Thursday, February 19, 2009

Focus on the Family Is Not Our Friend!



We were all outraged by the reports of how the Mormons spent so much on lies and propaganda to win Prop 8 in California last year, but then there were the "Christian" groups. As a Christian of over 28 years I have come to see so called Christian morality based groups like Dobson's Focus on the Family as the kind of people that do the most harm to Christianity. They bring the opposite of peace and goodwill to humanity in general. What they teach sounds good to the simple minded but in reality it is full of prejudice and archaic dogma. It is the traditions of men simply rehashed and it is not of God to us in this age. Sometimes I dread to tell people that I am a Christian because of the shame these people have brought upon that name. As a Transgendered Christian girl I get very tired of being caught in the middle or having to hide a major part of the stuff that brings me joy in my life (I.E. being a Christian - yes a born again one in spite of what my detractors on both sides might say).


I have to presume people and groups that believe much like Dobson and company actually believe that what they do and stand for is good but they trample on so many good people in the process of pursuing their small minded agendas. I know that Jesus weeps over the damage they do to many of his "little ones". They have such a narrow view of the all inclusiveness of God and simply refuse to see anything in Scripture (I refer not to a specific translation but to the original content of the Scriptures) that allows for God to love all of His created ones just the way he created them like many of us in the TLGBQI community.

Another clear example of the results that come from the narrow "christian": view is seen in the excerpt below - copied from a post by the Human Rights Campaign:

"While there’s been much outrage about how much the Mormon church contributed to Prop 8 (almost $190K), it turns out that James Dobson’s Focus on the Family group and its supporters contributed over seven times more money to Prop 8 than the Mormons.

(And, ironically, it seems that FOTF was more focused on spending the dough to break up our families than in helping their own workers to take care of theirs. The group announced that it would
let go 20% of their staff shortly after Prop 8 passed)."

(For the full article Click Here).

I spent many years in such a group in LA and I watched the damage we did to so many people happen right in front of my eyes - much like Paul did as he held the cloaks of and watched the "good" religious people stone Stephen. If there is anything I would do in my life it would be to somehow right those wrongs and reach out to the members of my community and to everyone around me and show them the true love of Jesus Christ for them. It is not a judgmental love at all, but one that encompasses all that a person is, all that was done in that person's past and all that that person will ever do. I have learned in my transition that God really is love and He (or She if you prefer feminine references) really is there for any and all that simply trust him - even with the tiniest bit of shaky trust at first.




So remember, when some so called Christian comes at you with judgment to offer about who you are, that this is not the Spirit of Christ at all but likely one of false religion. Whenever I encounter these ideals I must speak out against them. What we all can do about countering these groups is be as vocal and visible as possible working peacefully and side by side with each other and our straight allies to counter their propaganda. They have a right to believe what they want but we have a right to not be hassled or discriminated against publicly by those that do and it is time we claim that right as a community.

OK so much for my two cents tonight - have a blessed evening and day tomorrow.
Hugs,
Eva-Genevieve!

2 comments:

  1. And the bible says that whatever God joins together let no man break apart (paraphrase).Focus on the Family is supposed to focus on strenghtening family regardless of their sexual or gender identity. I guess TGLBQI families don't count.

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  2. It sure seems that way when you follow most of the very public evangelicals. Their mistake is presuming they know what God can and can't join together. What they offer is a false and empty "family value" that does not hold up in the human diversity of God's modern day creation. It does not draw toward Christ but it clearly pushes many away and that is sad.

    I have been amazed many times listening to Dobson's program and to that of, I think it is, Dennis Rainey and wife too. He/they start out very much right on with the scriptures, but when it comes to gender the switch immediately flips and out goes love, compassion, longsuffering, the saving-to-the-uttermost power of the Blood of Christ and all understanding of just how much God loves all His created ones, all in one swoop. How one can detach from the love of God so suddenly and selectively is beyond my understanding and it does not ring true with the God I know in Scripture or in my life.

    In my fundamentalist days it became clear to me that I was not able to switch God on and off or find hard and fast limits to God's grace and love like they seem to do on certain issues like gender, and in the final analisys it is my flesh that has to be the mutable part of my existance. I tried to change the inner me for 35 years and could not even with much prayer, supplication, fasting, deliverance, intense counseling (and so much more effort too). I also tried to conform my knowledge of God to the limits of fundamentalist religion and could not - that box was way too small!

    My faith in God and His salvation in Christ, my life and my love for Him I could not end (though there were many horrible days I wanted Him to end it for me as a "man" that could not fit in anyone's god-box). I discovered I can not pluck myself out of His hand, but I can become the person He created on the inside, by faith and somewhat in form (at least as medical science and finances allow once the gatekeepers are out of the way) as well as in spirit and soul. I can love myself and live sanely because He walks with me in transition and all that I do. I can then love my neighbors as I love myself too and that is what His gift to me of being transgender is all about - loving God and being in His/Her image.

    But you understand that, so I am preaching to the choir now.

    Hugs Sister,
    Eva-Genevieve!

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