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{by Shokti Lovestar}
The story of gay liberation is a story of love – that could ultimately lead to a REVOLUTION in human relationships and society – as freedom to love, freedom from fear and freedom of self expression becomes the right for all people on planet Earth.
For over four decades in the UK, gay relationships have had space and permission to grow and flourish. The first changes in the legal system dealt with sexual activity, and were based on a desire to halt blackmail and corruption as much as any principle of liberty and equality. In the UK, the 1967 Act that decriminalised sexual contact between two men in private was the starting point for an out and proud movement of gay liberation. Gay Pride marches, political campaigns and gradually increasing social acceptance of gay people have led to an improving situation for people of all sexualities, with equal marriage the latest manifestation of this. With the introduction of civil partnerships a few years ago, legislation entered the area of recognition of our love for each other, moving on from laws around our sexual activity, which had remained archaic and unequal for a long time after 1967. The movement spreading through western democracies to allow civil marriage on equal terms to heterosexuals is another stage towards love taking a place at the centre of human life, and is flushing out into the open the remaining prejudice, fear and ignorance around sexuality that exists in our societies.
The place of queer people in society is changing, but it has been a very long time coming. Centuries ago Michelangelo penned this verse:
“And if the vulgar and malignant crowd
misunderstand the love with which we’re blessed,
its worth is not affected in the least
our faith and honest love can still feel proud.”
"The first sermon in which I included gay people by name among “the least of these” for whom Jesus cared, my text was the story from Acts of Paul and Silas in prison. An earthquake frees them, and the jail keeper prepares to take his own life, thinking they have escaped. But Paul shouts out, “Do not be afraid, for we are all here.” That was my sermon title, and I explained that despite their liberation, they take time to convert the jail keeper, recognizing he too is imprisoned."
~ CHRIS GLASER, http://chrisglaser.blogspot.com/2012/08/spiritual-care-for-liberated.html
Paulo Freire, writing in Pedagogy of the Oppressed: “Although the situation of oppression is a dehumanized and dehumanizing totality affecting both the oppressors and those whom they oppress, it is the latter who must, from their stifled humanity, wage for both the struggle for a fuller humanity; the oppressor, who is himself dehumanized because he dehumanizes others, is unable to lead this struggle.”
{by Rev. Paul M. Turner, Gentle Spirit Christian Church of Atlanta}
Sometimes one of the toughest parts of the job of being a pastor and to be considered a community leader is offering counsel to the community that is divided.
Recently Georgia's LGBTQIA community was faced with a deep and sharp divide.
February 4, 2012, a young gay man was savagely beaten as he came out of a store in his neighborhood. This young man, Brandon White, became an instant poster child for a hate crime law in Georgia because the idiots who felt they had the right to beat him filmed it and, well, the rest is history.
On February 8, 2012 CNN reporter Moni Basu wrote the following about the crime:
“A video circulated online shows three men punching and kicking White after he stepped out of the JVC Grocery and Deli in southwest Atlanta's Pittsburgh neighborhood. The men, believed to be members of a gang called Jack City, yelled: "No faggots in Jack City."
{by Rev. Paul M. Turner, Gentle Spirit Christian Church of Atlanta}
This is supposed to be a blog, but today suffice it to say it is also a bit of a rant. Is it me or does it seem like the divide and discourse in this country and our community is as bad as it has ever been?
I know it is an election year, but this divide has been getting steadily worse since the beginning of the POTUS term and with every step forward the LGBTQIA makes.
The mess going on in Washington...and the awful things they are saying about and to each other, the news media behaving like vultures and people maneuvering for positions to be called a hero.
We watch with embarrassment the political fighting which stands in the way of making sure the folks of our country are protected, secure and safe...did you know our country has not had an official budget for 3 years!
How either of the leaders from the US House or Senate can stand in front of cameras and speak with any kind of authority is beyond me…the approval rating in congress in at 9% the last I looked.
The leaders from the religious right pretend to be good and loving and kind Christian folk, yet when one tries to work with them to find common ground one quickly finds there is no such thing.
If one does not accept their brand of theology it gets pretty ugly quick!
Of course in our own LGBTQIA community all one needs to do is look southwest of North Avenue or walk down Ponce de Leon and the divides in our community are evident. Funny it is not much different from other leadership, because our leadership has done precious little to make the divides less divisive.
Well, we are nine days away from what Christians have come to call Christmas. I find it hard to understand and almost laughable at how twisted and screwed up this “church” celebration of it’s founder has become.
I want to share this obvious observation: Even if there were some remote chance I could become pope…they would never let me. The reason is simple and it is not because of my progressive views of Christian theology, or the fact that I am unapologetically gay or even the fact that I do not believe the bible is the inerrant word of God.
Nope, it is because I believe December 25th is one of the biggest scams ever pulled on humanity.
Those who are pastors know that what I am suggesting is very true. Y’all went to seminary and know that saying Jesus was born on December 25th is like saying there is a real living breathing Santa Claus. Of course this is but one of many transparent lies and traditions that are based on fiction rather then fact.
