keeps an informative and active blogsite / e-zine on the subject (“Canyonwalker“). One of her innovative activities is to attend Gay Pride Parades, publicly offering “Straight apologies”. This is how it began, some time before SF Pride, 2008.

I could picture an idea and needed to make it work. Once at home, I searched my dresser for a white tee shirt , got out some blotter stamps and went to work on the tee shirt.

I spelled out “Hurt by Church? Get a Straight Apology Here” on both sides, big. Big enough to be read at a distance. And big enough to make me feel completely exposed in a crowd. No hiding in crowd on this one.I go to SF Pride each year to be with and work with my GLBT brothers and sisters at FIC (her local church). I help at a water booth they staff at Pride on Saturday and in information booth on Sunday. But, mostly I walk around wearing my tee shirt and feeling more naked than the truly naked people. There are quite a few folks who have no clothes on or no tops or wear only very skimpy clothes. But, try strolling with the “Jesus bulls eye” on your front and back. This Jesus, the One who many think is the driver behind the anti-gay nastiness that has been hurled at the gay community. Even I get tempted to cover up my shirt in crowds.

Kathy Baldock, with t-shirt

Scary, yes, but she has continued to offer her apologies at gay pride parades, right around the country. (She also sells the t-shirts, to spread the message further).

(more…)

Share|
Posted in Gay Catholics/ Christians, homophobia, Ministry, Church structure. Tags: , , . 5 Comments »

In Celebration of Pride Celebrations

January 9, 2012 — Terence Weldon

[In his introductory post last week, "A Dissenting Queer View: Cardinal George, Gay Pride ", Advocatus Diaboli expressed essentially two distinct concerns. One was about the overreaction by some gay activists/ gay Catholics to the Cardinal's words, and one was about the nature of gay pride itself. The piece he wrote was not originally intended for publication, but was for my personal consideration. As it was at my request that he posted it for public scrutiny, I promised to provide a full response, here. It was my intention to do this in two posts, for the two different concerns, but Cardinal George's apology last week has largely removed the point of that one. Here is my response to AD, on the issue of gay pride specifically].

AD’s concern over Pride Parade appears to spring from the feelings of self-disgust that he experienced on seeing the displays of scantily - clad men, and his fear that he might be secretly “one of them”. Oddly enough, this is precisely the reason why Pride is important. Let’s take a closer look at his words:

……every time I saw depictions of scantily clad men parading down the street in some obnoxious display I was filled with self-disgust that I was secretly ‘one of them’. I thought that if I accepted who I was that I would immediately become a sex obsessed ‘queen’ who dressed like a prostitute-fairy. I was not able to accept myself as gay until after I found out that there were ‘normal’ gay people.

“Every time I saw “depictions” of…. I wonder: is this a response to real gay pride parades, or to the presentation of them in the media?

Yes, of course there are some unusual sights to be seen, expanses of naked or near - naked man-flesh, flamboyant drag queens, and perhaps leather men and their slaves/ boys – but these get into the papers precisely because they are exceptional. In my experience of London Pride, the “freaks” (as some may think of them), are vastly outnumbered by the others: those who are what AD describes as “normal gay people”.

When I think of the mental images that I take away from the London Pride parades I have participated in, I see a few of the extremes that upset AD and others, but I also see far, far more. (more…)

Share|
Posted in homophobia. Tags: , . 10 Comments »

LGBT Activists and the KKK

December 23, 2011 — Terence Weldon

So, Cardinal George of Chicago has concerns that the gay rights movement could

”morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.” He says the rhetoric of the KKK and some in the gay rights movement involving the Catholic Church was similar.

“The rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan; the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people — who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church,” George said.

Chicago Tribune

Perhaps it’s just my ignorance as a non-American, but I did not think that the characteristic feature of the Klan was its anti-Catholic rhetoric: I had the idea that far more significant, and more sinister, was its propensity to activities like this:

After the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan in 1867 the number of lynching of African American increased dramatically. The main objective of the KKK was to maintain white supremacy in the South, which they felt was under threat after their defeat in the Civil War. It has been estimated that between 1880 and 1920, an average of two African Americans a week were lynched in the United States.

In 1884 Ida Wells, editor of Free Speech, a small newspaper in Memphis, carried out an investigation into lynching. She discovered during a short period 728 black men and women had been lynched by white mobs. Of these deaths, two-thirds were for small offences such as public drunkenness and shoplifting.

