'I'm sixty-eight years old, and now I can say without a shadow of a doubt, "I'm gay. I'm a Christian. And God loves me without reservation." But for all those lonely, unhappy decades, I was a victim of misinformation that came into my life through ignorance and prejudice that began in the church.'
-- Rev. Dr. Mel White, author and filmmaker
(From Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America, p. 17.)
I want this book. I've wanted it ever since I first heard of it years ago. And for some reason I just don't own it yet...
ReplyDeleteNeal, I read this book a couple of years ago, as soon as I heard about it. I found it fascinating and life-affirming, but it was also heartbreaking to read the stories of parents whose gay children killed themselves. It takes a lot to move me when I read, in part, because we see so many horrific stories in the news. But when you read about the senseless deaths of children, who could no longer face the bullying and how they were made to hate who they were, well, you can't help but be moved.
ReplyDeleteThe book has very much of a religious/Christian slant to it. That is, it provides example after example of gay kids who were made to feel badly about themselves because of the religions they were brought up in. It provides cautionary stories about how religion can be used to destroy people, young people, in this case, who are gay.
It occurred to me recently that God could be testing so-called Christians, who are against gay people. He put all kinds of different people on this earth, yet we know many Christians believe only they are the chosen, only they are assured a place next to Him in the eternal life, if they live according to His laws. One of God's biggest laws is to love one another, and maybe He put all kinds of challenges in the way of that, including making some people gay, just to see how well Christians would love those who are not like them. I'd say many of them fail, wouldn't you?
Thanks so much for your comment.