Gay Teen Suicides: People of Faith, Step Up for Our Youth!

In the matter of a few weeks, we have witnessed five suicides of young people because of anti-gay bullying or abuse. And these are only the ones we know of. Whose heart does not break at these horrifying events that have led to such miserable grief and death?

It's a very sad fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth are over twice as likely to commit suicide as their straight peers. This unnecessary violence marks an immense failing on the part of our society. We, as fellow human beings, and especially as people of faith, must end this loss of precious life and step up to the challenge to fully welcome and shelter all our children -- no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.

It grieves me to the depth of my being that my church struggles endlessly over LGBT "issues," and that we read Scripture as if there weren't real LGBT people desperate for comfort right now. I see how these struggles effectively strangle any clear voicing of what the church should be shouting from the rooftops, and what it should be sought out for: embracing the downtrodden and oppressed.

One of the Bible's best-known examples of how we are to embrace the downtrodden is in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells the story of one who is beaten by robbers and left by the side of the road. A priest and a Levite pass this man, but in the end, it is the Samaritan who takes pity on the man, bandages him, and pays for his food and shelter (Luke 10: 25-37).

Right now the church is like the priest and the Levite in this story, walking by the oppressed LGBT youth. This is marked by the fact that many Christian denominations, mine included, will fully recognize neither the ministry of those LGBT faithful who are called to serve nor the loving, committed relationships of their faithful LGBT congregants.

In Sunday school and church camp we show and tell eager eyes and ears that Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Our LGBT youth, especially those who are now struggling to find their way, need to see and hear that message, too. They must know that we are all precious in God's sight, and that there is no "but" in all. When we do not say this to our own LGBT sisters and brothers, we fail to say it to the world. We fail to stand with young LGBT people facing real oppression and abuse.

By these failures in love, and by calling our LGBT sisters and brothers in essence "unclean," the church persists in contributing to the thinking that leads people to cruelty, bullying, and abuse. And Scripture makes it very clear that such judgment on the part of the church is against God's wishes. As Peter learns, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane" (Acts 10: 15).

The truth is that we are each "fearfully and wonderfully made" in God's image (Psalm 139). With no exceptions. And God in Christ yearns with every fiber of God's being for the church to love. Period.

There is no waiting for the present generation to pass away. There is no waiting for somebody else to lead the way. Until we realize that LGBT people are the most beloved by God because they are the most downtrodden and abused among us, we will stink in the nostrils of God.

How on earth can we continue to witness our children bully each other and, in the most tragic of situations, take their own lives?

Scripture teaches me that the church is to be the suffering servant that God was in Christ. Christ's own tortured death was supposed to mark the end of this kind of human behavior. But attacks on innocents, like these over the past few weeks, did not end. So, we must have gotten that wrong. It will end when the church becomes the body of Christ envisioned in Scripture: the Samaritan who proved neighbor to the beaten and shunned, the suffering servant who embraces the sufferer.

If your heart breaks at the news of this month, if one of these could have been your child, if you see the senseless cruelty of these acts, then step up. Now is the time. Step up now.

 

Follow Rev. Dr. Janet Edwards on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RevJanetEdwards

Comments

[pynecastle]

01:12 AM on 10/14/2010

Guess what, Reverend - There are PLENTY of Samaritans out there. They are just not "people of faith". (christians). They don't claim to have a pipeline to a god, they are not obsessed by other people's "sins", and they have more true compassion in their little fingers than most christians have in their smug, self-righteous , blindly obedient vision of the world around them. They are not pinning their hopes on Heaven as a reward for all their suffering (they are strangely obsessed by suffering,too).They are concerned with the here and now.

[DevonTexas]

01:19 PM on 10/12/2010

It's particularly shameful that the opposition to providing anti-suicide information in the schools for GLTB kids should come from the religious community. They would rather have kids killing themselves than admit there are gay kids. There's a place reserved in Hell for those religious leaders.

[Mij13]

03:35 AM on 10/11/2010

Nice words, Rev. Edwards. Unfortunately, religion is not the answer, activism is. If religions spent as much time doing as they spend talking about problems like this, they might actually have some positive effect. Religion is part of the problem where LGBT issues are concerned.

