No person, group, or religion has a monopoly on God. What I see happening -- and it's been happening for years -- is that certain religious groups (mainly identifying themselves as "Christian") have determined that they are the be all and end all of God's message. By monopolizing "God" in this way, they convince lesbian and gay people -- among others -- that they are "wrong" or "unrepentant sinners" unworthy of God.
The result is saddening. Lesbians and gays who have been injured by messages of nonacceptance quite predictably feel pained by their experience with religion. So, instead of rejecting this position or the groups offering it, some lesbian and gay people reject God entirely. But it's important to understand that it's not God who is rejecting lesbians and gays. Knowing that to be true, why then shoud lesbians and gays feel compelled to reject God? Better yet, why should you be deprived of spiritual richness simply because others want to deprive you of that richness? You shouldn't.
As Maya Angelou says in her heart-wrenching poem "Our Grandmothers," documenting the plight of Black women in America:
"She stood in midocean, seeking dry land.
She searched God's face.
Assured,
She placed her fire of service
on the altar, and though
clothed in the finery of faith,
when she appeared at the temple door,
no sign welcomed
Black Grandmother. Enter here.
Into the crashing sound,
into wickedness, she cried,
No one, no, nor no one million Ones dare deny me God. I go forth
alone, and stand as ten thousand.
The Divine upon my right
impels me to pull forever
at the latch on Freedom's gate.
The Holy Spirit upon my left leads my
feet without ceasing into the camp of the
righteous and into the tents of the free."
Let's not let others define our relationship with God.
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