Praise: Kathy Baldock, Canyon Walker

Sometimes heterosexual evangelical Christians understand their religion and human rights in the context of the United States.  As I read the hate speech of anti-equality activists, it is refreshing to find Ms. Baldock's website.  I'm going to quote a large chunk from the middle of one post, but the whole is worth reading.

I am growing weary of the Christian community saying our faith is being attacked and we are being persecuted. Is there any non-gay, non-trans person in this country that is not free to walk in any church on any Sunday and publically praise God?  No straight person is barred from marrying the person they love or even a person they do not love. No one has ever stopped me from reading my Bible or praying as I walk along a public trail. I am not persecuted.

As unpopular as it is to say, many of those I religiously identify with, have become the persecutors. God specifically tells His people in Isaiah 58 that He is not interested in their external piety and conformity to rules of service, worship and discipline. He tells His people that if they really want to serve Him and have Him listen, they need to “loose the chains of injustice … and set the oppressed free and break every yoke.” He further tells His people to “spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed.”

Injustice means treating people unequally; oppression is exercising authority or power in an unjust manner. Is the glbt community oppressed and treated unjustly? Of course they are.

This country is ruled by a Constitution that guarantees all of us equal treatment. All of us. Being gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender is not a choice or a behavior or something that needs to be or can be changed. Gay and trans people are a class of people. When people of faith lead the charge to withhold rights from a class of people, then they have indeed have become the oppressors.

As a Jew who has studied under Christians and lives in a Christian-majority society, I try to be careful to differentiate between those who endeavor to oppress others and the religion as a whole.  I have written a few times about those who discriminate and claim that they are the victims; it is all too common.  This made it all the more enjoyable to peruse Ms. Baldock's writings.  Her story is very human and worth four minutes of time to watch.

The LGBTQ Community includes Christians, Jews, Atheists, and members of all other religions.  Those who are members of a religious community that tells them they are bound for hell are hurt badly.  When those religious communities step outside their religion into the secular world to impose their values on all others, an unnecessary climate of castes is created.  When the imposition of values is argued for with outright lies, honest members of those religions must take a stand.  Thus I find Ms. Baldock praiseworthy.

Thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters for the heads up.