Since I now live in the Bible Belt, I thought I’d get in the spirit of things by watching “Lord, Save Us from Your Followers”, a documentary film by Dan Merchant. As you probably guessed based on the title, the film is about Mr. Merchant’s exploration of religion in America and why Christians get such a bad rap. At first I was expecting a rather militant, anti-religion film, but that was not the angle at all. The filmmaker is actually a practicing Christian who just wants to know why America has become so intolerant of EVERYTHING. His primary assertion is that in order to fix the terrible image Christians have earned (especially over the last 50 years), we need to do the following:
- Stop talking and start Listening
- Think about how we sound to other people
- Try a little humility, compassion and friendship
It was really thought-provoking and I highly recommend it.
“What if we reached out to the people most hurt by us Christians?”
In light of the recent media exposure of bullying and suicides of gay and lesbian youth, I thought it was pretty poignant to hear Merchant’s view on the way Christians have treated the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
In my favorite part of the film, Merchant sets up a confessional at a Gay Pride celebration in Portland. The twist? It was Merchant who did the confessing when people entered the booth. He apologized for the hurtful things Christians have said and done to members of the LGBT community, for the judgment and condemnation toward gay people. He apologized for the Christian Community’s ignorance when the AIDS crisis emerged, and confessed to and apologized for Christians calling it a gay plague. The list went on and on. And as you can imagine, the reactions and sound bites that followed were pretty powerful.
- “I don’t know what to say. I’m not used to hearing anyone who is a Christian say anything really nice”
- “One of the things that kept me from being a Christian was being treated so poorly by Christians”
- “I’m going to burn in hell for all eternity is what I’ve been told”
- “This is more meaningful to me now that you’ve said you’re not gay and you’re doing something because you think it’s the right thing to do”
- “Where is Christ in the message? I don’t hear Christ in the message anymore.”
- “God loves everybody. We’re human. Why are [Christians] doing this to us?”
- “What are the accomplishments of Christianity?”
- “People of faith need to stand up and say ‘Jesus came to save us. All of us, not a select few.’ And the conservatives in this country, they don’t get to set the agenda for God.”
Ouch. This is really a problem worth solving. I propose that we as Christians not only start apologizing, but start doing things to fix it. Invite a gay or lesbian neighbor to church because God loves them, not because we’re trying to fix them. Get involved in solving the AIDS crisis: not only in Africa where affects everyone regardless of sexual orientation, but here at home where it’s a big issue in the gay community. And start thinking about LOVE. Not judgment. I have yet to meet anyone who is without sin, so why don’t we get over ourselves and start loving each other. And how about this radical thought: being gay and being Christian are NOT mutually exclusive.
Yankee in Texas 