I originally planned for this post to come much, much later; frankly, I needed time to figure out how to phrase some of the stuff in it so as not to cause any unintentional problems for third parties. However, since my brother has contacted me and asked a question on what I believe re bigotry towards homosexuals, I’m going to answer him now. Since he asked the question I will presume anyone who knows him who reads the following will realize it’s not about him or his / our family.
…..
I know a good, dedicated church going family; father is a minister, one of the brood of sons is a minister. Good, decent, polite people.
Except…
The youngest son in the family is gay. Has been all his life (he’s middle aged now).
All his life this younger brother has been hounded by his family: Not viciously, not hatefully, but certainly relentlessly, remorselessly.
Why are you this way?
Why can’t you be straight?
Why do you insist on living a sinful lifestyle?
They have tormented the younger brother -- all the while calling it “love” -- his entire life…or rather, that part of his life when his sexual orientation has become known.
The family has done all the “right” things: They sent the son to a therapist, they sent him to reparative therapy, they tried to “pray the gay away”, the mother and father beat themselves up emotionally over their “failure” to raise their youngest son righteously.
I’ve talked to the middle brother about this, the one who is a minister. He feels sad and sorry for his younger brother. He talks about how his brother has rebelled against his family, “embraced the homosexual lifestyle”, and now expresses anger and resentment whenever his parents or other family members “lovingly minister unto him” by telling him he is a sinner doomed to hell.
Fuck that shit.
…and, yeah, I know that offends some people’s delicate sensibilities. Suck it up, buttercup; I’m one of those Christians who says “fuck” a lot…
…I’m coming back here after a break. I had really built up a head of steam and was hurling Bible verses around (years of mandatory attendance at Southern Baptist Vacation Bible School finally paid off!) but I realize it’s pointless.
What would Jesus do?
Would Jesus tell a sobbing little boy that, yes, his parents are right, he is a filthy little sinner, he is a pervert, he is a sodomite, he is a pansy (even if in their passive-aggressive “love” they never used those terms openly) and that it’s his fault if he can’t “pray the gay away”...
...or would he tell the parents, “For the love of me, stop picking on the kid! Just love him and accept him the same way I love and accept you”?