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I am reminded several times a week that both a sizeable and vocal portion of the Christian world considers the coexistence of homosexuality and Christianity within the same person to be at best an interesting conversation piece, and at worst, an aberrant abomination. I think this largely has to do with any number of stereotypes…
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Like other idealistic young couples at the time, John and I wrote our own marriage vows. And like most, we had little or no idea of what our words implied. For example: “Though our love should never end, because it is of God it is not meant for us alone, but for ever-widening circles.” Hello?…
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I remember sitting in church and hearing the sermons about what it meant to be a Christian—the commandment to love your neighbor as you love yourself—and thinking that this just didn’t apply to me; I was unworthy. As I came of age I realized that my sexual orientation wasn’t a choice I had made, but…
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How does one enter into this conversation regarding issues of racial justice, sexual identity and religious belief? I mean, seriously? Over the course of roughly a year, I have found myself having this conversation internally. Events like Jason Collins’ “coming out,” the Supreme Court’s ruling for marriage equality the day after deciding a section…
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Image via Mary Button’s Stations of the Cross—outdated terminology reflects a banner from a 1998 vigil for Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in Allston, MA. The outpouring of grief and anger over Hester’s death inspired the founding of the International Transgender Day of Rememberance. “I stood in a crowd with you last night as we cried…
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In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th tragedy, there were amazing moments for solidarity between groups and communities rarely experienced. The solidarity was among U.S. citizens across the racial, religious, political, sexual, and economic spectrums. And solidarity within the global community as many nations and peoples were filled with genuine care and compassion for…
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The LGBT movement has made a strong case that gays are just the same as everyone else, and furthermore, our same love deserves equal rights. In the meantime, we are watching the clock unwind on racial justice. The same week the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, they struck down Section 4 of…
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My post today is unique because today is unique: the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Bayard Rustin, an unsung organizer of the march and the movement, was interviewed by my friend Mark Bowman for the quarterly publication Open Hands in 1987, the year of Rustin’s death. As subsequent editor of the magazine, I republished the…
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Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger…
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I spent last year teaching ethics at a community college in rural East Tennessee. I divided the semester not chronologically, but philosophically. The first half of the class posed the question, “How should I act?” The second half asked, “How should I be?” The division is one between ethics of conduct and ethics of virtue.…
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