Church as a Persecutor
I’m sorry, God but your followers are deliberately persecuting members of society. The LGBTQIA+ community is suffering extensive torment by religious conservatives as they claim that God doesn’t approve of their lifestyles and/or sexual orientation. No member of the church, or modern society for that matter, can state they don’t understand the long-term psychological ramifications of persistent maltreatment, exclusion, and oppression. The devastating impact is known. We are all aware of it and cannot plead ignorance. Are the negative outcomes possibly the intention of this horrid Christian rhetoric?
This seemingly concerted cruelty at the hands of the “righteous” can only impose great mental health damage; that much is known[1]. This vilification causes anguish, guilt, anxiety, and depression for an entire section of our community. None of these emotions contribute to a positive life experience. Knowingly causing these emotions in people is hateful and downright reckless. This abominable behaviour from the “godly” does absolutely nothing to honour their god or their religion.
In public, religious rhetoric consistently surrounds criticism of LGBTQIA+ over and above many other “sins”. It dominates the judgemental pulpit of right-leaning social media pages. There are lecterns full of preachers condemning these vulnerable people. Considering modern Christians are technically Judeo-Christians, perhaps they should be more familiar with ancient Jewish texts alongside their Old Testament Bible. The Talmud is the primary source of Jewish traditions, laws, and theology. The Talmud recognises several different gender identities:
Zachar, male;
Nekevah, female;
Androgynos, having both male and female characteristics;
Tumtum, lacking sexual characteristics;
Aylonit hamah, identified female at birth but later naturally developing male characteristics;
Aylonit adam, identified female at birth but later developing male characteristics through human intervention;
Saris hamah, identified male at birth but later naturally developing female characteristics;
Saris adam, identified male at birth and later developing female characteristics through human intervention.[2]
So, non-binary genders are clearly not a modern concept. Jesus certainly didn’t include the criticism of the non-binary, transgender, or intersex community into his busy teaching schedule. Why would he? Jesus was cognisant of these varied gender identities written in the Talmud; after all, he was a devout Jew. Given modern Christianity worships the Jewish deity, perhaps they need to expand their knowledge of Jewish tradition.
The condemnation of the LGBTQIA+ community from a religious basis deliberately ignores an obvious bible verse that should cause a shift in their focus: 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil…” Jesus taught many times of the ills of those amassing earthly riches. Are non-binary the root of all evil? No. Are trans people the root of all evil? No, they’re not. Are queer, asexual, and intersex people the root of all evil? No. No. No. What is the root of all evil? The love of money apparently. The love of money. I don’t see too many religious social media pages shouting out their condemnation of the wealthy. They should choose to openly combat the love of money in favour of the redistribution of wealth to those who are poor and needy. That should be their focus. That was the constant message of their leader, Jesus. Library books for children about wealth accumulation should be outlawed if the Christians wish their theology to form part of our modern society and polity. Why is that not the focus of all preachers? It absolutely should be!
If the religious folks are really interested in combatting evil and in living according to Jesus’ teaching, they should be advocating love and acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community. The New Testament talks of love being indispensable and says if one, “…does not have love, [one is] only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.[3]” I would modernise this verse in this discussion context as: Christians persecuting the LGBTQIA+ sector are howling at the moon to invoke hatred. Then there’s the bible verse about “Do not judge, or you too shall be judged”[4] but, um, whatever…
There is no love exhibited in the anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric of the Christians; it is hate. Seemingly, hatred and judgementalism have become attributes endorsed by modern Christian teachings despite not being modelled by Jesus Christ. Persecution by Christians depicts their piety as being superficial, at best, and fraudulent. This hateful rhetoric is outright dangerous to the mental wellbeing of many marvellous people. Every person, Christian or otherwise, knows the likely outcome of persecution such as this: suicide; depression; anxiety. Is this persecution to be the lasting legacy of Christ via his modern followers?
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662085/
[2] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-eight-genders-in-the-talmud/
[3] 1 Corinthians 13:1
[4] Matthew 7:1