And the Thunder Rolls...

Laying abed listening to the early morning thunder rumbling, the steady booming waves of sound that are rattling my eyes open; I am struck by the thought, "Is this how some think the voice of God sounds?" And then my brain is off running down rabbit trails of thought about God(s) and those who follow.

I've often thought that organized religion has come to be a sanctuary, a seat of power for far too many who's intentions for the flock are less than altruistic. In fact I'd go so far as to say that given the history of the Christian church with its recorded truth of centuries of misdeeds that include the systematic subjugation of women and children, countless wars, torture, rape, murder, theft of property, etc. this must certainly be true. If one thinks about all of the harm committed against innocents by those in clerical garb it is easy to believe that these bastions of Christ have been regularly co-opted by self-serving sadists, pedophiles, serial killers, murderers, thieves, and war mongers blighting the true believers with their chicanery. Robed and garbed in their sanctimony they stand aloof from the suffering they've dealt, their prayers bloody utterances of doom to the unsuspecting believers reaching even beyond to those of other religious persuasions or non at all.

From these big thoughts there's another turn down the rabbit burrow leading to a smaller, select population of those whose lives have been made difficult by the bias propagated by the Christian church; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ). This group is the very last group of people that continues to be legally disenfranchised in the U.S. on the basis of religious beliefs. Our civil rights (those given by the government) continuously abridged by churches. Families, friends, employers, and many more swayed by purveyors of the "good book" standing in pulpits cherry picking the Bible as if it were an armory. With fervent exhortations these supposed people of God call on our loved ones to have faith in an unseen deity and to deny that which is tangible - the reality of our humanity and our suffering at their prayer laden hands.

Maybe it's the pouring rain, maybe the cumulative effects of the past week, but all I want to do is weep. I mourn for the countless members of this community who have been victims of one of the greatest weapons of mass destruction, the Bible. Disowned by their families, broken hearted, tortured in the hall ways of their schools, those who succumbed to addiction to self-medicate the pain, the terrified, the many who took their own lives, the many more beaten, abused and far too many murdered.

It all defies the concept of a loving God and his/her disciples. And yet, in my momentary despair I am reminded and thankful for those churches and people of faith who have rejected this holy war campaign against LGBTQ people. The many wonderful faithful who have embraced us, who tend our wounded hearts, who champion our rights. I am grateful for those churches who welcome the LGBTQ community in their midst, allowing them to remain connected to their faith. For me, Christianity stole my mother and my brothers from me for far too many years of my life. I have a hard time sitting in churches. But I don't feel that I am without spiritual comfort, my beliefs and spirituality simply do not rely on a church pew to sustain my soul.

 But even in that moment of joy the painful reality intrudes, we of the LGBTQ community are still so long from deliverance. Before this is done, there will be more bullies, more parental rejections, more suffering, more harm, more murders, more suicides all because there still remains the religious who campaign so ruthlessly, so relentlessly against our rights and it would seem, our very lives. And for the millionth time I wonder who is God really talking to? I wish I knew, but I can't say as the rumbling outside continues and there's no translation as the thunder rolls.

Could We Just be Civil About Civil Rights?

“Today I have seen those who claim to be Christ's followers proudly shroud themselves in a mantle of their own defined Christian bigotry believing it to be impenetrable to the mighty wheels of justice. And like all before us we will not rest until we are each and every one equal!” ~Romo~

LGBTQ people calling out those who fund efforts to keep us from civil rights and calling out the efforts to legalize the execution of LGBTQ in another country is NOT an attack on Christianity or free speech. But at the same time let’s be very clear. We are engaging in our own right to free speech and calling out the systemic bigotry that has dictated our lack of full access to protections and inclusion in civil right laws.

We are indeed discussing issues of civil rights in regard to access and retention of employment, housing, and access to public accommodations such as restaurants, doctors, hotels, theaters, etc. It is legal to deny us these things based on our sexual orientation or gender identity. And let’s not forget that there are over 1,138 rights granted by federal laws tied to marriage making this very plainly an issue of civil rights!

Christians in America are not being bullied and beaten up in their schools for their religion; they are not denied access to jobs, places to live, or stores based on their beliefs. They aren't savagely beaten and even murdered because of who they are. Christian youth aren't being thrown out of their homes by their parents. These young people aren't killing themselves in unprecedented numbers because no one accepts their sexual orientation or gender identity.

But this is what happens to LGBTQ people, every single day in America. And it is the mentality of those who commit these heinous acts that is very much supported by the donations of folks like this company's owner.

Church's and their members if they feel compelled to make laws can make all they want for their church. But when it comes to the civil rights of American tax payers all religions need to stay in their own house and deal with their own back yard. We don’t want to make laws for your churches, we don’t want to take away your right to worship as you choose, heck we don’t even want to force you to stop being homophobic. We don’t want to force your churches to marry us. But what we do ask, no what we INSIST on is that churches stop taking their belief systems into the halls of our legislatures codifying their beliefs into laws that oppress and disenfranchise other citizens.

The reality is that these same folks would be up in arms if another faith tried to dictate by law what rights they could and couldn’t have. This is no different.

The Bible so often the favored weapon of mass destruction has for centuries been used to rob people of wealth and property. It has been used to torture, wound, maim and even kill millions of people. It has been the basis of wars and more wars. It has been used to keep many other people from equality.  It wasn't that long ago that interpretation of it supported slavery and keeping women from equal rights.

The Bible has about 24 passages that clearly support the institution of slavery. But we clearly and rightfully do know that slavery is wrong! There are far less passages (6) about gay people. Yet good people, including the many who are heirs of the horrors of slavery rush to bash and condemn LGBTQ people with the very same book that was used to legitimize the enslavement of their own ancestors.

As a Mexican-American I get this treatment from many of my own and I am so perplexed at the historical amnesia of those who abuse me with their Bible. My ancestors had Christianity forced on them by Spanish priests while the people were enslaved to the Spaniards in Mexico. After they killed off millions of my ancestors they then brought 3-5 hundred thousand Africans to Mexico for slave labor along with hundreds of thousands of Asian-Pacific Islanders.

When our own people Latinos and African-Americans wave Bibles at us to keep us from equality they support those who forced this religion on their ancestors. Africans who were abducted and forcibly brought to this country were not Christians just as my Mexican ancestors were not.

I believe all should have the right and freedom to follow the religion of their choice.  I adamantly support the rights of churches to worship as they please. But I also believe that we all have the right to be free from religion, especially when it seeks to keep a complete

group of people from equality under the law of our Constitution and the 14^th Amendment. According to those documents, we already are equal under the law.

As for marriage, it has a long and convoluted history and it was more about wealth, property and borders. Women had little say in who or if they married and none on bearing children. It was not the romance based version we have today. Furthermore, all marriages are not tied to religious rites. There are civil marriages that require no religious oversight. Also, there are many churches who want to join same sex couples in matrimony.

Our marriages in no way affect straight ones. What has happened to families and straight marriage has nothing to do with us. Instead of all these folks spending millions upon millions of dollars to HURT LGBTQ people how much more like Christ’s teaching would it be to direct those funds to help families stay together with access to marriage counseling, affordable housing, affordable health care, affordable quality childcare and living wage jobs; the real things that cause marriages to struggle. Not LGBTQ people. 

A reminder. One more time. Say it with me. Civil rights are those given by our government. Not churches.

Just sayin....