{"id":97472,"date":"2015-03-16T13:45:57","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T18:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=97472"},"modified":"2015-03-23T15:36:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T20:36:55","slug":"an-open-letter-to-angry-christians-against-gay-persons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/an-open-letter-to-angry-christians-against-gay-persons\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Angry Christians Against Gay Persons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Reader,<\/p>\n

Before I begin, let me start off by explaining what this letter\u00a0is NOT:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It is not meant to be a theology lesson. (For info on the Catholic church’s teaching on gay “marriage”, look here<\/a>\u00a0and here<\/a>.)<\/li>\n
  2. It\u00a0is not about the politics around being gay\u00a0in the US.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This letter is\u00a0simply a reminder that we are all humans. All of us.<\/p>\n

    “Well, duh,” you might say. This seems to be an obvious statement, as it should be.<\/p>\n

    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:<\/p>\n

    That we’re all human. But what does that mean, exactly?<\/p>\n

    It means that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n

    We are people first. And because we are people, we ALL deserve the following:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Respect.<\/li>\n
    2. Dignity.<\/li>\n
    3. Love.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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

      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?<\/p>\n

      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?<\/p>\n

      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.<\/p>\n

      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:\u00a0Desire of the Everlasting Hills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      For more support on this issue, visit Courage:\u00a0http:\/\/couragerc.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      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<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"Pope

      Photo taken by yours truly. Fall 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

      UPDATE: Please read Addendum: “An Open Letter to Angry Christians Against Gay Persons<\/a>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Dear Reader, Before I begin, let me start off by explaining what this letter\u00a0is NOT: It is not meant to be a theology lesson. (For info on the Catholic church’s teaching on gay “marriage”, look here\u00a0and here.) It\u00a0is not about the politics around being gay\u00a0in the US. This letter is\u00a0simply a reminder that we are… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,90,89,88,91],"tags":[162,2724,203,193,81],"class_list":["post-97472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","category-faith-blog","category-family","category-marriage-blog","category-young-adult","tag-forgiveness","tag-gay-marriage","tag-homosexuality","tag-love","tag-marriage","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":98659,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/addendum-an-open-letter-to-angry-christians-against-gay-persons\/","url_meta":{"origin":97472,"position":0},"title":"Addendum: “An Open Letter to Angry Christians Against Gay Persons”","author":"Britt Echtenkamp","date":"March 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I owe my readers an apology and some clarification. My last post is\u00a0in need of expounding - I would blame the whole working-mom-no-sleep thing, but that's just an excuse. The truth is I've got a lot to learn as both a writer and Catholic, and I am blessed to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26726,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/why-i-believe-in-gay-equality\/","url_meta":{"origin":97472,"position":1},"title":"Why I Believe in Gay Equality","author":"David Casper","date":"December 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"First things first: I apologize for my extended hiatus from posting blogs. Let's just say a lot of very significant and life-changing things happened to me one after another. Second things second: I'd like to return to my regularly scheduled programming by speaking about a rather snaggly issue in our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Obama-facepalm-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67834,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/called-love-review-gay-catholic\/","url_meta":{"origin":97472,"position":2},"title":"Called to Love (Review: Gay & Catholic)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"December 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If not for my particular faith journey, I might never have read this book. I started going to church at the age many people first stop. Campus ministry is how I met Gabriel, who blogs at Mudblood Catholic. His writing is highly philosophical and remarkably eloquent. I enjoy his writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"black and white photo of woman holding suitcase","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/public-domain-images-free-stock-photos-black-white-vintage-suitcase-girl-railroadtracks-walking-1-285x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16254,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/05\/marriage-saltwater\/","url_meta":{"origin":97472,"position":3},"title":"Marriage & Saltwater","author":"Casey Truelove","date":"May 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Catholics believe that it is impossible for people of the same sex to marry each other. This particular Church teaching is one of the most often attacked from without (and, unfortunately, dissented from within). In order to better understand this doctrine, I would like to focus on one particular aspect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Column"","block_context":{"text":"Column","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/column\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Salt-Water-01-630x206.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":29064,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/12\/two-guys-a-girl-and-a-catholic-podcast-episode-77-ikea-monkey\/","url_meta":{"origin":97472,"position":4},"title":"Two Guys a Girl and a Catholic Podcast Episode 77: Ikea Monkey","author":"2GGCP","date":"December 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Episode 77 [powerpress] Current Events: Supreme Court to take up gay marriage...revisiting George Weigel\u2019s article http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/right-turn\/wp\/2012\/12\/09\/the-supreme-court-takes-on-gay-marriage http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/onthesquare\/2012\/11\/the-crisis-of-a-second-obama-administration http:\/\/canonlawblog.wordpress.com\/2012\/11\/14\/some-first-thoughts-on-weigels-call-to-reconsider-civil-consequences-for-catholic-weddings\/ North Carolina Barred from using \u201cChoose Life\u201d license plate http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/north-carolina-barred-issuing-choose-life-license-plates-184735990.html Critics wary of Catholic teaching hospital for new UT medical school http:\/\/www.statesman.com\/news\/news\/local\/plan-for-public-medical-school-catholic-teaching-h\/nTQZk\/ Church News: \u00a0 ACNM Q4 Meetup Tuesday, December 18, 2012\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Two Guys, a Girl and a Catholic Podcast"","block_context":{"text":"Two Guys, a Girl and a Catholic Podcast","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/2guysagirl\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/2GGCP-LOGO2-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3695,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/08\/everyone-has-a-right-to-homosexuality-the-catholic-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97472,"position":5},"title":"Everyone has a Right to… : Homosexuality & the Catholic Church","author":"Rita Suva","date":"August 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cUnfortunately, in our efforts to teach the wrongness of homosexual acts, at times all that has been \u2018heard\u2019 is the sound of condemnation and rejection. What is missed, then, what is not heard, is the Church\u2019s teaching that people with a homosexual orientation, like everyone else, are created in God\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/castroville-cross.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}