Thursday, November 17, 2005

When "truth" depends on a lie

E over at Paradoxy started his blog about the same time I did. I've quite enjoyed reading what he's had to say. Recently he's written about the lies that are told by conservative Christians in order to demonize gays and further the "the kingdom of God."

He writes:
It's very telling how the rallying of evangelical Christians into a voting bloc has, over time, led to a willingness to play fast and loose with the truth when doing so is perceived to be in the best interests of advancing God's kingdom. Why religious right spokespeople seem to think that God won't mind if His kingdom gets built on a foundation of lies is a question we're apparently not supposed to ask, but all the same it's a question that needs to be asked.

Read part 1 and part 2 of his series "Defending 'Truth' by Telling Lies." Good stuff.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 22, 2005 11:46 AM

    Hey, Christine --

    Puffpastry here, from LJ. I don't think I knew you were ever an ex-gay, or an ex-ex-gay. As I think I've mentioned, for most of my life I've been surrounded by gay friends almost exclusively. Among those, I have several friends who tried to not be gay -- my best girlfriend, Tin_Lizzy, among them. It makes me terribly sad, and disturbed, that we live in a culture that actually thinks changing one's sexual orientation is possible OR desirable...it makes me even more sad that people I love so much exactly as they are would begin to believe it. In two weeks I'm going to the wedding of a friend of mine who's getting married. He's a gay man. He's marrying a woman. Because he's Christian, and so is she, and he believes they're in love, and he believes they will be a perfect heterosexual couple. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. It's really hard to fathom being at that wedding....to fathom being supportive. I honestly don't want to go..but this is what he wants.

    There's an awesome solo performer/storyteller in Seattle named David Schmader who does journalistic one-man shows exploring social issues from an inside view, and he created a show called STRAIGHT -- about the gay conversion movement. It's really great, and you might like it -- here's a web link:
    http://www.stagedirect.com/straight/index.shtml

    All the best,
    Puff

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  2. Christine BakkeNovember 23, 2005 11:38 PM

    Puff darling...so glad you've found me here! Yes, I've quite a secret past, haven't I?

    I agree, I do find it sad when gay folks get married (to people of the opposite sex) as often they later feel trapped; not to mention what the other person feels like in such a marriage...and yes, you're right to go and support your friend, even if you don't agree.

    That show looks interesting - a lot like my friend Peterson's show, "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House.

    Thanks for stopping by - big hugs to you...

    AFB, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment! Glad you liked the blog...I like yours, too!

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  3. Michael CampDecember 30, 2005 4:25 PM

    Christine,

    As a former evangelical who used to "demonize" gays, my experience is that most conservative Christians are sincere about there belief about homosexuality being a sin. A long-standing tradition, bad Bible translations, and shoddy interpretation is to blame usually. People are misguided more than blatantly lying.

    Check out Mel White's story at www.soulforce.org. He stands up to people like Dobson (Focus on Family), but says they aren't the enemy, prejudice and terribly bad Biblical interpretation is.

    I will be writing more on this subject on my blog soon Deep Thought Pub

    Cheers,
    Michael

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