Unleashing the Fear in a Storm of Religious Bullies

Unveiling the gift of love that lies within us all, during the mist of a storm, has helped many regain their strength and rebuild their courage. Yet for many Christian’s who are still struggling to gain clarity on what is ethical when faced with the issue of homosexuality, New Hampshire’s first and only, openly gay Bishop, Gene Robinson, suggests, “Gays try to whether the storm of religious ignorance, and help usher in a new awakening in the age of Christian intolerance to embrace those they have been conditioned to hate.”

For Bishop Robinson, the battle to educate a once unwelcoming congregation has become a way of living and a way of expressing the love he has found in the growth of spiritual awareness. Yet for other gay men and women, standing up and expressing the need for religious tolerance is not as easy. In an era when time seems so uncertain, the church is one place where most people turn to for guidance and inner strength. However, it is unfortunate; the church has become the last place many gay men and women turn to for guidance or spiritual rejuvenation.

As an openly gay man myself, I have always found comfort attending Sunday morning service. Albeit I have not had the challenge of being faced with a church that is intolerant of my openly gay persona, I am very much aware of congregations that preach homosexuality as an abomination and blatant slap in the face to our divine creator. Hence, I often question how people derive at such conclusion, especially since the bible teaches our God as a God of love. Even more, how could such a loving God hate something or someone he created?

Surely the verses conveyed in Leviticus 20 and Romans 1 have been the catalyst for much confusion within the church, when it comes to discussing homosexuality. Yet when I began researching the scriptures and comparing one revised edition to another, I found it strange that not every bible reads that homosexuality is an abomination. Moreover, I was taken aback to discover that homosexuality was not even a part of the English speaking language until 1975, when it was implemented into the Oxford English Dictionary, and then added to the bible in 1980.