An Open Letter to Angry Christians Against Gay Persons

Dear Reader,

Before I begin, let me start off by explaining what this letter is NOT:

It is not meant to be a theology lesson. (For info on the Catholic church’s teaching on gay “marriage”, look here and here.)
It is not about the politics around being gay in the US.

This letter is simply a reminder that we are all humans. All of us.

“Well, duh,” you might say. This seems to be an obvious statement, as it should be.

Unfortunately, some Christians have reacted with ill-will and even hate towards those with same-sex attraction. It has created division among groups that shouldn’t be divided. It has led many of us to forget what we all should know:

That we’re all human. But what does that mean, exactly?

It means that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. It means that we are more than just our sexuality. We are more than heterosexual or homosexual or bisexual. Some of us get so caught up in pushing our beliefs and agendas that we lose sight of the obvious. We look at people who are dynamic, 3-dimensional, and God-made, and pare them down until they’re nothing but their opinions or sexual preferences. We lose the person behind the politics.

We are people first. And because we are people, we ALL deserve the following:

Respect.
Dignity.
Love.

Now, don’t get me wrong; our sexuality is a very important part of who we are as humans. But it’s not all of it, and it certainly should not cause us to hate another human, or make them feel unwelcome anywhere, especially at church.

Did you know that many people who identify as homosexual feel unwelcome next to you in the pew? Did you know they see your anger and hate and think the Church hates them, too?

We must remember that we are all welcome – the Church is for everyone, no exceptions. We must remember that Jesus bought all of us for a price. He died for ALL of us. Who are we to behave in such a way that we keep our brothers and sisters from His love?

Please know that I love you and I, too struggle with loving as God loves. I don’t want to judge you or ridicule you for your faults, just as I don’t want you to ridicule mine. I simply want to remind you of our mission to love one another as God loves.

Finally, let’s end on this note: Jesus died out of love for us, and rose 3 days later, conquering sin and death in his wake. He loves each of us – regardless of sexual orientation – as if there were only one of us. If you haven’t seen this short documentary already, please take a moment to watch it: Desire of the Everlasting Hills.

For more support on this issue, visit Courage: http://couragerc.org/.

If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him? … The problem is not having this tendency, no, we must be brothers and sisters to one another. The problem is in making a lobby of this tendency: a lobby of misers, a lobby of politicians, a lobby of masons, so many lobbies. – Pope Francis