Striking a Balance

This past summer, I worked on the production of “The Weimar House”, a mock horror film in which the horror is gay marriage. I had written the piece initially for radio, and then re-worked it with the cast and crew to be a screenplay. Thus far, the video has garnered some awards, has received warm responses from audiences, and is likely to make it into some LGBT Film Festivals.

I am still pleased with the film, and its message of love overcoming hate. But I am aware of a few changes I would make to some of the scenes to mitigate for the unintended implication that *all* Christians want to kill gay people. Of course, I know that is not true. If someone is a follower of the Word of God, then they should be the ones on the front lines of every pride march chanting, “Hey Hey! Ho Ho! Homophobia’s got to go!”

Sadly, that doesn’t seem to happen. And I’m not really sure why. But I think it’s a two-way street…and the median that has been built up between the east and west-bound lanes of communication between Christians and “queers” has too many trees, shrubs…or guardrails that make the division seem insurmountable.

Many lesbians and gays have encountered intolerance and exclusion from their places of worship…or they fear that they’ll get booted to the curb from their parishes for being gay because no one has told them otherwise. Meanwhile sympathetic Christians may feel they aren’t really welcomed into the fold of a pride parade because their Christianity has been met with suspicion or outright hostility. Or maybe they think it’s safer to just stay quiet and re-assure their queer friends privately that they’re supportive.

And as the two sides keep traveling on opposite sides of the median, the thieves of Christianity proclaim their intolerance and hatred of gay people out loud with neon-flashing billboards, and further build up the obstacles in the median….and (worse) put forth a false doctrine that “God hates fags”. Nothing could be further from the Truth! And as the voices of the mean-spirited fill the airwaves with their deceit, the queer folk develop more road rage at the mere mention of Jesus.

So, how do you go about clearing the median of all the obstacles so that those passing on either side of the street can fully see each other? And how can we all start to travel amicably on the same road, heading for the same party of abundant life? To my mind, it has to happen individually. Each person has to be willing to hack away at the shrubbery that’s in the way of them seeing the other person. And once we’re seeing each other fully, we need to take time to listen and hear one another. Listen and hear. Progressive Christians must allow for the release of the anger and the grief of the LGBT-community and the LGBT-community must allow for the Christians to fully express the love that Christ is offering to anybody who wants it… a love that comes without checking your ID or credentials. I believe that through such a process of true reconciliation we will all be achieving that portion of the Lord ’s Prayer in which we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Then we will be traveling together!