June 01, 2009
A prominent professor of Christian ethics says Christians should ask for forgiveness from gays and lesbians in his review of a new book chronicling the pain experienced by gay youths when religion is used to justify prejudice and discrimination.
In his review of furniture designer Mitchell Gold’s book Crisis, an anthology of stories recounting pain caused by growing up gay in America, Dr. David P. Gushee says Christians need to seek forgiveness from gays and lesbians.
“But after reading these stories, it seems to me that Christians have something to request from God, and from the gays and lesbians among us," he concludes. "We need forgiveness."
Gushee's review, “Church-based Hate,” appears in Tuesday’s edition of The Christian Century.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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Dr. Gushee writes:
"As an evangelical Christian whose career has been spent in the South, I must say I find it scandalous that the most physically and psychologically dangerous place to be (or even appear to be) gay or lesbian in America is in the most religiously conservative families, congregations and regions of this country. Most often these are Christian contexts. Many of the most disturbing stories in this volume come from the Bible Belt. This marks an appalling Christian moral failure.
"In contrast to the love and mercy that Jesus exemplified, Christian communities offer young lesbians and gays hate and rejection. Sometimes that rejection is declared directly from the pulpit. But even when church leaders attempt to be more careful, to "hate the sin but love the sinner" (as that hackneyed formulation has it), the love gets lost. Perhaps we need to focus on refining our ability to love; maybe we are not actually capable of compartmentalizing hate."
Dr. Gushee's full review is online at ...
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=7089
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