[picostep]

10:23 PM on 10/10/2010

Dear all,

There are serious efforts by Catholics and Protestant to fight homophobia of their own churches.

http://www.allsaints-pas.org/about/major-life-events/

http://catholicsf­orequality.org/ (Catholics for Equality)

- pico

[Mij13]

03:36 AM on 10/11/2010

Yeah, and it's called "leaving the MFing church.

[Michele Somerville]

04:58 PM on 10/10/2010

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-somerville/catholic-church-homophobia_b_750254.html

[LintLass]

04:06 PM on 10/10/2010

While some homophobic Christians try to reverse the narrative, just this week: anti-gay torture.

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/17585/ny-seven-arrested-in-vicious-antigay-wolfpack-torture-session-in-the-bronx

[William D Simpson]

09:52 PM on 10/09/2010

The loss of a person’s life, so young, is very sad. But, amidst the outcry of the homosexual community for equality, and the media’s coverage of who is to blame, the real bully is left alone to wreak havoc upon those who have no idea of whom they were created to be. There is so much that can be said, that’s not being said, by the church, which has given the proponents of the homosexual lifestyle the unchallenged platform to deceive the youth of America.

http://wsimpson.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/who-is-the-real-bully/

[LintLass]

04:00 PM on 10/10/2010

How absolutely vile, Simpson.

[turfkiller]

05:18 PM on 10/10/2010

And to that you can add pregnancy. They clearly have no problem letting women die in dark places or pregnant teens commit suicide or run away. Like Pontius Pilot, they wash their hands of it saying: "It's God's Plan".

For them, it takes a truly 'brave' Christian to aim high and defend God against those evil and defenseless teenagers and women.

It's tough love with the tough part saved for the helpless and defenseless.

[Raphi]

01:01 AM on 10/12/2010

The argument is essentially that this writer has the ONE exact way religion must be done. No room for anyone else.

As if our entire country should be forced to conform to one very narrow sect based on this guy's personal interpretions. Which would exclude all of the mainline denominations, probably even most of the evangelicals, and obviously all non-Christians and non-religious people.

What would you do with those who believe differently? Those who don't believe at all? Conform or die was given up centuries ago. Fortunately, you don't get to decide. So you'd best learn to live with Americans who look, act, and believe in ways you don't like.

He doesn't bother to cite reliable sources or theologians. Most revealing, he doesn't mention Christ or Christianity at all! Maybe it's because of Christ's words on the subject. What did Christ have to say about homosexuality? Nothing.

What is not explained is that this virulent anti-gay language is lifted out of the Levitican code iof Hebrew Scriptures. However, the word translated into English as "abomination" is in Hebrew the same word used regarding eating shellfish or pork. Which I'd bet this writer does.

The word "sin" in New Testament Greek is harmartia. It simply means to miss the mark. Nothing heavy, no condemnation forever. The ugly condemnation that the writer above attempts to make certainly misses the mark.

[houstonobserver]

08:06 PM on 10/09/2010

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (Jn 13:35

As a Christian, that is the hardest saying of Jesus. Especially when he elaborates on this in the parable of the Sheep and Goats. (Matt 25:31-46), however, it is also one of the clearest, and every of my actions, or reactions to others, can be evaluated on those words.

[Lou77777]

07:15 PM on 10/09/2010

I don't know what God will say about this issue but I do know what was said. My God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. It is not my place to judge you, that is reserved to Jesus to judge the world on the last day.

Still it doesn't leave us in the dark about the problems of our society. To blame Christians for your plight is like saying the devil made me do it. While you may be disturbed by what we consider to be truth it does not change our position. I personally don't run around telling gays they are going to hell. I live in a very mixed community where a large percentage of our neighborhood is gay.

When prop 8 was about to be voted on someone put a sign up in my yard supporting gays and marriage. I was a little miffed but I just took it down and did nothing. I have neighbors who fly the rainbow flag. Whats with that? Are they advertising their inclinations in hopes of someone knocking on their door?

