In building a relationship with an individual one tends to
believe at the beginning that there will be hard times and good times and it’s
expected but when things take an unexpected turn then your belief comes into
doubt about that relationship. See
belief is very sacred to people because it defines who they are and how they
want to be perceived by others. Now that
unexpected turn can be something out of the ordinary for you or for a whole
society but what is important is how you respond to it.
I believe that Gay couples should be able to marry...there's that unexpected turn...
Rene Girard has a whole theory around violence and how the
Bible is related to it and I find it interesting that people do not know his
theory better. I won’t go into it
because this will end up being a whole book but I have my own version of what
he talks about.
For many years I spent my time out on the streets mostly
late afternoon into the very late night and I saw, heard, and participated in a
lot of things that really would be frowned upon if I went into detail. Your first thought has been “oh geez what did
he do!?” and it’s that very first thought that becomes the foundation of
response to what is being said. Some of
you have strong religious backgrounds and some of you would burn down a church
if you could get away with it but the Bible would play a big role in this
discussion based on the fact that I believe in the Almighty God and that I did
certain things that are not very Christian like. I could defend myself and go into detail
about the “why’s” for what I did but then it would get nasty and I would have
to be honest and say that the church gave me permission to do what I did. GASP! Can it be true? YES! It is true based on this short story:
Some years ago my cousin told me that at his church on one
Sunday a gang leader had given his life to Christ and that it was a beautiful
thing and the church rejoiced at this saving!
I was glad to hear of someone coming to some sort of realization of self
and we went on talking about something else.
A few years later I realize that at my cousins church there was a man
that looked very familiar from the hood and yes he was part of the hood a very
long time ago and we knew some of the same people. A couple more years go by and I start knowing
someone that is a gang leader and we had to deal with something’s and as we
developed our relationship he mentions a church on the Northside of
Chicago. It’s the same church my cousin
went to…the gang leader then tells me that he gave himself to Christ one Sunday
and tells me the story in detail and it was the same story my cousin had told
me. I didn’t say anything to him because
I was confused by his actions of that day and his proclamation of his “born
again” status. As we got to know each
other some more I heard a lot of hateful talk about homosexuals and how they
going to hell. Then that man from the
hood that was part of my cousins church comes into the picture and starts
sending everyone that is, knows, or talks to a homosexual to HELL! He says it
with some much conviction that for a second there I thought to myself “this
dude didn’t give his life to Christ he just found a new gang that gave him the
authority to kill based on the Bible!” Now I know things about him and I know
that he has not paid his dues as he should have so his allegiance to the church
is out of fear nothing else. But the
thought that he thinks and teaches others to think that they have the right to
send someone to hell based on their love for someone else is appalling!
What you may not understand is that these Brothers out on
the street have a genuine anger towards each other and justify it with gang
names, colors, and hoods and we look down on them for it. But when a preacher comes around and pleads
for them to find forgiveness in their hearts these same Brothers will think
about it. So these Brothers go into the
church one day and they hear the preacher talk about how certain people are going
to hell FOR SURE without a doubt in his mind and holds the Bible up while he
says it, what do you think crosses these Brothers minds? It’s been said to me that they think hate is
OK just as long as you hate the right people.
I asked, who are the right people? And the Brothers will say “them
homos!” Is that what we want these Brothers to think?! Do we really want to shift their gun slinging into the Gay community? Wouldn't we want to teach them that hate is bad no matter what and gun slinging towards anyone is WRONG!? It may not
be your church but the institution of church has made hate OK and these Brothers see
them all the same.
This brother that had given his life to Christ said to me
one day that he believes that God punishes those that do wrong but if you didn’t
have a vice and wasn’t a homo then all was well! Then he went on to say that the reason Jesus
was crucified was because Jesus did too much good…so yea go figure what he is
being taught and what is been being enforced in this guy’s mind and heart!
The violence out on the streets have plenty to do with how
the church teaches Right from Wrong because if there’s one thing the Brothers
and Sisters respect out there is the church.
I know it is hard to believe but ask anyone that knows about the
streets.
It is the JOB of each and every one of us, whether we
believe in the same God or not all, to make sure people are not hurt for being
who they are regardless of what we are comfortable with. Traditional marriages are not preferred by me
because tradition has had its foot on my neck and the necks of my ancestors for
a very long time.
For Christian pastors to come out against Gay marriage in
hateful ways then want to talk about “stop the violence” is like asking the
Black Panthers to help open up a new chapter of the KKK!
Think about it…
Peace/AMOR
Gerardo
