here’s an interesting story about a new way that evangelicals are attempting to convert homosexuals.
of course, that’s just my opinion of what they are trying to do.
here’s why i think that.
if you don’t want to bother clicking through to the story, here’s the topline summary. rick warren, who wrote “the purpose-driven life” which normally i would convert into a link to amazon.com but here i won’t for obvious reasons, is now saying that evangelicals have done an awful job when it comes to people with aids, that they were wrong when they kept telling everyone that it was god’s punishment for gays and we would burn in hell and all that, and that they should do a better job of ministering to these people.
true enough.
but they in they same breath are still asserting that the behavior is a sin. warren’s quote on the matter? “people ask me, is homosexuality evil? i say, it’s just not natural,” says warren.
what does that translate into for me?
i’ll tell you what.
in my opinion, it translates into let’s get the fags through the door of the church, get them hooked on that old-time religion, and then we can send them off to ex-gay retraining camp.
evangelicals always have an ulterior motive. it’s what their religion demands they have.
i’ve been giving the whole subject some thought recently. kirk and i have started going to church each sunday. it’s a really nice place–holy trinity episcopal church, a 5-minute walk from where we live. and the congregation is welcoming and non-judgmental, and the priest is a wonderful woman with a great sense of humor who is cynical enough to debunk the old testament nonsense when necessary, and inspired enough to make you appreciate and understand the things that really count. and i love the ceremony, and the knowledge that i’m part of a long tradition, and all that.
i’m just at the beginning of this journey, having not really gone to church very much since i was a kid, but i think i’ve found the right place. i haven’t thought much about all the details yet. i will start sometime, but in the meantime i’m easing into the organized religion thing, about which, as you can probably surmise by reading this post, i retain a healthy dose of skepticism. i’m in no hurry. i’m just enjoying the process and the ceremony for now.
one thing of which i am positive, though. there will never be any reparative efforts on my or anyone else’s behalf in the church i’ve chosen.
i’m afraid that not every church holds that view. though i’m pretty sure that, if warren and his ilk use this effort as a smokescreen for reparative therapy, god(dess) will hold a pretty dim view of them.