Open Letter: On the Justified Exodus from the Christian Church by Queer Individuals and Supporters
Like scores of others under the LGBTQ umbrella, I happily surround myself with individuals immersed in paganism, atheism, and all other manners of non- “christian” belief not out of a rejection of our creator, but because these are the people who treat me well solely because they want to. These are the people I can trust to love me honestly and unconditionally in grave contrast to legions of “Christians” who will even discard their own queer offspring in the pursuit of a divine carrot on a stick.
Like it or not, evil has indisputably infiltrated and poisoned the church, maliciously re-forging Christianity itself into a weapon to judge and persecute the innocent. Instead of taking to heart the core messages of Jesus Christ –to live lives defined by love and forgiveness, elevating the poor, the suffering and the outcast, millions are wrongly forced into lifetimes of fear and trauma as their oppressors rise to positions of great power. The oppression of queer people in the name of God has been an epidemic since at least 1946 and has grown into waves of rampant extreme violence and terrorism known far too well by most all surviving members of the LGBTQ community today. The current ongoing wave of violence in the US, targeted primarily at transgender individuals is continuing to rise by the day in the form of government sanctioned kidnapping and forced torture/de-transition of transgender children (especially in states like Texas), hundreds of anti-trans bills backed by the “religious right”, and outright battery and murder of visible trans people trying to partake in everyday activities. All of these cruel and violent actions are fueled by popular anti-trans sermons and confirmation by various church officials across multiple denominations that such individuals are inherently evil. Some churches and preachers even directly call for the execution of queer people and are cited by politicians across the world, including the United States.
As hard-fought societal progress is made and more and more queer outcasts finally crawl out of hiding, the hypocritical rejection of these people by vocal and belligerent “Christians” has become apparent to the multitudes as the majority in our country are finally coming to the awareness that we all in fact know and care about someone who is gay or trans or gender non-conforming. Those who come to this awareness with compassion are thus horrified to see the cruelty and hypocrisy exemplified by so many and church reputation and attendance across all denominations has understandably suffered as a result.
Futhermore, the fact that many Christians do live by the core values taught by Jesus Christ doesn’t heal the widespread damage faced by millions rejected from their churches, often coinciding with the deeply traumatizing implication of rejection by the divine creator themself, nor does it reverse the damage still ongoing today. As any queer person will passionately stress, being LGBTQ is an inherrant, unchangeable part of a person since birth. As the church is still the primary weapon used to humiliate, shame, oppress, and sometimes even kill such people over this unchangeable facet, the mass exodus of queer people (and many of their close friends and relatives) is therefore a justified act of preservation and/or restoration of one’s mental health. The fact that the majority of congregations remain in silent, selfish complicity of the ongoing harm and do little or nothing to substantially help or protect those who are suffering from the actions of the church may have already tarnished the reputation of Christianity far past the point of no return.
Despite being forced out of christian churches (either directly or in-directly) queer outcasts of christian families are likely to retain (or even enhance) core values and some religious beliefs, though the individual may be essentially left an adrift spiritual refugee. This could lead one to a tremendously wide variety of different paths depending on individual experiences and life lessons already learned through one’s own unique queer survival experience. Since all of our species can be theoretically traced to a single ancestor, all religions should likewise be traceable to a common origin. Therefore regardless of the path one is led to, all paths have the potential to eventually lead to the same source divinity. As such, passing dismissive judgment against any person over one’s religion is naive and foolish. Love and empathy and therefore good people can be found along any spiritual path, just as hate and cruelty and therefore evil can always take up residence on your own.
Many preachers and other Christian leaders act bewildered at the exodus of queer (and young) people from the church, especially regarding migration to other religions while the justifications are clear as air to so many who have experienced relentless hate and rejection in the name of God throughout their entire lives. Even if a particular congregation seems clear of this hate and rejection, the failure to understand why the outcast are justified in their departure is only further justification in itself for one to seek a better path for oneself. Just as Moses interceded for his people, changing the mind of God himself in Exodus 32:14, and just as Jesus interceded on behalf of his people, its time for Christian leaders today to let love and compassion guide their actions. Tremendous damage has been done, and continues to be done. But so far the Christian church as a whole has stood against the path of unconditional love and compassion and if that doesn’t change; If the church continues to turn away from its own core teachings then the church becomes its antithesis and rightly faces destruction.
-RunaMorgen
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