We have kind of a “Wag the Dog” scenario. You remember the movie: The story of a US President running for office and before elections, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to "fabricate" a war in order to cover-up a presidential sex scandal.
I think the first time I heard this Christmas script of a “war on Christmas” was from Bill O’Reilly. What has now become the ultimate fundraiser of those on the “Christian and political right”: “The War on Christmas” is fought for the entire 12 weeks leading to December 25th. Do you say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”? Legal fights jam our courts over these phrases or worse when a nativity scene gets set up. Conservative Christian websites fire up the war by warning their readers and members that “Christmas is about to be stolen from them so send us money to protect you!”
However if you really think about it, this so-called “War on Christmas” is simply a ridiculous marketing idea that fits our arrogance, selfishness and greed to a “t”. Read me clearly here: the conservatives, fundamentalists, liberals and progressives have all bought into a huge marketing adventure of “wag the dog”.
For the Christmas season, which begins long before the 1st Sunday in Advent, actually right after Halloween, we are subjected to twelve weeks of Christmas messages that have little to do with or about our Christian faith. In fact, most of the preparations and so-called traditions have been borrowed or should I say stolen from pagan practices! Although many marketing people cleverly package their presentations in the form of a cute little baby in a cute well-manicured and warm manger scene.
People begin making plans for family gatherings and the perfect gift to make the perfect statement of love or impression. This is all destroyed when Johnny announces he is bringing Tom home for Christmas or Susie tells the family she will be spending this holiday with Tammy and her family.
Money, jobs, friends, illness, those dying, families, the homeless, starving children, criminals of all kinds and political games all become the all consuming thing that will happen in that particular year or in a lifetime coming up to December 25th.
Starting with Thanksgiving and through Christmas day every story has a Christmas slant meant to make one feel guilty, or believe it is possible for one day if enough money is spent, to be a day of perfect perfection.
Almost every retail business, in America anyway, is geared to this time as making or breaking them for the entire year.
Legislation, which is vital to so many people’s lives, is either held hostage or used as extortion leading to December 25th.
Also, starting with Thanksgiving our food consumption just simple goes off the charts, eating far too much of everything and especially the wrong things. Alcohol consumption also goes off the charts but hey, you got to drink something with all that food.
The normal everyday challenges of life become a crisis of faith because “tis the season”.
People’s social and pageant schedules become so jammed there is no time to take a breath or enjoy a quiet moment of peace and wonderment at God’s creativity in this world in which we live.
We are pushed to acts of kindness because it is the Christmas season, rather than it is the right and just thing to do.
I could go on and on but you get the point.
Now for those who have at this point decided I am some sort of Scrooge or Grinch that stole Christmas, be patient and give me a few more sentences.
When I was young my Grandfather told me the reason one should not lie is because once you tell a lie, you have to tell another lie to cover the first and another to cover the 2nd and pretty soon you are just having to lie all the time because you have lost track of the truth and you can’t remember what you said and to whom.
We have been told and believe so many lies concerning Christmas that we have almost completely lost why this particular birthday is important, why we celebrate a life which in thirty-three years (a couple years more or less) had such an impact as to change the very course of human events.
In all the perfection we strive for in the holiday season, we forget this birth was anything but neat, clean and glamorous. We forget or by cheesy tradition, explain away that this child was conceived out of wedlock, borne in abject poverty and grew up in a world that was most certainly as dangerous to human life as it is today. We forget or don’t talk about how the gossips of the day must have had a field day both inside the temple and outside.
We jump past the truth of this story which tells us that no matter how bad things are or get God can raise us up out of the ashes of despair to a place with the Creator.
We forget this is a birth that gave us a moral compass for living a life that would be pleasing to the God who created us because it leads to a life of doing justice, acting mercifully and walking humbly with God.
When we first bought the lie of December 25th, it became easier to buy the other lies. In fact the Christian and political right’s fear of Christmas being stolen while a lie itself was a self-fulfilling prophecy. For you see, I don’t think we have to worry about Christmas being stolen…it already has been stolen and replaced with the craziness that we call the “Holiday Season”.
It is the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was born that we celebrate. The truth of the date is somewhere between April and August depending on whose math you believed. About the only thing certain about the date is it was not the 25th of December. The story of the circumstances of his conception and birth give us real hope that it gets better. Jesus’ life and work gives us a working model and road map for our life. His life is indeed one we can look up to and not be disappointed in what we see. His arrest, faulty conviction and the administration of capital punishment followed by a resurrection give those us who call ourselves followers of “The Christ”, the assurance that nothing in this world including death of the physical body can keep us from God.
Maybe the date we celebrate the birth in the wider view is not as important as getting back to why we remember this birth like no other birth in history.
So it is with the spirit of being authentic in our celebration I ask us to consider how our “Christmas” celebration this year will measure up to the words attributed to the one we celebrate, we remember, we strive to be like:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Creator in heaven. Matthew 5:3-16 (New International Version, ©2010)
It seems to me that December 25th is as good as any day to get back to the authentic reason for giving honor to the birth of the one called Jesus. So to those who have bought into the “Wag the Dog” scenario of Christmas, how about we just get back to basics and let people enjoy the season in peace?
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