The Blessing of Pride: Churches Coming Out

Last night I attended a little panel discussion at my church given by Pacific Pride. There were a few things that stood out about the panel to me.

First, the panelists all had some connection to faith. Generally this was something in the past (and had left scars) and more rarely, it was something in the present.

Second, there were only two panelists who were around my age (actually younger), and the rest were significantly older. The point was made throughout the evening that experiences of LGBTQ people are divided generationally. The experiences of the older panelists were radically different from the younger ones, and certainly different compared to the experiences of my LGBTQ friends.

Third, there was a theme of self exploration and the encouragement of self exploration, not only in relation to personal gender identity, but across the board (As an INFJ personality, I can't agree more!).

And finally, there was a theme of coming out and welcoming.

This last one is what I really want to talk about because it points to several issues in the church. While the panelists asserted that no church should have to "come out" in support of any group of people (see: the message of Jesus), without this act, the very people a church seeks to help will be unwelcome.

In other words, a church must take an open stand, or come out, in order to be recognized as a welcoming place.

There are so many churches in this world that do not take stands on issues. If a person were to call and ask a "closeted" church if they were welcoming of a given group of people, it is hard to know how they would respond. The reality is, most people wouldn't ask, and it isn't their responsibility to ask.

The Church is meant to be a witness to the world. The Church is meant to declare its stances to the world and defend them, regardless of what other people and institutions think. Inevitably this gets individual churches and the Church as a whole into trouble, but that is what Jesus requires us to do. Sometimes, you just need to flip a table. Sometimes you need to call a person out.

My church in Goleta (or rather my dad's church as I'm slightly transient) has yet to take a stand on this. Part of me understands why the community has been dragging its feet (think: denominational BS). Part. Most of me has no idea why they haven't just come out yet. I mean, how can you have 3 openly gay staff members over the years and NOT openly stand up for them?! That's crazy! 

My only guess is it is fear - fear about the unknown - about what will happen if they make a stand. But here's the thing: fear isn't a good enough reason to stop from doing something. Jesus tells us not to be afraid. God tells us not to be afraid, but to step out in faith, and act according to God's will. All God's children deserve love, community, welcoming, and nurturing.

I don't think there's any question here - it's time to come out.

Atheists Worship Satan and Other Myths

I get that a lot of people don't care for religion. After all, it is an institution. Institutions are created by people. People are flawed and therefore, their creations are flawed. Combine this with the fact institutions are often interested in self-preservation and such pursuits rarely benefit people, and yes, it makes sense. Hating religion makes sense to me.

Hell. Even I hate religion sometimes. And I'm a believer.

That said, it drives me CRAZY when generalizations are made about religion - especially statements about it being dumb, irrelevant, hateful, or obnoxious. There are people who are part of all institutions who fit these categories. There are groups within all institutions that fit these categories. All people in a given institution cannot be dumb, useless, etc. The law of statistics asserts it cannot be so. If we lump every person and group together, things get dangerous (you know, like Holocaust dangerous).

It also drives me crazy when people assume the logical counter to religion is atheism (though philosophically it may be), and then proceed to associate the 'Devil' with this mode of thinking.

Note: If you believe in the Devil, you cannot be atheist. Atheism is, by definition, the belief that there is no god - none of any kind. The Devil would qualify as a deity or god in this situation. People who worship Satan are actually Satan worshippers or Devil worshippers. They aren't even Satanists who are more closely related to atheists...but that is another discussion entirely...

I say all this because someone - I think an attendee to my brother's wedding - decided to leave a confused note on the comment card at my parents' church. It was probably a confused teen, because I hope no thoughtful person over 30 would waste a non-profit organization's resources by leaving a confused anti-religious comment on a card while attending a wedding.

Too bad that person hadn't been raised in a church. Maybe they would have been a little more respectful to the community who spent time and money on communication materials.