Quote from: Angel on October 31, 2007, 11:34:27 PM
I plan to, it just irks me when I meet a close minded fundamentalist. I just don't understand them, how is it they can hate and deject so much? Why do people like that like to say we are evil? I talk and debate with them so that I can hopefully understand where they are coming from, then maybe I can find the way to help them understand. I truely pity those who can not accept others as everyone has something to teach. But this guy has been approached many times by the local LGBT center and still doesn't get it, so I'm not going to go to far out of my way for it.
He doesn't make me doubt my God, or the love both he and Jesus have for me. If it weren't for them I'd be dead a long time ago. For better or worse they keep me alive, so I know they love me. But this man has verbally...well attack might be to strong, other LGBT members on campus. I feel that it is my duty to try and explain the truth, and stop him hopefully from spreading misconceptions about the LGBT community. Maybe a lost cause, but maybe its the part of me that wants to be a teacher.
Quote from: Pica Pica on October 31, 2007, 05:01:14 AM
crossdressing is expressly forbidden somewhere I remember.
True, but who defines what is male clothing and female clothing. What makes one piece of fabric female and another male?
Fundamentalists are actually very easy to understand. Alas, that's part of what frustrates us so much about their views. You see, it's all about being
safe. Most fundamentalists have some kind of history that's replete with all sorts of really bad things. You'll often hear stories of drug use, prostitution, pagan/new age/occult involvement, "lots of sex," and "homosexuality" or "crossdressing" in their pasts. Their testimonies are often emotional stories of how God reached them in their lowest point to pull them out of the quagmire.
But how is that different from the rest of us? After all, a lot of us who are NOT fundamentalists have had similar pasts? Fundamentalists will often shape their religious pantheon around avoiding any semblance of their "former selves." They are literally afraid of going back, and will do anything they can to keep that from happening. They have been told that salvation is a gift, and that it's by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
They have also been told that they have to follow a plethora of rules, which would immediately render their spiritual growth in vain. Their version of God is a kind of all-seeing deity that's ready to strike whenever someone "sins" and then will destroy all those "sinners" who have yet to "repent" of their "wicked ways."
But why do I say it's "safe?" It's quite simple... this is a god (little G is intentional) that they can comprehend. They can understand their place in the universe. It's far more important to build a wall of separation between yourself and the outside world. After all, why should we allow that dark, wicked world to influence us? It's "safe" because they don't have to run anymore... they can just build an imaginary world where everything can be solved or answered with a simple Bible verse or doctrine.
The dark side of fundamentalism is that for them to be the good guys, there must be enemies. As a result, they will demonize and marginalize any other group they can to make themselves look like the salvation of society they view themselves to be. This is why "abortionists," "new agers," "liberals," and "militant homosexual activists" are denigrated at every opportunity. To them, anyone in these groups are truly evil, as they dare to question the house of cards that fundamentalism really is.
After all, their world is built in black or white. There is no color, there are no shades of gray. One is either damned or saved. There are no in-betweens. There are no journeys, no paths, and they are literally the gatekeepers to this "truth." In short, fundamentalism is built on words. The Gospel must be told, a "sinner" must be told that they're retched, we must tell our own testimony in order to keep from falling back in, and to keep others from going down the same path of destruction. We must tell someone of our "decision" to come to Christ.
It's when this fragile world begins to crack that fundamentalists will become violent in their views. This is why transgendered and those of us in the rest of the GLBT community are considered "evil." After all, we dare to question the black-or-white view, and we see beyond the archaic rules and laws of old. Many of us have embraced our checkered past as a part of our lives, even though we've been healed or delivered from destructive behavior. We've moved on; we don't have to tell our testimony of grace-- we live it.
In the end, Paul wrote, there is merely faith, hope, and love; the greatest of which is love. No matter how dark our past might be, or whether or not we're gay, lesbial, bisexual, or transgender... the love of the Living God is for all of us. There's great hope in that. And the faith that drives both the hope and love that the Bible speaks of is enough to move moutains... even mountains of hate.
