Are Gays Included in the Easter Message?

Easter approaches with its egg hunts and colorful dress and the festivities of people celebrating bunnies and cashing in their Easter coupons on online shopping and at the mall.

Holy Week is here too with its shadows of darkness, its Last Supper where cowardice and betrayal transcend devotion and trust. The disciples never really understood what Jesus had in mind. Many of them still don’t.

I often worry that all of his teachings on kindness and generosity and love remain on the Cross beaten and dead to his followers; all of those wise and difficult truths; all of those calls to deeper living crushed by selfishness and fear, by greed and prejudice and the lust for power.

The governor of Indiana and his legislative devotees have passed a brutal law primarily against the LGBT community shallowly disguised as “religious freedom.” Arkansas legislators came up with an even more appalling law with even worse prejudicial intent. Why are these discriminating laws necessary?

We have the United States Constitution which certifies religious liberty for all of our citizens. But that of course is never enough for some within the political and religious community. They demand control. They apparently are not interested in freedom for everyone. But their bigotry cannot be hidden within God talk. Their hate for gays and other minorities cannot be turned into some kind of “protection for Christians.” Their contempt for people not like them is as glaring as a bloody Christ mocked and crucified.

The use of Christianity as a way of making abhorrent actions and crudely ignorant theology acceptable and even respected is the work of manipulative and deeply disturbed people. What poses as religious devotion in this country is too often little more than a thin veneer covering loathing and the scorn of others.

Is this what Christ died for, to make his followers rigid keepers of moral rules that hurt and divide people? Did he give his life for intolerance, for bullying, for preening self-righteousness, for keeping people in their poverty, for damning people for the way they were born, for breaking hearts and marring beautiful lives with cruel labels and crude talk and obscene pretentiousness?

Is the Cross a symbol of love or a weapon wielded by politicians and religious fomenters and small-minded believers to exact pain, to judge, to condemn, and to dismiss those they disagree with?

Where in our Easter celebration is there any room for open hearts, for grace, for generosity and the affection of Jesus?

“Today you will be with me,” he said to the thief on the cross beside him. A convict. A criminal. A law breaker. A nothing. And yet, included by Jesus.

Shouldn’t followers of the crucified Jesus welcome all humanity whatever their sexual orientation?

Shouldn’t followers of Jesus today, without discrimination, embrace broken souls and bring them into their circle of support? Shouldn’t they openly include those shamed and bewildered by their crumbling lives; those lost in some psychological wound; those in spiritual crisis; those hurting from prejudice from being hated because of who they are?

Can you truly follow Jesus in your life and exclude anyone?

Author Dan Barker has written, “Love is not self-denial. Love is not blood and suffering. Love is not murdering your son to appease your own vanity. Love is not hatred or wrath, consigning billions of people to eternal torture because they have offended your ego or disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity, or submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment, or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being.”

That’s pretty good stuff coming from an active atheist. It sounds to me like what Easter is supposed to convey.

We are Made for Human Connection

There are words from Brandi Carlile’s song, “The Story,” that I might sing, and perhaps you, too. “All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am So many stories of where I've been And how I got to where I am But these stories don't mean anything When you've got no one to tell them to” You don’t have to be single or alone to feel the depth of those words. Someone in a longtime marriage or relationship might feel them, too. The voyage through life takes each one of us through an assortment of experiences. Some of them ennoble us. Some crush us. Some lift us beyond ourselves and carry us into the lives of those who need us. And some carry us to those we need. Some experiences are burdens. Others ease and encourage us. Some leave us baffled and unsure. Some build confidence within us and are so affirming that we grow in substance, in courage, in tenderness, and sympathy. As we age, the lines in our faces can represent the hurts we have not yet resolved. Or t

If I had five minutes to evacuate--what would I take with me?

If I was told there was a bomb in my building and I had five minutes to evacuate my apartment I’d grab a grocery bag and quickly toss these items into it: 1. A photo of my grandparents, Mom and Pop and me, when I was 15 years old. I learned what love is made of from them. I learned what it is to be kissed on and hugged in arms so tender they felt like God’s arms. I discovered self worth from those two angels in human flesh. Of all the people in my life, they were the ones who made me feel I counted. Honestly, whatever capacity I have to love others came from them. 2. A sentimental, dog-eared, stars in the margin copy of Pat Conroy’s, “The Prince of Tides.” It is a book I have read three times and often return to for its wisdom. It is a harsh, profoundly tragic novel, the story of a family so broken and tortured by such flawed and wounded people that it is sometimes difficult to turn the next page. And yet it is the story of such Herculean courage and endurance that you want

Remembering Dr. Bill Craig

In Memoriam Dr. Bill Craig January 1, 2020 In the Hebrew Bible, we see from the life of Moses, and the Psalmist, Isaiah and others , concern for the problem of living rather than the problem of dying. Their primary interest was not how to escape death, but rather, how to sanctify life. Bill modeled that kind of wisdom. The brilliant novelist Louis L'Amour, who wrote bestselling books about the American West, what he called “frontier stories,” basically said the same thing. He wrote, “The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.” No one attempted to sanctify life and get more out of the trail than Bill Craig. He was a deep thinker, a gifted veterinarian, a rugged and unbreakable man with the kindest heart and the purest motives. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather. Karen, Shalor and Melissa, Kellan, Nolan and Carter, were his world. They meant everything to him. I guess he had faults, but I don’t remember any of them. There was o

The Unclad Soul

Search This Blog