[awediot]

Hey Jen... You leave Vegas a little money left ... Good to hear from you...

Originally Posted by Jennifer5

What does Soulforce stand for? Love.

Man I'm getting jaded...but, so what? So do it's greatest foes...

"Love", and doing things in it's name, isn't the all purpose silver bullet that automatically softens the blows it alone is capable of delivering square into the heart... I must wonder how some gays will handle the coerced respect others are legally required to demonstrate, if the personal acceptance doesn't naturally accompany it...Or, when our war cry to "...Get used to it!" finally works, and people are used to us...and we've got no boogy man to blame our problems on any more. Some of us have healed to the point where can milk our victimization and have integrated victimhood into our normal justifications for why we are so screwed up.

It's a bass ackward comfort being able to blame the freaky, cloistered and megalomaniacal influence of "THE CHURCH" for doing a number on us. -This isn't to say the damage is not real, but at least it is a familiar and easy target... What when people truly no longer care, and get tired of the whining?

It's not just an organization, it's a cause and it's a community. Real people, real feelings, real problems, real stories, and here real relationships have been created. Lives are literally saved daily because of the things such as the equality ride and Mel White's books. Even more lives are improved because of they know that there is love and support out there for them. When these things happen, it doesn't much matter what the organization is doing 5 years from now if the fights are over. When GLBT people have equal rights, Soulforce can be a part of history or perhaps they'll adopt a new cause.

I can't imagine what having access to the internet and groups like SoulForce could have done for, and to me when I was going insane as a torn apart, teen believer who loved oh so wrongly. A supportive, nurturing and edifying community like this is invaluable to those who need a sanctuary and protected escape for awhile... I am thrilled people have a place like this to come to...

-having said that, I have to say that the shear motive to just love and support a person, is a sweet premise of needed compassion, but it is incomplete and can be shallow to an even greater fault... If a friend comes to you crying about a hurt they have blatantly brought on them self by their stupid and selfish pattern of actions they refuse to admit to, then it may only enable them to continue shamelessly, if we make them feel good about their lousy behavior... Some people SHOULD hurt and feel like dirt for what they do... It is this follow-up philosophy which teaches people to handle and avoid painful realities, that I am curious about SF's stance on.

As a wounded community who has earned some wound licking time, we are pretty bad at self-criticism. As gay people who've experienced a level of rejection and worthlessness no straight person could understand, the want to almost impose "love" onto a society who would only benefit from it is normal... But as just people, we know no one is really helped by being coddled and blindly propped back up to feeling good enough to go do the exact same crap that will just hurt them again and again... We need to let people know they are loved and respected, and hoped the best for, and that they will be called on their bs like a "regular" person, despite being an oppressed and bashed on queer who may find secular normalcy and acceptance doesn't pump up the esteem as much as we hoped it would...

Then what?

...but you're back, something drew you back to this site, so I'm guessing that in your heart you probably agree with me.

Yes and no... I'm as concerned with what gay activism does in my associative name, as I am with what Christians do for the same reason... As both, I do understand the Christian warning that getting ourselves embraced and validated by society is no substitute for being sure we are right with God. As melodramatic and pious as it sounds, my concern lies more with the state of the human being who seeks this place out, than whether their temporary boost of status in a sick world will make gay A-okAY.

We can legally enforce equal treatment when it comes to civil rights. We cannot make people accept or respect us as equals... I fear that many are hinging their self-worth on getting some laws passed, erroneously expecting that to transfer into some change in the hearts which will just keep thinking the abominations are at the gate and taking over the country... Our fight is a noble and just one, but after the celebration, and gay couples must now examine whether or not they really want to marry their current partner, since the law is no longer an excuse, we will at best be invited back aboard a sinking ship... That day will have been worth it if we can keep some perspective on it. It will grant us the same benefits, responsibility, and right to the red tape as the rest of the world is privileged to have to cope with. It won't make us actually be, or feel more loved for long...

I don't want nor have any reason to burst bubbles, and assume the struggle will pay off within a decade at the latest...But I am compelled to deflate a few now, as they have built up some outrageous expectations that no mere new rule could ever fulfill, and they are setting themselves up for an anti-climactic fall... I hope and pray SF is not feeding into that delusion by pinning too much on shifting policies that no one should mistake for a little salvation. Some may find that their problems are far larger than what the umbrella of human rights can heal.