[tvmt]

Originally Posted by kara speltz

First of all, I have to very much disagree with your statement that "Christians just say "yeah, I am...", as though they all know exactly what is being asked and do not have to initially think about the answer..."

I was born and baptised into the Roman Catholic Church, long, long before I came out as a lesbian. I do not believe you can generalize the way you did about Christians. We're all very different, depending on our upbringing and our specific "brand" of Christianity. What gives you the right to "define a Christian"? That sounds like what Falwell and his ilk do. And why think from a perspective of "we/they"? By your very definition you've excluded Mel White, our founder, who defines himself as a follower of a Jewish carpenter, and has a very hard time with calling himself a Christian. Why the need to exclude? Doesn't the world have enough exclusion already?

I've been part of Soulforce from the beginning, and we've always striven to be a multi-faith organization. It was predominantly Christian, but never solely Christian. I'm always grateful to my non-Christian friends for teaching me to be more inclusive in my thinking. Now thanks to them, I end my prayers with, "we pray this in your many names."

I'm an out lesbian at my parish and I preach, so I'm still Catholic because I've found a really welcoming community. If I hadn't, who knows..... While I am still a follower of that Jewish carpenter, there is much within the Christian churches that I find abhorent and do not support.

At 72, I've come to understand that there is no black, no white, but various greys that reflect the diversity of the world.

Kara

excellent! like what you said kara.