Suffering In The Darkness Of Ignorance

Over the past weekend I received another taste of the hatred and intolerance which people hold against their fellow human beings. That this person sent their hate mail to me via an email address of the organization I represent in my home town, indicates to me that this person must live in the same place - and the timing of this, for various reasons which I will not go into here, even more so. It saddened me that much more, especially at a time while I have already been saddened by the loss of a particularly inspiring mentor and minister, who gave selflessly and worked for the inclusion of all people into the family of God. 

I am also sad to say that I was unsurprised that this hatred came from a person professing Christianity - a faith which holds a loving father-figure God as its tradition and core belief, as well as loving each other selflessly after the pattern set by Christ. This message seems all too rare in modern Christianity, doesn't it? Especially when you face hatred and intimidation such as this on a regular basis.

"Fear God and desist from sodomy and lesbianism Otherwise you shall burn in hell forever" said Mngr's first letter - I presume "Mngr" stands for "Manager". And the email address had something to do with lathe sales. At any rate, the argument he or she proceeded to present indicated to me that this person is clearly a fundamentalist and hence a couple of cards short of a full deck. Nevertheless, I decided to respond anyway.

Dear "Lathesales/Mngr",

Clearly you have the wrong God. For the God I know, so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son as a sacrifice so that ALL - including gays and lesbians - may have eternal life.

Gay and transgender people are born as they are - and if you believe that God created you and me, then logically you have to believe that he made us all as we are. Failure to accept gay and transgender people is simply an admission that you are not as Christian as you claim to be - but then again, nobody's perfect, not even us gay people.

Instead of responding to your baneful threat with misogyny, I refer you to the following resource where you may relieve your suffering in the darkness of ignorance:

http://www.godmademegay.com/ A Letter to Louise: A Biblical Affirmation of Homosexuality

http://www.whosoever.org/I2sodom.html

http://www.otkenyer.hu/truluck/index.html Steps to recovery from bible abuse. A response to the abusive use of the bible against gays and lesbians.

http://gayandlesbianbible.com/index.php?pr=Excerpt

http://www.gaysandslaves.com/index.html

http://gaychristiansurvivors.tripod.com/ Gay Christian Survivors

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_fundamentalism Christian fundamentalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_literalism

http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/history/king_james_gay.html King James (of the KJV) was gay!

There it is - education - it is up to you to grasp it, if you can."

Clearly he or she could not, for less than 12 hours later, there was a reply, in which I could see that all the information I had sent had fallen on infertile ground - wasted, like seeds sown on concrete.

"Gay is simply an evil desire which must be curbed." Mngr proclaimed. "God will not punish you for your desire, He will punish you if you implement the desire physically " "no matter what you claim, gays are not born that way. animals are not gay, so human who are more superior should know better."

"No matter what I claim"? Hmm. But what if I claim is a fact? You say you will reject fact in favor of the lie in your mind, regardless? But of course you will. What does that say about you? Is ignorance really bliss?

Science doesn't lie. Neither does genetics. The jury is still out on religion and censorship, however. Have a look here:

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4215427.stm Non sex genes linked to 'gay trait'

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050511_transfrm.htm Preliminary work, genetic link found in transexuality

http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/press_releases/releases/borngay.htm Dr Rahmann

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7456588.stm BBC NEWS Health Scans see 'gay brain differences'

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617151845.htm Swedish study brain symmetry GLBT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_animals -

Did you know there are gay animals? You have already rejected that idea, but consider this: How can it be unnatural to be gay if there are gay animals? Either being gay IS natural, or animals have the ability to sin. You choose, but you are on Darwinian ground so be careful or your vengeful God may strike you down.

As for the Sodom story, http://www.whosoever.org/I2sodom.html should explain your mistake in assuming Sodom was supposedly destroyed because of homosexuality.

This person then went on to make the most unbelievably depraved claim I have seen in a while:

"In this world you are being punished with aids. Recent research revealed that if you pelt a person to death with stones, his death looks very similar to a person who have died of aids. Glaring punishment."

Well Mngr, I think that if you have to beat somebody to death with a bible, the result will look pretty similar as well. Besides, I cannot take seriously this claim of yours that there was a "recent study" on this matter - although I can believe that people who think like you would be only too happy to oblige. I have to say your sense of justice - and compassion - are pretty grim. So much for the precept that Christians are supposed to show the compassion - and love - of Christ. Are you sure you are Christian?

The old fairytale that AIDS is a "gay disease" rears its head again. Besides, my ignorant friend - were you aware that far more hetero people contract and die from AIDS? And yet you are quick to link AIDS to being gay - and to delight in the suffering it causes. Tsk, tsk.

"what horridnes to insert a male orgin into an anus filled with excreta. yes this is the punishment of hell where red hot steel poles will be shoved into the anus. so you guys are enacting hell." - You sound almost jealous. Tell me, how is your sex-life? You DO have a sex-life, don't you? Yes, it's true that some relationships can be a re-enactment of hell, but that is why God created Divorce and Alimony.

And before you claim that God didn't create the above, let me point out that you will probably claim that God created marriage - a statement which just about evens out the provability of both statements.

"I do not judge you, I am simply guiding you to the correct path."

Yes, you do. You judge us. You have decided for yourself that "I am on the "wrong" path". And it is only your personal opinion which substantiates this - and your arrogance to stand there pointing at others while you have a log in your own eyes. God is love - even the book you beat people over the head with says so - it is people like you who hate and punish and take on the mantle of God.

This fundie then went on to take my rejection of his or her "advice" as a rejection of Christianity. How typical.

