Your Sexuality vs. My Spirituality: We Have More in Common than You May Realize

     Today, I was called a “hater”.  Actually, I was called a “bass ackward, redneck, hate monger” to be more exact.  Did I deserve this abuse?  Certainly not!  After all, my only crime is being true to who I am in an environment where being “who I am” waxes unpopular.  So, rather than stooping to less-than-kind behaviors, let’s consider the idea that those who desire to promote their sexuality may share very basic commonalities with those who strive to preserve their spirituality.

     You say you were “born this way”.  I completely understand your feelings.  As a very young child being reared in a home where my mom was an excommunicated, non-practicing Catholic and my father was agnostic, I would lie awake at night wondering why I felt such a void in my life.   Sadness and confusion often accompanied my most thoughtful times because I innately knew that there had to be more to life than spinning around on a planet for 75 years and then being dumped unceremoniously into the ground.  Eventually, I learned to pray and I realized that I was not alone.  I had discovered that a part of me was different from those around me.  I tried desperately to squelch my feelings because my family did not support me and my schoolmates were disinterested in “the weird girl”.  Nevertheless, my feelings could not be denied and finally, as a young adult, I decided to leap headlong into the world of scripture study, prayer, and worship despite the protests of those around me.  You might say that I “came out of the closet” with my spirituality declaring unashamedly that I was different from many of my contemporaries.

     You say, “People don’t understand me”.  Again, we have something in common.  People regularly make fun of my values calling them “antiquated” and  “backward.”   When I choose not to participate in activities that I feel are untrue to my values, people question my motives, demean my alternate choices, and try to convince me that I would be much happier if I would only abandon my silly ideals.  Even some of my family members demonstrate a complete lack of empathy.  My dad’s words, “I will never forgive or understand this nonsense” still ring in my ears some thirty years after my commitment to be true to myself.  “Bible thumper” and “Jesus freak” are worn-out epithets tossed my way and the acts that I consider most sacred are referred to as “chicken ceremonies” in a “building with a giant dunce cap”.  You see, you’re not alone in your experiences; the ridicule is just centered on a different concept.

     You say that society does not support you.  Well, the same is true for me.  I am constantly demoralized with images and words that are highly offensive to me.  The media portrays my kind as something very different than what I strive to be.  My tax dollars are spent on causes that are in direct conflict with my strongest beliefs.  On a daily basis, I am inundated with a barrage of attacks on the core values that I hold dear.

     So, you see, we are not really that different.  In our struggle to be true to ourselves in this crazy world, we all must endure some difficult experiences.  Let’s call a truce.  Let’s start a real dialogue about how human beings should treat other human beings.  You examine your heart; I’ll examine mine, and let’s emerge as better people who are above name-calling and intolerant thought-policing.  We all need each other.  We need the light that shines within each of us to overcome the darkness in the world.