Posts Tagged ‘Homophobia’
Planning My Pilgrimage To Laramie
Next month I’ll be taking a vacation to visit friends in Boulder, Colorado. I’m excited to be seeing the area, as I’ve only just changed planes in the airport before and never actually visited. But as I researched my trip, I couldn’t help but notice that Laramie, Wyoming, is just a two-hour drive north of…
Read More“Sorry” Seems To Be The Easiest Word
I live under a pop-culture rock, and it is only because of his inner-orbit position on the Six Degrees of Channing Tatum that I even know Jonah Hill’s name. But his recent run-in with a paparazzo, culminating in him angrily calling the man a derogatory term for a gay man and commanding him to perform…
Read MoreWhen Our Daughter Came Out
Four years ago our daughter came out to us as bi. She was 20. My first thoughts were that we’d never be the same in the church. No kidding. My daughter is telling me something very intimate and scary, several thoughts are going through my head, and I am a little surprised to realize that…
Read MoreToday Is Painful, But It Is Not The End
In June 2013, Mary Ann Barclay was removed from her ordination process by her United Methodist Board of Ordained Ministry after she married a woman. After being reinstated in December 2013 by Southwest Texas Bishop Jim Dorff, Barclay interviewed before the board this week and was not recommended for commissioning. The following is her statement on this…
Read MoreLoving All God’s Children Equally
Today’s church, the Body of Christ, is at a crossroads. Some denominations are trying to wear an accommodating mask under the guise of phrases like “hate the sin, love the sinner,” but upon closer examination, we see that these words have a less-than-Christ-like tone. How can love be a sin? The “sin” here is love,…
Read MoreA Tale Of Three Bishops
Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby (pictured middle above), laid the mass murders of Christians at the feet of same-gender married couples and Americans: I have stood by gravesides in Africa of a group of Christians who had been attacked because of something that had happened in America….[If the Church of England accepted same-gender marriage,] the…
Read More“We’re Nothing Like Fred Phelps”: An Excuse That Can No Longer Be Used
“As a pastor who has served a church where Fred Phelps protested, I have experienced the vitriol he spewed throughout his life. But if my tradition has taught me anything, it has taught me the power of forgiveness. May his funeral be filled with signs that read ‘you are a beloved creature of worth;’ may…
Read MoreMy Loneliness Led Me To God
Simply writing the title makes me feel over-exposed. Just now walking our dog, Hobbes, I found myself contemplating my lifetime need for God. I felt extremely lonely as a child. Hard to believe in a loving household of a family of five with pets living in a small tract house with a single bathroom, sharing…
Read MoreThe Adventist Church’s Denial Is Deadly For African LGBTI People
Last week, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law a bill that imposes 7-year-to-life sentences for same-sex intimacy, 7-year sentences for those who perform same-sex marriages, and 5-7 years in jail for people and NGOs accused of “promoting homosexuality” or seeking support through the internet or local religious ministers. Once dubbed the “Kill The Gays”…
Read More“If My Son Was A Murderer…”
Someone once told me, “If my son was a murderer, I’d still love him, but I wouldn’t love what he did. The same would go if he was gay—I would still love him, but I wouldn’t love what he does.” This statement is what started my journey as an outspoken ally, or as I like…
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