Church-Based Hate: Apology Required

David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, has written a review of Mitchell Gold's book, Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America, in The Christian Century. As some may recall, I discussed back in December 2008 after I meet Mitchell Gold at the LGBT Blogger Summit in Washington, D.C. In his review, Gushee looks at some of the stories recounted in the book and concludes his review with these words:

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Crisis recounts the sad stories of dozens of young people who, like the biblical Esau, cried for a blessing from their parents, friends and churches. All too often they have not received it. All too often they have been left broken, rejected as human beings—at the hands of Christians and in the name of the Bible. Obviously we must extend basic acceptance to gay youths such as these, as well as Christian love.Moreover, after reading these stories, I feel that Christians have something they need to request from God and from gays and lesbians, and that is forgiveness.

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Personally, I view what self-proclaimed "godly Christians" do to LGBT youth and adults alike as the equivalent of spiritual murder. It's hard to take even as an adult, but as an uncertain pre-teen or teen it is truly devastating. Instead of extending Christ's message of love as should be the case, the Gospel message with these false Christians becomes a message of hatred towards LGBT individuals. Here are some additional highlights from his review of Crisis which involve Matt Comer who I also met at the Blogger Summit and whose religious upbringing bears parallels with my own, albeit in a different denomination:

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Matt Comer, who came from a conservative Baptist family in North Carolina, began experiencing same-sex attraction in his preteen years. Matt's preacher said from the pulpit things like: "Put all the queers on a ship, cut a hole in the side and send it out to sea." The contrast between his sexuality and the beliefs of his church and family drove Matt to thoughts of suicide. But that same religious faith told him that suicide "would have sent me straight to the depths of hell, landing me in the same spot as being gay. So, I turned to begging and pleading."

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Lying on his bed at night, "crying and praying," Matt would ask God to spare him eternal damnation if he tried his very best not to feel attraction to males. But it didn't work. Finally Matt told the truth to his parents. "My mother said I was crazy and sick and told me I was going to hell." Eventually, however, his mother changed her views. "Today," Matt writes, "she is my strength and my most avid supporter, and I know that she loves me no matter what."

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Gushee also looks at some of the other fruits of church based anti-gay hate:

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What exactly do such young people go through? Gold and co-editor Mindy Drucker offer not just stories but summaries of some key data. They include the following:

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• Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among 15-to-24-year-olds; for every young person who takes his or her own life, 20 more try.

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• Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.

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• Forty-five percent of gay men and 20 percent of lesbians surveyed had been victims of verbal and physical assaults in secondary school specifically because of their sexual orientation.

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• Gay youth are at higher risk of being kicked out of their homes and turning to life on the streets for survival. They are more likely than their heterosexual peers to start using tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs at an earlier age.

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• Twenty-eight percent of gay students drop out of school—more than three times the national average.

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Indeed, there is much for which the Christianists and other homophobes need to pray for forgiveness.