Dept. of Faith Like a Mustard Seed

[kaffyr]

 Putting Their Mouths Where Their Hearts Are

I was once a Christian believer. I haven't been for decades. But I still have family, friends and acquaintances who are strong believers. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, they all seem to be pretty honorable types.

They may already know of The NALT Christian Project, as many of y'all out there might already know. In case you don't, however, the Not All Like That project is worth taking a look at.

It's a project in which Christians who don't believe their God thinks homosexuality or non-heterosexuality are sins post videos testifying to that belief. It's their way of standing up against the publicly held perception — one nurtured by too many people — that all Christians do think non-hetersosexuality is a sin. It's done by people who, as Dan Savage says in his introductory video, believe they have to do more than whisper to their LBGTQ friends that "We're not all like that" in the face of religiously-branded bigotry and hatred.

It's a damned good idea and well worth the effort, at least I think so. If you fit the bill as a NALT Christian, and if you want to help boost the signal, this may be for you.

Comments

[honorh.livejournal.com]

I love this project. Dan Savage is a person I have severe Issues with, but I'm thankful he started this, because Christians need to know there are others like them out there. In fact, there's a sea change going on right now, and we need to have the courage to stand up and do what we believe is right.

[kaffyr]

Savage is hard to take in many ways, but I get the feeling he has a strong sense of honor - and when some Christians took him up on his challenge, he felt that the honorable thing to do was to back it fully.

And I am, believer or not, very proud of the people who have taken or are taking part in the project. I am very hopeful about the idea of a sea change, too.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Wow!! A good friend of mine would love to hear about this! What a brilliant idea. And yes, the perceptions are ugly and that needs to change. Like with any other group, the loudest are the most hateful, but it doesn't mean everyone is like that.

*HUGS*

[kaffyr]

Like with any other group, the loudest are the most hateful, but it doesn't mean everyone is like that.

Yup. And now it's time for the non-hateful people to be even louder. Go, them!

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

St. Francis loved God and preached to the birds and the bunnies. St. Dominic (they were contemporaries) loved God and founded the Inquisition.
Personally, I handle this with the simple hypothesis that just because people use the same words, they do not necessarily mean the same things. That eliminates a lot of potential confusion.

Has anyone else noticed that all over the world, the haters and nutters who blame it all on god are much more like each other than their respective local ideas of god? There are even Buddhist terrorists, in Sri Lanka and Burma.

(Incidentally, I am a fan of Dan Savage. It would not occur to me that he is for everyone, but I would like to point out that (1) he answers the letters he gets. He's not out there sticking his nose into other people's business, and he's very clear that he's giving advice, not orders (2) when he's wrong, he owns it and corrects it and (3) every so often, he really hits a nerve in a big, constructive way.)

[kaffyr]

I like Savage, too.

And yeah, the haters all look alike. Including the Buddhists.

[mack-the-spoon.livejournal.com]

This is pretty darn cool. I will definitely be taking a closer look at it - thanks for bringing it to my attention!