Hello everyone ... here's why I joined this forum ...

[ajlopp]

Hello everyone, I am user-ID "ajlopp" which is my usual computer moniker. My real name is Allen J. Lopp and I live on a farm near a very small town in Southern Indiana called Lanesville. Not as isolated as it sounds, Lanesville has a population of about 750, is about 25 miles from Louisville, Kentucky, and just a few miles off an exit of Interstate-64. Lanesville ain't exactly Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming ... but it's a good approximation.

P)......My ambition/fantasy/goal is first to get better acquainted with the SoulForce organization, and soon attempt to organize a SoulForce local group for Southern Indiana --- covering the area between Indianapolis and Louisvlle KY, which is very rural.

p)......As for GLBT groups in this area, there is almost *NOTHING* going on in this area! I thought quite a bit about whether to start a PFLAG or GLSEN group, but I've decided that the assumed-straight, often homophobic populace here needs some group that, by design, is capable of getting IN THEIR FACE about religious attitudes re GLBT relationships.

P)......The county weekly paper here, the Corydon Democrat, occasionally prints letters people write in about homosexuality and related issues. They fall into four categories: 1) Bible-thumping about how to read Leviticus and Romans in the most literal, brain-dead manner possible, and similar stuff that we've all heard already, 2) GLBT-supportive letters from accepting straights, 3) letters from gay/lesbian residents of the community that are printed anonymously, and 4) recurring letters from one man with a very "ex-gay" attitude, who admits he is gay but prays for God to remove this flaw from his character, and invites other closeted gay men in the area to attend his prayer meetings. In a word, the local discourse is pretty bleak and aching for some progressive input. Amazingly, not one gay man or lesbian woman has ever written in saying "I'm gay and I'm OK with it, and if you aren't OK with my being gay, then I'm OK with that, too."

P)......Of course, I ponder that maybe I need to be that first such letter-writer, and have thought long and hard about what is the best, most constructive way to do it. Since the hottest local objections to gay/lesbian couples always are based in religious dogma, I thought that speaking in the name, or at least in the style and fashion, of SoulForce might be the strongest position.

P)......On the bright side, this community has a group called Community Unity which formed about six years ago in oppostion to a KKK rally in Corydon in September, 1999. They have a now-legendary pledge called the Corydon Resolution by which the signer commits to never participating in or supporting social violence. (See www.communityunity.org) The Corydon Resolution includes sexual orientation as one of the human differences that should not be dealt with thru violence, and for this reason the more conservative churches in the area refused to join the signers. (The original circulation of the Corydon Resolution in 1999 garnered about 7,000 signatures, which were then printed in the Corydon Democrat.) So there are some good forces at work in this community, not just closed-minded stuff.
P)......I have never attended a SoulForce meeting or event, but I have been affiliated with the Unity Fellowship congregation while I lived in Los Angeles, and now I attend church (sometimes) at MCC-Louisville. (Unity Fellowship is, generally, a denomination similar to MCC, but oriented primarily toward African-Americans. I attended there in L.A. even though I am white. It was the most truly enjoyable congregation I have ever been a part of, and I still miss it.)

P)......Well, haven't I rambled on? But if anyone reading this has some good ideas about how I might go about finding co-horts to form a SoulForce in Southern Indiana, I would like to hear from you. (I have downloaded the SoulForce start-up kit; I need to read thru it carefully, but I fear that I'm not ready for that quite yet.)

Wishing everyone a Peaceful and Loving 2006 ... ajlopp

P.S. One stupid question: Does SOulForce consider itself a primarily Christian group, or does it seek to be ecumenical and inter-faith?

[schoolboi]

Great to see you on the forum!

To answer you question, Soulforce is not a religious organization. The organization focuses on the injustice caused by religion toward LGBTQ people. That being said many of the people involved with Soulforce are involved because they feel their faith calls them to do justice. There are people from all kinds of faith and non-faith backgrounds involved. Most are Christian, but most people in the US are Christian. Soulforce most often counters religious discrimination from the Christian community because we believe in the US that is the greatest source of antigay rhetoric. I hope this answers your question.

Many blessings in your endeavor for justice!

[Emproph]

Welcome ajlopp,

I saw this post a while back and wanted to suggest putting it in the main forum. It’s a good and engaging intro with relevant topics.

When I stumbled back a few days ago it inspired me to finish my post on ‘writing letters to the editor,’ with you in mind I did, and posted it earlier today. So thanks.

Hope to see you again.