The Bigger Picture

[keltic63]

every organization must have a well-defined mission to be successful, and I believe Soulforce has done an excellent job of defining their mission: Soulforce Mission Statement
"The purpose of Soulforce is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance."

I've been thinking about the statements made by Pat Robertson in reference to God sending a weather disaster to the people of Dover PA because of voting out school board members who were in favor of Intelligent Design. It's no secret that Pat Robertson is not a friend of the LGBT community. He joined Jerry Falwell in blaming homosexuals for the terrorist acts of 9-11, and has compared gays to Nazis and satanists.
When I look at the job ahead of us in the light of this information, knowing that there are many evangelical/fundamentalist christians who agree with Robertson (or hold even more radical views) I can't help but feel overwhelmed. Where do we begin?

[Zerbie]

Where do you begin? Omigosh, I'm reading this forum thinkin' y'all have the answer to that one!

Seriously, what I've found so far is you can only begin with what you have where you are. If there is some small task that can be done that *might* make a difference, either in the world "outside" or to your own conscience and peace of mind, whatever it is, do it. Take action when your immediate circumstance calls for it.

As for the bigger picture, I would LOVE to ride out there on a white horse and go fix all the problems heroically. But that's a Disney movie. The actuality may be more like each of US from this board taking smalll steps daily - dialogue with a friend about the big issues we're facing, writing a letter to the editor, dialoguing with members of an 'affirming" church, or some days, just solitary prayer and mindfulness. External change takes time in coming - the internal change happens first. Part of what Gandhi meant when he said "BE" the change you want to see in the world. The internal reality precedes it's outward manifestation.

Of course when half the country puts our civil rights up for a popular vote and we start LOSING all these referenda, we want to hurry that process up. If I could wave a magic wand and fix it, it would have been solved years ago. But there is no magic wand and the process will take however long it is going to take. The important thing is that we are engaged in it, and the process is under way.

I'm here ready if a moment comes when I am needed for something more. So is everyone on this forum, and such a moment may indeed be coming.

[Catt of the Garage]

Start with the words of Jesus. These people all claim to follow him - so remind them what he really said! So much of the evil perpetrated by Christians and those who call themselves Christians is directly in conflict with what Jesus said and did - they need to be faced with that incongruity and forced to evaluate whether their actions are really "WWJD".

Here's a good book to brandish in people's faces - Steve Chalke's The Lost Message of Jesus (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0310248825/102-3236661-6845708?v=glance). Those of you in the States won't be familiar with Steve Chalke but I and a lot of Christians who were teenagers with me grew up on his literature, videos etc. He's a very well-known name. And this book packs no punches when it outlines the radically inclusive message of Jesus. Hey, it even mentions the word "lesbian" (which I'm sure you'll agree is a bit of a rarity in Christian paperbacks), so I think he's just asking to be dragged into the argument.