Being gay and
religious are not not mutually exclusive, argues a young
writer who should know.
A recent
discussion with a friend of mine ended in a bitter
disagreement. I believe religion can play a positive
role in advancing the rights of American citizens in
general, in particular gays and lesbians. He, on the
other hand, believes that not only is organized religion
mainly responsible for the inferiority of the gay
community in the world, but that gay people as a rule
cannot call themselves religious.
Organized
religion (note: for the purpose of this article organized
religion and spirituality will be considered one in the
same) has obviously played an important role in
the history of humanity, both positively and
negatively. Commercialized holidays such as Christmas and
Halloween are based on ancient pagan traditions that were
later spun into the Christian calendar. Countries
waged wars against each other over religious
differences; some of these still go on today. In Northern
Ireland, Protestant-Catholic relations remain edgy. On the
positive side, people such as the Dalai Lama, Mother
Teresa, and Pope John Paul II have transcended their
religious affiliations to make an impact on
diverse communities. In fact, most people don’t
know that the Roman Catholic Church is the world's
largest charitable organization, providing services to
the poor and sick around the globe.
I attended
Catholic school since third grade up until high school
graduation in June 2007. The church has had a profound
effect on my life, especially when it comes to being
gay. It was largely responsible for my coming out. But
I received negative feedback from my local community
and was informally kicked out of the church, after which I
became bitter toward organized religion of any kind
and identified as an agnostic.
It wasn’t
until I met my friend Donna, a devout Catholic who works for
the church, that I realized it wasn’t religion that
was responsible for my hurt, it was people. Yes, the
church, along with other religious organizations,
teaches that homosexual actions are sinful; however,
church doctrine clearly states that the harsh treatment of
any person -- homosexual or not -- is strictly
forbidden. And just because the church’s
teachings are clear about homosexuality does not mean each
member has to adhere to this belief. My parents are
devout Catholics, as are many of my relatives.
They all have been supportive of me, going so far as to
donate time and money toward advancing equality for LGBT
people. In fact, their reasons for supporting me and
gays in general were direct results of their
faith in Jesus Christ, who serves as a model for
compassion.
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Satre is
a young gay rights advocate and writer.