Lynching in America

Why did these crimes occur? The short answer is simple: intolerance. Bizarrely, the Klan leaders saw themselves as God-fearing leaders of their communities, protecting “white civilization” from the supposed threats posed by the “other” - especially where those others attempted to mix on an equal footing with themselves.

In addition to targeting Black people directly, the KKK also attacked and murdered civil rights activists who were fighting against the intolerance they symbolized.

In any comparisons between the KKK and the gay rights movement, where should we properly position the Catholic Church? Cardinal George was reflecting on the “rhetoric” of some gay activists. I want consider not the words, but the actions, of the Christian Church in history - and of some people acting in its name to this day. (more…)

Share|
Posted in Bart, homophobia, Ministry, Church structure, Natural & Animal Sexuality. Tags: , , , , , . 3 Comments »

Bullying, and Catholic Schools.

December 13, 2011 — Terence Weldon

A reader has placed the following deeply personal and moving testimony in a comments thread, relating to the Church’s need to listen, and pastoral sensitivity.

1 and 1/2 years ago I decided to kill myself, but I felt compelled to go to church just after I had prepared for it. I was sobbing in a back pew so hard that I could not even see straight and I was literally choking on my own snot, when a priest found me and refused to leave or let me go until I told him what was the matter. I tried to lie several times but he saw through it and persisted until I just blurted out that I was gay and I didn’t want to be. That was the first time I had told anyone my secret, and then I was even more terrified. But that priest was so kind, caring, and supportive that he was able to convince me (against everything i KNEW to be true) that God loved me just as I was. “When I went home I decided not to end my life. He never knew that I was fully committed to killing myself that night, but that priest saved my life.”,

I shall refer to my reader as “A’dam” (which my women readers should note, is gender neutral in the Genesis Hebrew text). The crisis that he faced is one that is encountered by countless young people of all genders who are beginning to face up to their orientation or gender identity issues, many of whom contemplate suicide - and far too many of those go beyond contemplation, to completion of it.

A tiny fraction of the total:

The problems faced by queer youth are not confined to suicide alone. Others feel compelled to leave home, either because they have experienced direct rejection by their families, or because they fear rejection and cannot face the prospect of coming out, to live in honesty.  Those who end up on the street, and also some of those who attempt to struggle through the problems at home, also end up more likely to develop problems with substance abuse and irresponsible sexual behaviour. Those on the street may have few alternatives to prostitution just to survive.

(more…)

Share|
Posted in Gay Catholics/ Christians, homophobia. Tags: , , , , , . 2 Comments »

“Equally Blessed” Petition to US bishops on Bullying

November 8, 2011 — Terence Weldon

Catholic teaching on persons with same-sex attraction is clear: we are to be treated with dignity, respect and understanding, and we are to oppose any violence or malice, in speech or action.

Shamefully, these words opposing violence or malice are seldom followed through with meaningful action. In Minnesota, the bishops are instructing their priests to support a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage, with all the means at their disposal. Bizarrely, part of the opposition by some Catholics to gay marriage is based on a claim that opposition is required by the church’s respect for life. Not a single life is ever threatened by gay marriage - although fullness of life, in terms of human flourishing of the spouses and their children, is promoted by it.

Violence and malice directed at gay men and lesbians most definitely threatens life, especially of queer teens. Anti-gay rhetoric, including some directed at gay marriage, encourages hostile speech directed at some young people. Verbal abuse sometimes leads to physical violence, adolescent bullying sometimes leads to murder. Even where it does not, death can still result. Persistent bullying is a major reason for the high incidence of suicide (attempted or completed) among LGBT youth, and for the high proportion of sexual minorities among the young homeless. Life on the streets brings its own dangers - and a short lifespan is often among them.

Support for life, and for all marginalized and vulnerable people, are both fundamental Catholic values that really do deserve to be supported by Catholic communities “with all the resources at their disposal” - but Catholic bishops consistently back away from initiatives to combat homophobic bullying, whether in international forums like the United Nations, or in policies of education bodies, formulating policies for schools.

Equally Blessed, a coalition of four Roman Catholic organizations that support full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families both in the church and in civil society, has released a sign-on statement asking the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to end its silence about violence directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) youth. (more…)

Share|
Posted in homophobia, Ministry, Church structure. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »

Elton John: There’s a Global War Against the Right of Gay People to Live and Love. We Need to Fight Back

October 11, 2011 — Terence Weldon

There’s a Global War Against the Right of Gay People to Live and Love. We Need to Fight Back.

