Kristen Becker.
“You Are Doing Jesus Wrong.”
May 7, 2014
© Kristen Becker.
Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
As of late I have spent a lot of time talking about LGBTQ issues. Mostly because “I are one.” When you discuss LGBTQ issues in the south, it lends to a lot of talk about religion. Which is odd to me, since personally I have no interest in messing with anyone’s beliefs. Beliefs are like dreams to me. I think everyone should have them, and have the right to commit their whole life to said dreams/beliefs. Whether it is having children or telling jokes. I am one of those gays who is thankful for the option of gay “marriage” in some states, but has enough libertarian in me that I would be ok with calling my legally binding commitment a “civil union.” That is, of course, as long as every straight couple that was married by a Justice of the Peace was also called a Civil Union. Organized religion has managed to imply some religious influence in the case of judicial commitment ceremonies by calling them “Marriages.” As we evolve as humans and our knowledge of the planet, science and religion expands, it makes sense to revisit some of these ideas, doesn’t it? We do that with almost every other facet of society. We adapt, and progress. For instance, we don’t smoke in closed cars with children in them anymore. Often those children are now in seat belts, too! That, my friend, is called learning and adapting. With any wave of growth and knowledge, sometimes we go overboard, this is the pendulum. Sometimes you have to go far right and then far right, and hope you balance out in the middle. I digress.
Since my return to Louisiana, my pendulum is has admittedly been all over the place. It is interesting to return to a place you grew up. Just like anyone else, old teenage things crept back in. The other day, I debated for 30 minutes if I should wear a tie. Me. If I should wear a tie. A piece of material around my neck, stopped me dead in my tracks. “What will people think? ” I thought. WTF? I have a tour called Dykes of Hazard, what people think is usually the last thing I care about, honestly. Then I remembered. This is my pendulum, just give it a minute, it will even out. Since then I have managed to look as gay as I want (which really just means dressing like me) without second guessing myself. But man, did that oppression have a hold on me. It was Pavlovian, honestly. The minute I started saying “yes ma’am” I also started thinking, “be careful being you.”
The last few days I have been thinking about the transformation I was able to make. The chance I had to come into my own, simply by living elsewhere. Living somewhere that said I had value. You realize that is what it means when you don’t have rights, don’t you? It means that your society says you have no value. That your thoughts and opinions are less than. It isn’t something everyone realizes. It took me acquiring those rights, to realize I had missed them while they were gone. The other thing to understand about me, is that I grew up white and upper middle class in the south. What I’m saying is I was one penis away from all the privilege. It is quite a transition to make. I went to Loyola College Preparatory school, dammit. I was educated by the finest folks in the city. My friends parents were very important people, Dammit! Did I mention I was blonde??? I was an accomplished softball player (read: a big deal in the south) I was skiing on a wave of entitlement, on privilege beach. Till that one night I got drunk with my best friend, and we made out. Poof. Privilege bubble officially busted. Losing privilege is the worst, guys.
There are details and stories I could tell for days, but that isn’t the point of this. The point is, we all grow and adapt and do the best we can with life’s situations. Change Happens. Sometimes overnight, sometimes it takes years. My biggest problem with people who use religion to justify making people feel less than, is the argument that the “Bible” is law of the land. That a book written however many hundreds of years ago is applicable today. That we must take this book and apply it to our daily lives. What? How does that even make sense? Even by Christian logic, it doesn’t compute. Allow me to explain, using the beliefs of those who live the bible word for word. This is not where I come up with quotes about stonings for wearing two different types of materials, or any other of the Bible verses “Christians” often conveniently “forget,” lest they lose their privilege. Again, I digress.
The Bible was written a long time ago. If you believe in creationism, that the hand of God created everything on this earth, and you believe that the Bible is the teachings of your God, written by men as a guide to our life, I am talking to you right now. Do you remember the part about Free Will? if you have children, do you live to control all of their actions? If God created us, and we are his children, why do you think it would be any different? You believe God created all man / woman. Creating someone doesn’t equal controlling someone. That means he made me too. By giving me Free Will (a pretty big deal in the Bible, BTW) I am allowed to make the choices and adapt as I see fit.
By implying that you need to change / correct / save anyone is in defiance of the free will given to me by your Lord. You are contradicting Him. Worse than that you, silly, tiny, human are crediting a level of omnipotence to yourself. You are acting as though you know all. As though you know better than another of Gods children, and more importantly, than God himself. You are making an idol of yourself. A sin much greater than love, this i know for sure. Honestly, the more you try to convert me the more i can see that you do not trust your Lord. You question what he created. Thou doth protest too much. I don’t know much about real estate in Heaven, but I imagine as more people die, there becomes less and less of it. Be careful, all of these “sinners” on earth who are practicing love might end up in your spot at Heaven’s privilege beach.
Text prepared by:
- Bruce R. Magee
Source
Becker, Kristen. “You Are Doing Jesus Wrong.” Kristen Becker. 7 May 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. <http:// kristenbecker. com/ 2014/05/07/ jesus-wrong/>. © Kristen Becker. Used by permission. All rights reserved.