libhobn:

starlightomatic:

Hey liberal/leftist Christians, we need to talk

So first of all – what you’re doing is so important, especially now during Pride Month.  Reminding people that what Jesus really stood for was radical love is so necessary, and I admire the way you stand strong and refuse to accept that the only options are atheism and conservative Christianity – you know there’s room in the middle for nuance and for a more truthful read of who Jesus really was.  And honestly you do lifesaving work in helping lgbt Christians realize that Jesus loves them.

But.  We’ve gotta talk about how you sometimes frame things.  Sometimes, in your (admirable!) haste to assure lgbt Christians they are loved, you throw Jews under the bus.  And it… doesn’t feel great.  As a fellow lgbt religious person, we should be in this together.

What I mean is, comments like “the old testament god was vengeful, but Jesus is loving.”  Or “now that we have Jesus, the old testament commandments are irrelevant and they’d be impossible to follow anyway.” Or really, in general, things that put down the old testament.  

There are living breathing people whose religion is based on the old testament god and the old testament laws.  When you throw those under the bus, you throw us under the bus too.  We’re not just some sort of ancient strawman from the times of Jesus, we exist here and now and we see those comments.

I know this is complicated because supercessionism (regardless of how problematic it is) is a core part of Christian belief, but let’s try to move forward more sensitively, at least.  Just… at the very least keep in mind that Christianity is based on Judaism and got its foundational documents from Judaism, and to do that and then turn around and throw those very same documents (and Jews and Judaism) under the bus is pretty rude – especially considering the legacy of Christians murdering and massacring Jews based on our being “incomplete” for not accepting Christ.

So, keep moving forward with the important work you are doing, but frame it in ways that does not uplift one group of people while throwing another under the bus.

This is essentially the thesis of Emily A. Filler’s fantastic op-ed, “Does God Hate Shrimp? When Biblical Citation Goes Awry”, which I highly recommend reading.