When I heard Knox GSA would have a booth at the fair, I thought, oh I couldn't do that, I'm not brave enough. But then my friend Phillip died of AIDS. Fair week means my full-time job is extra intense, but I wanted to at least visit and sit a while with my friends the GSA-ers in Phillip's honor and his memory.
It was a fascinating experience over three too-short evening shifts, what a friend called "a sociological experiment" for me, the rather naive, small-town, straight church-goer girl (albeit at the most liberal and open church in Knox County -- First Congregational United Church of Christ).
Sociology, oh, yeah. I saw some appalling behaviors and gestures, and heard some unbelievable invective and strange, disturbing logic. I was embarrassed to be a fellow Christian with these people, who I think have forgotten that "Christ" is the basis of that word that describes our beliefs, and that Christ preached the gospel of love, especially to those his very own society looked down on. Jesus never turned anyone away, but these folks sure did, and many of them in his name.
I'm reading a book called "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers: Why The Gospel Of Love Is Dividing America," by Dan Merchant. It's also been made into a movie and will be available on DVD. Highly recommended, and the title is self-explanatory of the book, the premises of which I watched play out at the Knox County Fair.
What I saw:
--A little boy, maybe 9, 10, laughing uproariously out loud, pointing at the GSA sign, and tugging his father's sleeve: "Dad, Dad, look at that. Ha, ha, ha!" Fortunately the father didn't have much reaction. I just hope the little boy's peers don't have the same mindset.
--A woman handing us a printout from the Internet, complete with typos, that must have come (because someone else gave us one also) from some website that explains "how to talk to people who claim they 'have' to be gay." Full of scripture references to "those" scriptures. She pointed at a few of us in turn, including me. "I love you, I love you, I love you, but we are told to hate the sin, love the sinner." She refused to take any of our literature, or even converse with us. And this tirade unfolded in front of her impassive listening husband and babies in their stroller, as well as people passing by. In the interest of laughing instead of crying, we got a good giggle about her saying she loved me, since I'm straight too. :-) Funny how she threw us all into the same little pigeon-hole marked "Sinner" if big red letters.
--People not understanding the Gay-Straight Alliance phrase. Whoa. I suspect this is a Knox County lack-of-education problem, because what's not to understand about hyphen usage and the word "alliance"? But Kate and Victoria said many people asked what it meant, and many asked if they were "for" or "against" gays. Bizarre. We gotta remember that we live in Knox County ...
--People, presumably Christians, walk by, read the sign, then make dismissive gestures, laugh, roll their eyes, nudge each other, whisper, make over-the-shoulder insults, etc. Not very Christ-like reactions; certainly not reactions of love and acceptance of all in the name of their Christ.
--That sitting with my friends didn't bother me in the least. I looked passersby right in the eye, laughed and talked with my friends, and cared not a whit what anyone watching might have thought, about me, my friends, or my own sexuality. If they wanted to think I'm gay, then it just shows they are stereotyping in another way. I do think I matured spiritually just by participating -- wonderful!
What I heard about when not there:
--Scott being called a "fag" by a teenager, just because he's male and was sitting in the booth. He and his wife are on vacation, so I haven't got to hear his reaction to that yet. But whoa.
-- Reading Kate's and Victoria's negative experiences in their blogs was depressing and painful. Their, and others', stories of mean people, holier-than-thou Christians, closed-minded people, people with their minds apparently in the gutter who think only of body parts and sex when they think about homosexuals, and the young Knox Countians with really bad attitudes that don't bode well for future generations, was really hard to ponder. The young "cowboy in training" who dared to come up and try to discuss lesbian lovemaking from a pornographer's sick viewpoint especially made me queasy. Who are these children and where are their parents and how do children adopt an attitude of hate before they're even grown up?
I'm a religion news reporter and have always been fascinated by the various religions, denominations, fundamentalism, hypocrisy, dogma, doctrine, church history, etc. so I desperately wanted to ask people, "So ... what church do you go to?" But I wanted to stay within the Knox GSA committed mode of open dialogue and non-combative discussion, and not embarrass my friends. But I really wanted to ask. :-) Not that it would have made a difference ...
Frankly, I'm scared for Knox County. Despite our rich history and heritage and the natural beauty of this place, we've now got a major polarization of -- let's be honest -- thinking Christians and "ostrich" Christians (with their heads in the sand ... a la the John Freshwater / Minute Men controversies that refuse to go away). The middle school Christian kids have polarized themselves, according to parents, and think nothing of ostracizing, ridiculing, even threatening other children who don't agree with them. That is REALLY frightening and doesn't bode well for the upcoming school year. I'm scared violence could break out if this keeps up.
God help us all. Seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God. And equal rights for all -- that means EVERYONE, no exceptions,
Kim
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