"From your email I gain that you reject God. That is your baby. You shall die and we shall die. You reject the day of Judgment – but beware if you are wrong. Maybe your emotions are running away with you. You do not have the faintest idea of sex. You and your group simply think that sex is a toy to simply stimulate your penis/pussy. This is animal behaviour. You do not realize that sex is not simply a desire that MUST be fulfilled, no matter how or with whom. Your corruption will lead people to have sex with mother, father, daughter and son and even animals.- yet you wish to claim that this is “natural” behaviour. 

 

Natural!! Sis most nauseating!!

 

Natural sex was created to create offspring (without natural sex you would not be here today). Can gay produce offspring? If God did not make sex “tasty” no one would have children. But your taste is corrupted and influenced by Satan. Remember, once you indulge in Satan style sex, you will dislike God’s natural ways. I once asked a female divorcee friend that would she ever consider a remarriage. She lamented and said that since she got involved in an orgy with two men, she no longer have any desire for one man only. She tried once but the session was hopelessly dry –SHE COULD NOT CLIMAX until she has this satan style sex with two men. Similarly, you gays will never be able to climax naturally any longer–(what a curse!). No I am not jealous, rather I pity you. I pity a person who dislikes a clean slice of bread in favour of a morsal of excreta taken from the toilet"

Okay, gloves off.

1) I do not reject God - I reject you and those such as you who abuse God as a weapon for your own hate.

2) Everything dies. Everybody dies - to deny this is illogical.

3) I think it is obvious which of us is "emotional" here.

4) If sex was not intended by your God to be enjoyed then how do you explain the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament? Oops.

5) Speaking of sex - I think it is you who knows all too little of the subject, because clearly you do not realize that like heterosexual relationships, sex is not the foundation of all homosexual relationships, but like heterosexual couples, intimacy is the glue which binds them together.

6) I would like to see you substantiate your claim and prove how same gender relationships are in any way, manner, shape or form related to incest, pedophilia etc. Your claims are baseless and simply reveal your complete lack of fact and knowledge on the subject - in short, you clearly do not know what you are talking about.

7) Consider how hatred, prejudice, spreading of lies and hateful intent affect your own religion. Are you not in effect acting as an agent of "corruption" yourself?

8) If sex can take place between two individuals, regardless of gender, without the aid of any artificial devices, then how can such sex ever be considered "unnatural"? This too is completely illogical.

9) "Natural sex was created to create offspring" - prove it. Even dolphins and chimps have sex for pleasure without reproducing. Lucky animals.

10) I am sure you forgot all the married couples out there who cannot reproduce - are they supposed to stop having sex? I am sure their marriages would last very long after that. What an idiotic premise.

11) If gay people are born gay, then how is this in any way corrupt? In fact this then is also "God's natural way". In short, my ignorant bigot friend - if God made us - you and me - and he made you straight and me gay, then this is how he made us - and then we are both natural and you have to ask yourself who is telling you to hate gay people - God? Or people like you who have nothing better to do than write threatening letters.

12) LOL such dirty talk about sex orgies - I think you are jealous. Believe it or not, sex orgies are just as much a part of straight life as they are of gay life. You have even admitted it in your own letter to me. You get people of either sexual orientation who do not like sex orgies - and those who do. What you are doing here is generalizing and also talking utter nonsense about what makes people reach climax and prattling on in the racist fashion of "once you try chocolate you'll never go back to milk". At any rate this utter rubbish does little but to show how ignorant and immature you are - are you at school perhaps?

13) What is nauseating is the sheer depravity and ignorance you display - as well as your obvious prejudice and hatred for innocent people who simply want to get on with their lives. They do not worry you, nor interfere with you - but you seek to act against them. You do dishonor to your faith, you dishonor God and yourself. Do you realize how cruel and stupid you sound? Get an education, buddy!

14) Keep your pity. Save it for yourself, dwelling in dark ignorance and medievalism. By the way, the Earth is not flat, nor is it the center of the solar system, nor the universe. Just so you know.

15) I stand against the oppression and cruelty you represent and would force upon all people - if you had the chance.

I closed my last reply with the following:

"In all your ranting here you have not produced one single fact, but instead persisted in rejecting all facts presented to you. I wonder what that says about you, your beliefs and your "morals"? Your paranoia and ignorance and tendency to change feet every time you open your mouth is quite funny. Please write back soon - I could use the comic relief!"

It has been three days since, and still no reply. I am almost disappointed. Almost. Part of me is hoping that this person has had time to read the info at the links I sent him or her, and seen the incongruity in their unwarranted attack on other people, and the cracks in the foundations of religious intolerance and hatred - and had a chance to rethink things. While typing this, a comment made about my friend the minister at his funeral service yesterday sprang up in my mind and waved to get my attention.

"Make a difference. Change the world, even if you have to change it one person at a time."

Perhaps after all this time I have become a little too cynical to seriously entertain the hope that someone who could mount such a hateful and ignorant argument, could become educated and stop persecuting gay and transgender people? Perhaps, but as they say, hope springs eternal. And where would we be if we didn't have hope?

Hope is what keeps us going, hope that one day there won't be this need for children to defend who they are to their parents. Hope that one day people won't have to fight in the court room - or the streets - to be treated equally as human beings along with everybody else. Hope that one day people will be big enough to accept each other as "just people" instead of turning every little biological or ideological difference into a full scale war between "us" and "them". Because in the end, in the cold hard reality of this world - there is only us - all of us. And the hope that one day we will all see the truth of this.

______________________________________________________________

If you would like to know more about Christina Engela and her writing, please feel free to browse her website.

If you’d like to send Christina Engela a question about her life as a writer or transactivist, please send an email to christinaengela@gmail.com or use the Contact form.

All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.

________________________________________