Quote of the Day: Candace Chellew-Hodge on the "Ex-Gay" Lie

In the context of the outing of Jonathan Merritt, Candace Chellew-Hodge, who herself is pastor, sums up well the damage done to LGBT individuals by conservative Christianity (Islam is equally flawed) in a piece in Religion Dispatches:

What makes me the most sad, however, is the continued peddling of the lie that to be Christian one must "suffer" or "struggle." This is the line we hear the most from gay and lesbian people hoodwinked into suppressing their true God-given self to please popular Christianity. Merritt parrots this line, calling gays and lesbians people who "wrestle with the baggage they carry in life. People like me who passionately pursue God--on His terms and not ours--experience incredible times of struggle along the way."

And, we can't just skip by the jab at gay and lesbian Christians who are obviously living on "our terms" and not God's terms when we reconcile our sexuality and spirituality. I'd like to give Merritt some really good news--you don't have to "struggle," because your sexual orientation is not "baggage"--it's a blessing. This idea of the Christian life as "struggle" with "baggage" is a ruse to keep the queers in the closet. As long as they can be convinced that living for Jesus means struggling with baggage and feeling "periods of depression, frustration, and confusion," they can keep the gay and lesbian believer from being what God intends--happy and struggle-free (at least around the issue of sexual orientation).

In the final analysis, most of religion's goal - at least in the context of Christianity - seems to be ultimately all about control.  Control of women, control of gays, and those seeking to control others all too often are sexually conflicted immoral individuals themselves.  One need only look at the Roman Catholic hierarchy to confirm this sad reality.