There has been a strange hole in Western gay politics — until now. We have, understandably, been focused on our own national battles for dignity: to get married, and not get fired for being gay, or bullied into despair as teenagers. But while we were starting to win, millions of gay people were starting to lose — and lose badly. There are seven countries where the punishment for homosexuality is death, and the number is growing. In dozens more, gay people are being terrorized into the closet, or a prison cell, or the hands of a lynch mob, today, now. To pluck one example at random, this summer, a senior official in Ghana ordered gays and lesbians “rounded up”, and announced: “All efforts are being made to get rid of these people.” Imagine a thousand Matthew Shephards, lynched with the approval of the state.

These hunted gay people are asking for our help — and now, at last, organizations are being built to get it to them. This is the new prong to the fight for gay equality, and perhaps the most crucial.

In every human society ever recorded, some people — around 3 to 5 percent — have been sexually drawn to their own gender. It is as universal and as harmless a quirk as left-handedness. Yet somewhere along the way, a whole cluster of fears and paranoias furred around homosexuality. There were myths that gay people were subversives or pedophiles or enemies of an invisible deity. For a long time, these myths killed gay men and women in our societies — and now they are killing people just like us in swelling numbers abroad.

Until now. A remarkable group called Kaleidoscope has been set up in London, with global reach and a simple goal. Any gay person running for her life, or any gay group banding together to be treated like a human being, will be given the support they need, in the way they want it. Do they want quiet diplomatic pressure on their governments? Do they want computers? Do they want to be smuggled out? Do they want prominent gays to visit the country and sit in the courtrooms with them? What do they need?

Earlier this year, we were shown how far a little bit of international solidarity can go in preventing homocide. In Malawi, a young gay couple — a 26-year-old and a 20-year-old — were sentenced to fourteen years’ hard labor, just for having consensual sex. It took a small amount of pressure from gay people in Europe on their governments, and then a small amount of pressure by our governments on Malawi, for them to cave in and release the couple. There is a lever here.

via Elton John and Jonathan Hari, at HuffPost

Related articles
  • Elton John calls for world leaders to halt anti-gay discrimination (therainbowpost.com)
Share|
Posted in homophobia, Queer Church News, Sexuality & Gender. Tags: , , , , , . 3 Comments »

Dan Savage, Bullying, and the Catholic Church.

October 7, 2011 — Terence Weldon

Now, here’s a fun bit of synchronicity: Dan Savage, gay columnist, agony uncle, defender of queer kids and scourge of the religious right, has his birthday today, October 7th, on the feast of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Roman soldiers, lovers, martyrs for their Christian faith - and easily the best-known of all the queer saints honoured by the Christian church. The connections, and contrasts, are delicious.

In Catholic hagiography, saints are honoured for many reasons, but one popular one is that from their favoured position on the far side of eternity, they may be able to help and protect those still left behind in the temporal world. So it is, that many well-known saints are regarded as patrons of particular causes or classes of people. Saints Sergius and Bacchus are  often suggested as patron saints of gay men and lesbians - or of soldiers. Dan Savage is notable for many things, but has been particularly important for his work on the “it gets better” campaign, which is designed to help queer youth to survive homophobic bullying. This campaign has done some notable work, and has undoubtedly had some important successes: one teen, for instance, was so grateful that he posted a thank-you video. Dan Savage’s initiative has ensured that for some young people at least, it has already got better. As he is demonstrably not yet dead, he cannot be declared a saint (nor, even if he were to drop dead tomorrow, would he be canonized any time soon). Still, if Sergius and Bacchus are viewed as patron saints of gay adults, there is a sense in which Savage could be viewed as a patron “saint” of gay teens. (more…)

Share|
Posted in Gay Catholics/ Christians, homophobia, Ministry, Church structure. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments »

Equality is a Family Value: Support Brazilian Mums

September 29, 2011 — Terence Weldon

I have just received an email from a friend, which took me to a website for “Equality Moms”, to challenge hate and discrimination in Brazil.

“I’d rather have a dead son than a gay son.” These words, recently spoken by a prominent member of Congress as an appeal to Brazil’s “family values,” made Eleonora Pereira angry.

