Evangelical, fundamentalist Christians -- by which I mean, specifically, Christians who believe that being gay is a moral abomination, an appalling affront to God -- talk to me, please, about this kid.
Tell me that your belief system didn't help put the hot tears on this kid's cheeks. Tell me that the bullies who torment this kid aren't in any way encouraged or empowered by your tacit approval of their actions. Tell me that the shame this kid feels about himself has nothing to do with the shame that you believe all gay people should feel for themselves.
Tell me that you can't comprehend the connection between your conviction that God finds homosexuals repulsive and the fact that this kid finds himself so repulsive that he habitually cuts his own flesh.
Tell me, please, how you love this kid. Tell me how you understand his pain. Tell me how when he cries, you cry.
Tell me how you want to do everything in your power to make sure that no one, ever again, feels free to in any way victimize a young, gay person.
A Christian myself, I am pleading with you to be honest with me about this.
Tell me, please, how none of this kid's anguish has anything to do with you.
I'm listening. I really am.
We all are.
Watch this, to its end:
Follow John Shore on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johnshore
James Peron: Open Letter to Jonah: You Have Thousands of Friends You Haven't Met Yet
As such, I would remind any fundamentalist (please don't call them evangelical because they just aren't) to consider the bullying that Jesus and his followers all around the world have experienced, and ask them whether the ever watching Jesus could possibly approve of their actions.
And my theology? Well, before you go on spouting your ad hominem Nancy Jo why don't you explain to me YOUR theology. If "God loves the world, but he hates sin," is so evil, tell me yours. I've said what I believe, you tell me what you believe. You've already demonstrated that you know nothing about Christianity, which means whatever you are going to say is nothing but your own opinion anyway. So If you can't, then you don't have a right to tell me that my conclusions about God or life are wrong.
Respect and love for others should not be conditional to a specific religious or social dogma. A person may reject my value system and choose to live in a way that I might find disagreeable. I may fear for that person's sanity or soul. However, that does not make him/her any less worthy of compassion, kindness and high regard. I believe how we treat others, and perhaps most especially those different from ourselves, should be the measure of a person.
Free of what?
Three revealing words in this phrase - "what we believe" - What you and your organization believes as truth - Religious truth that just plainly is not factual.
Children barely understand Christianity, even if their parents are Christians. They are bullies because it's unnatural to be homosexual. Not by my standards, by scientific standards. Most boys feel the urge to be with a girl/woman. When someone is different they get made fun of. It is completely wrong and hurtful but do NOT blame Christians. That's the exact same as blaming blacks for rape and murder.
As a Christian I sympathize for this boy and feel horrible he has been hurt by other kids.
Christianity is not about us, it is about GOD. We have no authority to say what is right and wrong or believe that we are entitled to goodness or mercy for doing whatever we want to do. No one, NO ONE deserves to go to heaven, it is by God's grace alone that we can be with him. If we believe for a second that we or anyone deserves something then they are wrong. We are sinners and he is the redeemer. We are all fallen and consumed by this world. His mercy and grace abound.
I am Christian also. But we seem to have very different Gods. I know a loving God, accepting of all who share their light with others.
I don't know a God who tells us to go burn the innocent with his light through bigoted judgement of lifestyle, race, color, or religion.
Make no mistake, jceasar11, your bigotry contributed to this!
Starts all mushy gushy, and then, as expected, devolves into "But I want them to stop being gay though... Being gay is a sin..." and on and on...
This is EXACTLY why the LGBT community gets bullied. The hate of religion knows no bounds. No matter how much one professes that they are not a bigoted Xtian, it's just not true! Religion allows and condones this hateful behavior. It even insists that you tell people how sinful they are for being gay. How does that help kids like Jonah? It's just disgusting the way the religious treat the LGBT community as less than human. That is not morality, love, or compassion. It is pure intolerance and hate.
They might when they ditch religion and get a moral compass.
Be yourself, respect yourself, and accept yourself. If you don't how can you expect anyone else to.
i will spare you my thoughts on Christianity. ( they are not pretty)
i'm a christian, and i am constantly saddened by the way the church treats the LGBT community. most christians are not reasonable or logical people, don't ask them to be. a lot of them gave that up when they were baptized. many are not ready to listen. but i think this video (and others like it), are starting to open the door. many are beginning to realize how hurtful their words and/or actions have been. Christians need to remember that whenever jesus was angry in then bible, it was at his own disciples for being humiliating idiots and the religious leaders of the day twisting God's word around. I always saw Jesus as a lover to society's unlovables, not a someone who discriminated. thank you for this article, i wish i had wrote it!