My wife and I don't mix with the community much but we do go to block parties twice a year. It is always interesting and you never know who will show up and often I don't recognize someone who gets all dolled up cross dressing. I really don't care about their reasons or life style. But I do get tired of hearing how they are mistreated and downtrodden.

[turfkiller]

05:27 PM on 10/10/2010

And there is little doubt about how you feel about pregnant teenagers especially if they are yourr. Love the fetus but hate the mother. Left up to you mothers will die again in dark places, by themselves or runaway as being the least painful alternative. Why are you more painful than suffering and death? Great religion you have there. With love like that, who needs a devil.

You've turned Jesus's commandment to suffer the children into make others suffer until death.

[Ioan Lightoller]

07:16 PM on 10/10/2010

It is exactly the hate of Christians that is causing this problem. You can't just believe, you have to find ways to let your hate be known. A Christian minister here in Arizona is calling for the execution of GLBT people. We have Christian-fueled drives in states such as Texas and Minnesota calling for the recriminalisation of homosexuality. We get tired of people like you voting our rights away. How DARE you think that you should have the right to affect the lives of those whose lives do not in the least affect you! How about we vote on YOUR rights? Wouldn't like that, would you"? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

[Justin Mill3r]

05:11 PM on 10/09/2010

I want to imagine a world where its just normal to be gay, where people arent killed, where they arent forced into a position that they would kill themselves, where schools do care about bullying, where there's nothing to hide. Why is that way of life so hard when its so easy?

[Ioan Lightoller]

07:17 PM on 10/10/2010

Fanned and faved. Because hatred is easier, believe it or not. It is easier to find a scapegoat for the problems we see in this world than to actually address the problems and work for a solution.

[KYZipster]

01:58 PM on 10/09/2010

I appreciate the article, change does come from within but I have to question if open minded people would be so patient with their churches if the issue was race, it would be an embarrassment to most people to be a member of an openly racist organization. There are choices out there for Christians, organized religions that fully embrace LGBT people as equal. Perhaps nothing will change until people reject bigotry absolutely and walk away.

[HopeisEternal]

01:52 AM on 10/09/2010

I had about given up on organized religion when I read the Quaker article on this page and some of the commentary. It seems to be a more "kinder, gentler"Christian belief system, more in keeping with the life of Jesus and also more aligned with eastern spiritual beliefs. The mainstream religions are, unfortunately, too caught up in the ego and less often in service to the soul which is genderless and not subject to the idea of separation.

[Weirdwriter]

06:33 PM on 10/09/2010

It really depends on the congregation's interpretation, if you speak of mainstream Christian denominations. Among Lutherans, for example, there are both ultra-conservative and very liberal branches. And there have always been traditionally more tolerant and progressive sects -- they have been active in peace and social justice groups in this country for a long time.

But they don't get much attention when their louder, ruder, more aggressive brethren are taking the media spotlight.

Sojourners: Christians for Justice & Peace, http://www.sojo.net/

[JDuck]

01:38 AM on 10/09/2010

Christians, you want to make it better? You want to help?

Then drop the whole homosexuality is a sin thing. Completely. Get rid of it and get over it.

Vote for gay marriage. Repeal DADT, drop DOMA.

If you will not, then keep your religion and your anti-gay paranoid religion to yourself.

Otherwise you have nothing to offer that is of any use.

[LintLass]

12:08 AM on 10/09/2010

Also,columnist, do you understand that the only thing about this rate of suicides is that someone *covered* it?

[LintLass]

11:48 PM on 10/08/2010

Understand, Madam? You talk like you're ahead of the curve if you grudgingly advocate 'Not being as mean to gay people so we can be more Christlike progressively in the future, even as we drive people and half a world to despair and death..... thinking the back and forth of politics and the world means it's OK if LGBT people suffer and suffer and suffer and 'bear our crosses' as abusive clergy who never had *any* intention of bucking the system said we should do so that we could be 'ashamed' so they could be 'proud' of their 'control' and call it 'God...'

No more time, lady.

We are the people who are alive when we deal with what's happening right now. And *Gods* willing these churches you've defended have some resources, cause.. 'I gaybashed, by Christ!' won't help much.

Soon.