Fear in Our Hearts

More content from 'Taking a Chance on God" by John J. McNeill:

"Gays and lesbians need to develop a conscious awareness of the destructive role of fear in their communities. Our greatest enemy is not some outside opponent... It is the fear within us. First of all there are the fears we share with all humanity. But there are also fears that are unique to us as gay people. Because of our gayness, we may be subject to fears that lead to staying in the closet, self-denial, self-rejection, self-hatred, and finally even fleeing from the presence of God. We frequently give in to our own form of homophobic fear that crushes out all love for our lesbian sisters and gay brothers. Instead of seeing the glory of God in our being fully alive as lesbians and gay men, we sometimes believe that God's glory lies in our self-rejection and self-persecution, as well as in the rejection and persecution of our brothers and sisters."

Thoughts on the reading:

Do you believe there is validity in self-denial, rejecting oneself, or hating oneself because of the way one is born? We would not walk around and tell people who are black that they should hate themselves because of the color of their skin they were born with. Science has proven that homosexuality can be determined through genetics. Despite that, we still have churches that spout hate and teach their congregations that to be gay is equivalent to being of lesser value. The horrifying reality is that our fears and self-hatred lead us down a loveless path. It is a path void of God. It is a life void of happiness. Some of us feel like we have to try so hard to please our families or please our churches who don't agree that we were born perfect in God's image. But at what cost? Who do we cut out of our lives through these decisions? God loves everyone of his children. God hates none. To deny the gift given at birth is to deny God.