Teaching Judgment and Dissonance over Love and Reconciliation ... Not Exactly What Jesus Would Do

Today I came upon an article that disturbed me to the point of actually wanting to speak out in vehement opposition.  I don't know why I find it so surprising, in fact it's really rather the norm to many on the ultra-conservative religious right, but it struck me as being so blatantly and insidiously unchristian that I cannot believe it goes unrecognized as such by so many.  The just of the piece had to do with statements made by Cardinal Raymond Burke about gay marriage and gay relationships and how Christians should not invite relatives for the holidays who are gay and in such circumstances , especially when there might be children around who shouldn't be exposed to such an "intrinsically disordered" life.  For anyone interested in reading the article for themselves, click here.  I cannot help but wonder if they ever thought about asking that age old question "what would Jesus do?" but I know they believe in their hearts and minds that they have it right and have figured out all the answers.  How sad it is to actually recommend rejection of an LGBT relative at any time, let alone around the holidays.  Having come out many years ago I can honestly say I have seen time and time again families who cut their children off and totally disown them just for being who they are.  I have had many a friend experience that fate and have seen how deeply wounded and lost they were just because they are gay or lesbian.  Is this really what Jesus would do?  I'm certainly no bible scholar but it seems to me Jesus displayed and taught tolerance and acceptance and commanded love above all else.  Maybe I have a different translation of the bible but I recall no one but Jesus being free from sin in any form, and I don't believe there is anyplace in those writings that gives us different levels of sin where one is worse or better than another, kind of like the initial color coded terrorist threat level where almost everything else is green but somehow being gay jumps right to red and is therefore so much worse than, say, not loving your neighbor or condemning the splinter in someone else's eye before recognizing or acknowledging the plank in your own.

I also have to wonder if these pious and pompous zealots realize, or have even stopped to consider, that their words have consequences.  People listen with eagerness to find justification and rationalization for their own hatred towards others who might be different from them.  Do they recognize that the person who bombs an abortion clinic or throws Molotov cocktails into a gay bar uses what they preach as confirmation and reinforcement of their own prejudice and bigotry?  It seems to me that anytime the Pharisees used the "law" to judge and condemn someone Jesus was the first person to correct them.  I wonder how that small fact escapes so many of today's religious leaders who spew hate and venom, granted some to greater and more blatant degree than others, but still yielding the same results.  I also have to ponder how this type of preaching and teaching that causes so many people to turn away from the church and from the love of God that comes without strings attached goes totally unrecognized by so many people who can't see it for what it is.  There's a reason the suicide rate within the LGBT community is so high, especially among youth who are struggling and coming to terms with their orientation and trying to find the love and acceptance they so desperately need and deserve.  I have to believe that someday these members of the religious right will be faced with the realization that they chased so many away from God rather than embracing all people and welcoming them into the journey of faith that Christianity is supposed to be, at least in my humble opinion.  I am fully aware that I fall short of the glory of God every hour of every day, but hasn't everyone?  What makes me and those like me so different from every other sinner that seeks a deeper understanding and relationship with God?  If families decided to not include sinners in general to their gatherings there wouldn't be any gatherings at all, but somehow this Cardinal suggests that it's OK to do so when it comes to those of us that are of a different sexual orientation.

To a great extent, this phenomenon is why I have developed my own idea of what family is for me.  It has nothing to do with blood relations or DNA.  It has everything to do with developing strong and unbreakable bonds with those who truly love and support me.  I have finally come to the place in my life that I have my own clan, mia familia, my source of unconditional love and acceptance, and it is out of this group that I see God and what I believe he had in mind for how people should treat one another.  Many members of my clan are also relatives, but many more are not genetically tied to me and our bond is no less strong than if they were.  I also have relatives that, by their own choices and actions, are not part of my clan and, as sad as that is, I know I'm a much better off without them in my life.  There's a great line delivered by Harvey Fierstein in Torch Song Trilogy where he tells his mother, who doesn't want to acknowledge his orientation, that if she wants to be part of his life he isn't going to edit out the parts she doesn't like.  I have gotten to the point that I feel the same way.  If you want to be part of my clan you must accept and love me for who I am.  You don't necessarily have to agree or approve, but love and acceptance are absolute musts, it's simply non-negotiable.  As I struggle with my own self acceptance and self esteem, I can't afford to be surrounded by anyone who can't or won't be on that journey with me in a positive and supportive way.  If you are a purveyor of judgment and dissonance, it really doesn't matter how big your church is or how many TV viewers you have, beat your chest in a display of piety all you want, it still comes down to living the life God intended and spreading the message of love and tolerance.  If you don't have or display those basic principles so clearly infused throughout the bible and stated exponentially more often than any single passage about homosexuality, of which there are but few, then you really aren't practicing the faith you claim to represent.