Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sometimes religion breaks my heart

So, Benji Schwimmer came out.  He's a dancer, and not the most macho of dancers either... so no one was surprised.  But what surprised me was the torment that went on because of his being gay (self-torment and church related torment).

I read an article that discusses what happened to him before coming out, and coming to terms with his sexuality.  Actually, the article is based on a LONG taped interview.... it's linked if you care to watch.  But so much of what happened to this man I've seen over and over again:  thoughts of suicide, reparative therapy (the LDS church has their own), looking into chemical castration, or a marriage with a woman.  What really broke my heart was that the church and the faith he loved thought that he was wrong.  They apparently put a black mark in some book next to him name, and simply because he's gay he will never be allowed to work with children in the church.  Like simply being gay makes you a pedophile (I don't know how much longer this dangerous idea will exist)

But before got angry and dismissed the LDS faith all together, I remembered that 300 Mormons (non-gay ones that that) marched in the Utah gay pride parade.
We can't condemn everyone that's a member of that church by byzantine, repressive non-christ-like rules and regulations.

I've said it before:  If all Christians followed what I believe to be Jesus's most important message ("One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself," and "Judge not, and ye be not judged") the world would be a nicer place.

So I'm going to take a breath and calm down.  I'm going to strive my hardest not to judge an entire religion on the actions of a few.  I'm also going to smile, and listen to this song:

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