Christians apologise for treatment of homosexuals at Pride

[Destiny]

http://www.practikel.com/2012/01/27/christian-group-shows-up-to-chicago-gay-pride-holding-apologetic-signs/

This made me cry today, and I thought I would share. Maybe there is hope for humanity after all.

[finleeport]

That is so sweet, wish I could have been there. My sign would have said "Fuck the Bible Freaks, Jesus says Love thy Neighbor"

[demgirl]

I cried. Thanks for posting this.

[ElphabaGalinda]

That was beautiful. Hopefully there will be more and more people like that in the world.

[nimerha]

That was a nice change of scenery, and a lovely accompanying photo, but am I the only one who was rubbed a little wrong by the tone? A little too self-congratulatory, a little too "look at how nice I am compared to others"? "dude, I touched a leper... i mean, a guy in his underwear".

I hope I am wrong - and that this guy does actually go beyond photo ops at Prides to being a honest-to-god (yeah, pun intended, that's how I roll) ally - like supporting full marriage equality and welcoming same sex couples to his church community, advocating for transfolk, whatever. Or does he instead expect Underwear Tristan to (now that he got a hug and apology) put on some clothes and maybe not be quite so fabulous?

I don't agree that we need reconciliation over acceptance, necessarilly. Reconciliation helps you deal with past wrongs (and makes for nice gestures), acceptance is what you need to build a life here and now.

Alternately I'm a Grinch with no soul. But I would really be interested to see if I was the only one to pick up on that.

[emmyfair]

Wow. There is hope, after all.

[ElphabaGalinda]

That was a nice change of scenery, and a lovely accompanying photo, but am I the only one who was rubbed a little wrong by the tone? A little too self-congratulatory, a little too "look at how nice I am compared to others"? "dude, I touched a leper... i mean, a guy in his underwear".

I hope I am wrong - and that this guy does actually go beyond photo ops at Prides to being a honest-to-god (yeah, pun intended, that's how I roll) ally - like supporting full marriage equality and welcoming same sex couples to his church community, advocating for transfolk, whatever. Or does he instead expect Underwear Tristan to (now that he got a hug and apology) put on some clothes and maybe not be quite so fabulous?

I don't agree that we need reconciliation over acceptance, necessarilly. Reconciliation helps you deal with past wrongs (and makes for nice gestures), acceptance is what you need to build a life here and now.

Alternately I'm a Grinch with no soul. But I would really be interested to see if I was the only one to pick up on that.

I did too actually, particularly the part about hugging a guy in his underwear, like he should deserve a medal for that. And I kinda wondered what he thought of Tristan like did he think now that he was appologized and hugged he should join the church. But i like to believe that he had the best of intentions. So i had the same suspicions but i'm an optomist so i think it was actually nothing like that.

[MrsYoungie]

I did too actually, particularly the part about hugging a guy in his underwear, like he should deserve a medal for that. And I kinda wondered what he thought of Tristan like did he think now that he was appologized and hugged he should join the church. But i like to believe that he had the best of intentions. So i had the same suspicions but i'm an optomist so i think it was actually nothing like that.

If more people would become truly repentant ex-homophobes, then I will be more than willing to allow them a couple of minutes of self congratulatory expression.

[nimerha]

I did too actually, particularly the part about hugging a guy in his underwear, like he should deserve a medal for that. And I kinda wondered what he thought of Tristan like did he think now that he was appologized and hugged he should join the church. But i like to believe that he had the best of intentions. So i had the same suspicions but i'm an optimist so i think it was actually nothing like that.

Yeah, exactly - that line jumped at me too. Or "I believe Jesus would have hugged him" - yep, but aren't you being a little over the top? Surely it doesn't take Jesus-levels of awesomeness to recognize a (hot, half naked...) guy's humanity and dignity.

Anyway, I hope he does put his money where his mouth is, and that I'm just a bit too cynical for my own good; I just don't like people claiming to speak for others or apologize on others' behalf. I wonder if they would have joined the parade? Surely someone invited them to march along?

Thanks for the answer.

[nimerha]

MrsYoungie - hell, I would pet them on the back and buy them a gold star myself. But is this guy truly repentant? Is he apologizing for himself? I understood it to be a more of a "sorry my fellow christians have been dickeads to you" sentiment.

Does he even truly accept queers? Does he think we deserve equal rights, that our lifestyles and relationships are just as good as straight people's? or does he simply dennounce others being evil amd hateful, despite agreeing with their premise - "gay is wrong". Maybe he's a great guy and ally. Maybe he just truly believes in "love the sinner, hates the sin". I don't know, he didn't say, and I wiah he did.

[Mommy22alyns]

That brought tears to my eyes.

[emmiedahl]

I think the gay community deserves an apology from certain groups, and I am happy to see them getting one.

Also, I would be uncomfortable hugging a stranger in their underpants, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

[valsa]

That was a nice change of scenery, and a lovely accompanying photo, but am I the only one who was rubbed a little wrong by the tone? A little too self-congratulatory, a little too "look at how nice I am compared to others"? "dude, I touched a leper... i mean, a guy in his underwear".

I hope I am wrong - and that this guy does actually go beyond photo ops at Prides to being a honest-to-god (yeah, pun intended, that's how I roll) ally - like supporting full marriage equality and welcoming same sex couples to his church community, advocating for transfolk, whatever. Or does he instead expect Underwear Tristan to (now that he got a hug and apology) put on some clothes and maybe not be quite so fabulous?

I don't agree that we need reconciliation over acceptance, necessarilly. Reconciliation helps you deal with past wrongs (and makes for nice gestures), acceptance is what you need to build a life here and now.

Alternately I'm a Grinch with no soul. But I would really be interested to see if I was the only one to pick up on that.

I picked up on the same thing, though I'm a self-admitted Grinch.

[Rachel333]

When I first saw this I was really touched, but I did pick up on the problems others are mentioning. I went to his blog, though, and he does acknowledge that Tristan is the one who should really be commended. The interview with Tristan on that guy's blog is linked from the original article.

Here's another quote from his blog:

And in regards to the LGBT community, it seems some Christians “love†LGBT individuals in hopes that they will “change,†stop being gay, or will automatically choose to be celibate. But if they don’t, we dehumanize them, turn them into “the least of these,†and then have nothing to do with them. It’s no wonder they hate us so much. It’s no wonder they mock all things Christian. It’s no wonder they won’t step into our churches.

His blog is mostly about LGBT issues in Christianity, and I don't really see him patting himself on the back. He seems like a good guy to me.

Edit: I'm still looking through his blog. I'm pretty sure he doesn't expect LGBT people to be celibate or change once they're accepted by churches. This post has some good points: naytinalbert.blogspot.com/2010/08/forget-issues-remember-people-full-text.html

[WanderingStar]

The quote about Jesus being willing to hug a man in his underwear does seem a bit lofty when taken out of context, but within the whole article it does seem to fit. After all, it's about Christians apologizing for being so unkind towards homosexuals when they knew deep down that Jesus wouldn't act that way towards them.

After the crappy day I've had it really cheers me up to see something like this. It takes a lot of guts to be able to admit your wrongs towards a group of people you've constantly bashed, even more so in public like that. The one sign in particular that someone was holding that read "I Was Once a Bible-Banging Homophobe, Sorry" stood out to me. Even if a few of them may have been patting themselves on the back about it, it's still a step in the right direction.