Faith, hope, and charity
A dearly beloved friend on the left was commiserating with me about the passage of Prop 8, and as part of her frustration, she said to me, "Fucking Mormons!" (The Mormon church gave tens of millions of dollars to the Yes on 8 campaign). And as I was writing my response to her, I realized that this is really something I want to say to everyone. This is important to me. Here's what I said:
Much as I am hating on the Mormon church qua institution right now, I can't hate on Mormons. You know six hundred of them held a candlelight vigil against 8 in Utah, on the eve of the election? A lot of them are fighting their faith on this, and that's huge and brave and amazing.
I guess, as a religious person, these kind of struggles are really hard for me. I hear the left bitterly blaming it on the church - I heard it from almost everyone I canvassed with and everyone I tabled with for this campaign. And they didn't say "some churches," either, they said, "religious people." That's me. And then there are a lot of churches, even from within my own faith, saying these horrible things about queer people, and that's me too.
It is possible to be a person of faith and not a bigot. It is possible to be a bigot and not a person of faith. It is difficult, for those of us whose faith is often espoused by bigoted institutions, to fight through to a place where we can reconcile our own beliefs about what is good and right with the messages coming from religious leaders. I was in a church yesterday morning, at the No on 8 election day hub in their community room, when some asshole showed up and ranted on about how unjust it was that the church had tax exempt status when it was actively opposing 8 and how he "can't believe you people."
There is a religious left in this country. It's largely invisible, because a key tenet of the left is that the church and state should be separate, so we tend not to conflate them when we speak out. But there are many of us - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, and yes, Mormon - who believe that our faith provides us, not with an excuse to judge others, but with a moral imperative to work for social justice, for equality, and for fairness.
Much as I am hating on the Mormon church qua institution right now, I can't hate on Mormons. You know six hundred of them held a candlelight vigil against 8 in Utah, on the eve of the election? A lot of them are fighting their faith on this, and that's huge and brave and amazing.
I guess, as a religious person, these kind of struggles are really hard for me. I hear the left bitterly blaming it on the church - I heard it from almost everyone I canvassed with and everyone I tabled with for this campaign. And they didn't say "some churches," either, they said, "religious people." That's me. And then there are a lot of churches, even from within my own faith, saying these horrible things about queer people, and that's me too.
It is possible to be a person of faith and not a bigot. It is possible to be a bigot and not a person of faith. It is difficult, for those of us whose faith is often espoused by bigoted institutions, to fight through to a place where we can reconcile our own beliefs about what is good and right with the messages coming from religious leaders. I was in a church yesterday morning, at the No on 8 election day hub in their community room, when some asshole showed up and ranted on about how unjust it was that the church had tax exempt status when it was actively opposing 8 and how he "can't believe you people."
There is a religious left in this country. It's largely invisible, because a key tenet of the left is that the church and state should be separate, so we tend not to conflate them when we speak out. But there are many of us - Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, and yes, Mormon - who believe that our faith provides us, not with an excuse to judge others, but with a moral imperative to work for social justice, for equality, and for fairness.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." - 1 John 4:7-8.That's my religion.
posted by The Stute Fish at 09:49
2 Comments:
I was actually discussing religion last night with my cousin. I was a little worried at first because she went very religious when she got to college (we discussed cults too). We were both very offended by the people belonging to specific churches who cry their bigotry the loudest while also proclaiming their religiosity. It's my undertsanding that's a big no no for most religions, both the book faiths and others. But what do I know I remain unconverted to a dominant religion.
--Anon
PS the conversation went well although I tried to be careful about the whole folklore & religion thing and she said I did not offend.
hey - i just came across this site and the video on the home page reminded me of this post. it might be of interest to you, sunshine. hugz
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