One of the things that struck me about this film was how the filmmakers (some who are themselves gay as we learned during the question and answer time following the screening) portrayed the motives and stories of the conservative Christians who lead the ex-gay ministry with tenderness and grace. Is it possible that many in the gay community are more gracious in their understanding of Evangelical Christians than we are towards them?
Even more striking were the numerous men in the theatre who wept during the most poignant moments of the film, usually when the men in the 12-step program described the pain and brokenness in their pasts. How well, I wondered when leaving the theatre, is the church prepared to really understand this type of brokenness and this amount of pain? And how willing are we to acknowledge our own role in much of that painful memory?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Is the Church Equipped?
David Swanson, writing for the Out of Ur blog reports on seeing a movie at the Sundance Film Festival about homosexual men in Christian deliverance programs. He says,
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This is a tough issue that the Christian right has handled quite poorly. The Christian right has essentially made "the gay agenda" a target for many of the evils of this world, with an apparent negation of the fact that gossip, slander, greed, gluttony are all equal sins that separate us from God.
I have a good friend who was raised in a very conservative denomination, worked for the church, and was married for 25 years, despite having desires for men. He eventually revealed these desires to his wife and expressed his wish to stay married. She rejected him outright and filed for divorce.
Now which is the greater sin, ignoring the command to remain married for better or worse, or to "be gay?"
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