A series of articles by Robert Buchanan, D.Min., on gay prejudice and
Christianity in order to challenge the church and help provide for the
spiritual needs of sexual minorities
Please bookmark this page and come back.
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A series of articles by Robert Buchanan, D.Min., on gay prejudice and
Christianity in order to challenge the church and help provide for the
spiritual needs of sexual minorities
Please bookmark this page and come back.
|
|
|
Trickle Down Prejudice
Will the United States Government now institutionalize religious prejudice
against gays and lesbians? It looks like George Bush wants to make this
happen. The President is pushing his “charitable choice” program to allow
additional federal funding of social programs run by religious groups. It is
a scary mix of church and state when it comes to treatment of gays and
lesbians.
Some more conservative church groups have not supported the plan until lately due to fear that the government will require them to accept queers. You see, many local areas and states have anti-discrimination laws that will not allow groups who receive public money to discriminate. These laws protect often gays and lesbians. George Bush is now pushing inclusion of a plan to exempt those faith-based groups who receive government money if they discriminate against gays and lesbians. I don’t know how many classes of people Mr. Bush would discriminate against if he had the courage to do so, but I guess he feels safe espousing bias and prejudice against sexual minorities.
He wants to
send a message that the federal government supports prejudice against queers.
I wonder if he knows that some will take this to mean it is ok to verbally
harass others because of who they are attracted to. Does he understand that
this kind of message will “trickle down” as more hatred and violence against
those who are different than the majority of the population? I should leave
the question of what the President understands to others. But I know he will
have to account for what he does.
The ancient
prophet Isaiah warned unjust leaders that god would avenge the cause of the
oppressed and least powerful of society (Isaiah 10). Perhaps Mr. Bush should
take heed. Jesus taught that what is done to the lowest members of society is
done as if unto Christ. Would Mr. Bush support bias against Jesus? I would
argue that he already has.
Christianity
has not always supported prejudice against sexual minorities. Paul wrote in
the first century, There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave
or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ
Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) It wasn’t until the fourteenth century that the church
defined homosexuality as sin. Before that many queer people served the church
faithfully and were canonized as Saints. I pray that the trend away from
prejudice is growing in the church, and in some places it is. It was secular
influences and government that caused the church to become prejudiced toward
gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the Middle Ages. It looks like very little
has changed since then.
The hope for
change comes when people of faith speak up to the oppressor and cry “no more.”
Change will happen as the genuine Christian virtues of love; mercy, justice,
and equality are elevated to real importance in the lives of those who
proclaim the Name of Christ. Change will come as people begin to see that
queers are not the enemy. The church is not threatened by homosexuals, but is
and has always been enriched because gay people are also a people of faith.
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Robert Buchanan is a minister of the Ecumenical Catholic Church and a psychotherapist who lives with his partner of many years in Durham North Carolina. He is the author of Love, Honor & Respect: How to Confront Homosexual Bias in Christian Culture and serves as director of the Institute for Inclusive Christianity. a training program for ministers and clergy who do not discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or because of financial, familial or social status. Additional resources for inclusive Christians can be found at our Resources page.
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