First of I-don’t-know-how-many blog posts of my experience last week in St. Louis, MO. If you’ve never heard of Revoice Conference, it’s a safe space that  supports, encourages, and empowers gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality. It’s the first time in human history that “Side B” Christians from all over the world can gather to worship, to fellowship, and to learn from one another.

This event really means a lot to me. I wish I had this 8 years ago when I was a closeted Christian! Although my experience as a gay Christian was mostly positive, I met dozens of Christians who either were closeted or rejected by their churches. Revoice was a powerful space to let us all worship in peace.

Before I go into the details of the conference, I want my readers to recognize the scope:

This map represents everyone I met at Revoice off the top of my head. Some of these places are very friendly towards LGBT and SSA people. Some are not. Most of these Christians have dedicated their lives to celibacy, in gratitude of their new lives in Christ. Yet some still are misunderstood by their Christian brothers and sisters, with whom they wish to walk along side as they strive to live for Jesus.

Oh how good it is
On this journey we share
To rejoice with the happy
And weep with those who mourn.

(lyrics from “Oh How Good”)

Those few days I was able to rejoice with those who were able to worship as they are, and I couldn’t help but weep with those who had to hide themselves from their families. (Real tears!)

It was beautiful to see how God was working through an oppressed group of people for His love to endure all obstacles. Join me as I recount some of the sweet, brave, and thought-provoking moments of Revoice.

(Season 2 Steven Universe spoiler below)

This is Garnet.

She can see the future.

This isn’t a post about the popular animated masterpiece Steven Universe (2013-), but I wanna reflect on something that we can’t see. Our future.

In a recent podcast episode, Rebecca Sugar, the creator of this wonderful TV series, describes how she created this character. A notable talking point is Garnet’s ability to see future possibilities, and how that affects her personality. Garnet comes off as a stoic and wise, yet compassionate character. Sugar provides some detail as to why Garnet’s the quiet type. 

“In every moment of her being, she is constantly calculating outcomes and carefully choosing the right words and actions. She spends more time thinking and analyzing than talking and acting. Therefore she has the appearance of a stoic character,” to paraphrase Sugar’s words.

I could not relate to this character more. I grew up being simultaneously excited and nervous of the future. I absolutely wanted to grow up, but I was always afraid to make a move or make a mistake. In some Steven Universe episodes, certain scenarios can tamper with her future vision. From that, she becomes frozen. You can see where this is going. God designed us without future-seeing abilities. He wants us to trust in Him and experience life without knowing all the answers. That is one beautiful aspect of life.

“You are an experience. Make sure it’s a good one.”

That Garnet line wasn’t related to future vision, but you get the picture. If we had the ability to see the future (or at least see future outcomes), we would extremely scrutinize our actions and we wouldn’t go anywhere. Through this catharsis, I’ve learned to let down some of my anxieties of the future. Why worry about the future when God designed me to live in the present? That’s our thought for today.

I’m stuck in my religious household. (I’m an atheist pagan)

What do I do? They know I’m an atheist, but I don’t know how to tell them that I WILL. NOT. GO. TO. CHURCH. WITH. THEM.

They want me to go to church with them because, “It’s not a religious activity, it’s a family activity.” No it’s not. How do I tell them that? How do I let them know that, even after I get a handle on my religious trauma, I. AM. NOT. GOING.

I am not christian. I’m not going to sit in a building with a whole bunch of bigots (not saying all Christians are bigots, just the ones at the church my family goes to) while a man preaches a religion I don’t believe in. I’m not sitting there for an hour- an hour and a half. I am not going to have to sit still for that long while some weird cult-y sh*t happens. I am not participating in that cult-y sh*t. (not saying all churches do cult-y sh*t)

I’m not doing it. No.

What is a calm way of saying that I am just not doing it?

So… I Want to Debate With Some Christians.

I mean a DEBATE not and an argument. I don’t want to debate whether or not god is real. I want to debate individual topics: topics on morality, individuality, and the greater effect of Christianity on the world. Please, PLEASE contact me at: max_personal_1@yahoo.com

Thank you.

1rakus:

1rakus:

1rakus:

an angel would fuck a streetlamp and it would be nothing. it would be like a dog thoughtlessly rutting against a couch: pure instinctual pleasure chasing with something that may elicit but not share in your libido. but if an angel fucked a cell tower then viable offspring could very well result

this isn’t an arbitrary fact nor am i saying it in a fit of tryhard i’m-so-quirky-weird-internet-man pretense ok im saying that metaphysically speaking, if we were talking about the pure intent and function of angels and cell towers, they are absolutely in the same family of creature

people are asking “are you okay” and “what the fuck does this mean”. you are not contributing to divine phylogeny

… because they’re both messengers.

Okay, I’ll admit it: I laughed.