Eleonora’s son, Jose Ricardo, was murdered a year ago—victim of a rising tide of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes in Brazil.

Eleonora told us that the family values she knows are those shared by mothers all over the world: refusing to see your child insulted, injured, or even killed simply because of who they are. And Eleonora is not alone.

On September 29th, our group of “Equality Moms” in Brazil are traveling to Congress to demand support for a proposed Anti-Homophobia bill that would protect ALL Brazilians from violence and discrimination.

Will you take a moment to sign and share the statement the moms will deliver to Congress—and to their fellow Brazilians—affirming EQUALITY as the true family value?

www.allout.org/maespelaigualdade

Hate is not a family value, nor is it part of Catholic teaching - although many of those promoting this kind of hatred and violence claim to be doing so to protect family values (as the Brazilian congress quoted), or Catholic teaching, completely overlooking the parts of Catholic teaching we don’t hear often enough:

It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the objects of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church’s pastors wherever it occurs…. The particular orientation of the homosexual is not a sin. (emphasis added).

-CDF Pastoral Letter

Lend your support to the Brazilian Moms for Equality. Cross to the website, sign and distribute the petition:

BECAUSE EQUALITY IS A FAMILY VALUE

With homophobic and transphobic attacks and murders on the rise, Brazil is fast becoming a world leader — in anti-LGBT hate crimes. It’s time for the country that celebrates its diversity to be a world leader in offering full equality to ALL of its citizens.

I stand proudly with this movement of courageous, outspoken “Equality Moms” of Brazil, as they speak out against the hate, and demand an end to discrimination and violence.

 

I just did

Related articles
Share|
Posted in homophobia. 1 Comment »

Lutherans Vow to Prevent Bullying

August 24, 2011 — Terence Weldon

 

 

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, passed a resolution to join the church at all levels in efforts to seek out, curb and work to prevent bullying in church, school and society. The resolution was brought to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly by 37 of its 65 synods. The resolution passed 932-23. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly is currently meeting in Orlando, Florida.

-Full report: GLAADBlog.org.

Related articles
Share|
Posted in homophobia, Queer Church News. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

In Politics and in Business, Homophobia Becoming Toxic. What About the Church?

August 24, 2011 — Terence Weldon

CGBG, the “Charity Giveback Group” (formerly the Christian Values Network until a March name change), is upset with gay activists, whom they accuse of misrepresenting their business as homophobic. They have good cause to be anxious: their activities are based on affiliate marketing, whereby they earn a commission on internet sales through links to major marketing companies. As an explicitly Christian, values-based enterprise, they attract their customers by promising to split the commission with designated charities. Conceptually, it’s a beautiful business model. Set up a website, attract enough supporters on the strength of their shared values and desire to support charity - and wait for the commission to come in. All that remains, is to handle the money, and allocate their share to the designated charities. With no manufacturing, inventory, or distribution costs to worry about, the business costs are presumable minimal - just website maintenance, marketing - and accounting.

What has upset the gay activists, is that several of these “charities” are explicitly anti-gay. Key founders and backers of the company are luminaries of the Christian right anti-gay lobby, men like actor Stephen Baldwin, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. One of the beneficiaries of the commission split, the Family Research Council, has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. Others are not described as hate groups, but are still explicitly anti-gay, actively engaged in campaigns to prevent progress towards LGBT equality. It is not surprising that the queer community would not want their spending to be used to finance these groups - hence the original boycotts.

From left: actor Stephen Baldwin, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, AP Photo

What has upset the business, is that the boycott has moved beyond the customers (who may well never have been attracted to buying through them in the first place), to the big corporations who actually sell the goods - and who write those commission cheques on which the business depends. In recent months, thanks to a remarkably successful online boycott campaign, major companies have rushed to disassociate themselves. Major firms like Microsoft, Apple, Delta Airlines and Wells Fargo have declared in favour of equality and diversity, and have no wish to be associated with any form of prejudice or discrimination. They are pulling out at an astonishing rate, threatening the company’s future. This is the same financial calculation that has previously led Target and Best Buy to reconsider corporate actions that appeared to support anti-gay organisations or politicos, and attempt to undo the damage. (more…)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share|
Posted in homophobia, Sexuality & Gender. Tags: , , , , . No Comments »
« Older posts «
»

Switch to our mobile site