By Kathy Baldock (Reno, Nevada) APR 13 | “There’s your truth, my truth and the truth.” Christians should make it standard operating procedure to stick closer to the truth. Too often we tilt on over to the “my truth” side if it bolsters our fears. The tilt, however, has more damaging effects when the “truth”, yours or mine, is manipulated.
Dr. Michael Brown, director of the Coalition of Conscience, and host of the daily, nationally, syndicated talk radio show, “The Line of Fire,” self published a 691 page book in March 2011 called “A Queer Thing Happened to America | And what a long, strange trip it’s been “. I contacted Michael and asked him for a copy of the book to review. I assured him I would be very honest in my assessments.
Dr. Michael Brown
I do not doubt that Michael Brown cares about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) communities. He says repeatedly that he wrote this book in tears with love for the past six years. I believe that. I believe that he is burdened to care about the GLBT community. He says God told him to reach out the GLBT community with compassion and to resist with courage. I have no reason to doubt he is earnest in this desire.
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| Michael Brown |
I have been in the “can’t be gay and Christian” camp. I pitched my tent firmly there until events in my own life, unrelated to this topic, caused me to wonder if perhaps the truths that I held about my faith were really as solidly written in the pages of Scripture as I believed. Questioning the rigid confines of the way things must be, allowed me to be open to considerations and to doubt. It is not uncommon that difficulties cause both those scenarios; I emerged with greater faith and a better understanding of the rules/grace mixture.
So, I have been there. I had little or no relationships with GLBT people and a headful of opinions and “facts”. I would have been right there with the followers of Dr. Brown quoting verses excluding GLBT people from God’s Kingdom. I would have been right along side those that wanted to tell gay people that they needed to not be gay in order to please God. Until, that is, I allowed the discomfort of having my theology challenged. My buddy Netto, a lesbian, agnostic Native American literally crossed my path on a hiking trail. God used Netto in the most profound way to confront me about me beliefs about gay people.
Over these past ten years, I have established relationship with about a thousand members of the GLBT community and an overwhelming majority of them are Christians. I have gone to conferences, worship services, seminars, had meals, done recreational events, parties, stayed at their homes, roomed with them, been at family events with them, and listened to thousands of stories. Thousands of stories. I have received hundreds of letters. Tens of thousands of exchanges in social media, e mail and calls. I know this community. I have had the extremely unique opportunity to be on both sides and I am a mature Christian believer. I am privy to the the innermost circles of the GLBT Christian community and have hundreds of non-Christian GLBT friends. All this to say, I get it; I understand this messy place that much of the church struggles with.
So, what about the book? This is the stated purpose of “A Queer Thing Happened to America” (AQTHTA) : “to see how we got to this point in history, to examine some of the main lines of pro-gay thought, to consider the impact of gay activism on our society, and to ask the question: Where is the current trajectory taking us?”
The book has fifteen chapters. I have written comments on about one third of the pages in my book. Addressing all of my concerns and insights are not practical in a blog post. The approach I will take it to state, as best I can, the point of each chapter followed by my opinion of that section.
THE STEALTH AGENDA
Thirty pages of documentation of the various sources of the “gay agenda”. Mr. Brown builds his case for the development and existence of the “gay agenda”. The Stonewall Riots in 1969 was the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement. I agree. This was followed by the publishing of “Refugees from Amerika: Gay Manifesto” by Carl Whitman which Mr. Whitman says “never became dogma” and no one I know has ever read it.
Next, there is the 1972 Gay Rights Platform presented by 200 GLBT attendees to the Democratic National Convention. I love the internet; you can Google anything. In all the searches on this 1972 event, the overwhelming majority of references to it were by conservative group telling the tale over and over as if it were the seed of some major power ploy. One account even said there were 200 organizations represented. In 1972? Wow. Actually, the truth is five delegates presented their wish list at midnight and virtually no one was there to hear them and there were 200 GLBT people at the convention, not organizations as several of the references stated.
“After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fears and Hatred of Gays in the 1990′s” is referred to dozens of times in AQTHTA. It has a six-fold plan for the “gay revolution”. Sounds terrifying. Again, a Google search has all the conservatives referring to the plan and not one GLBT organization. If it is part of the “gay agenda”, shouldn’t some gay group be using it or alluding to it?
The statement by Dr. Brown that stunned me was : “Ironically, when it comes to denying the existence of a gay agenda, there is immense unity in the gay community. Why? It is because the denial of that agenda is part of the agenda (although for some, it might be a sincere, heartfelt denial.” (pg 43) What? I asked my gay friend Jeff if keeping the agenda a secret is indeed part of the agenda and he said, “I can let you borrow my copy. I keep it behind my ear on microfilm for secret meetings.” (Gotta love Jeff.)
You can ask one hundred gay people what the “gay agenda” is and you get an almost unanimous answer: “equality”. The “gay agenda” that threatens America with “the complete elimination of God and Christianity” , that “gay agenda” , was created by Jerry Falwell in the 1990′s to raise funds. The “evil communist empire” was gone and the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition turned their eyes to the “evil homosexuals” to raise funds and recruit volunteers. Pat Robertson warned his viewers regularly on the 700 Club about the “gay agenda”. That is where the threat and term were created. In the meetings of conservative religious and family groups. No wonder the GLBT community did not get a copy; they were not invited to the meetings. There is a real gay agenda: equality. The Man from Galilee was actually on that Platform Committee.
JEWISH HITLERS, CHRISTIAN JIHADIST, AND THE MAGICAL EFFECTS OF PUSHING THE “HATE” BUTTON
Lots of exchanges of posts, counter posts , Facebook comments , blog posts , television exchanges of people behaving badly and calling each other names for calling each other names. My bottom line: people don’t like to be called less-than or told they need to change. We all want the same thing–acceptance for who we are, not tolerance for who we are.
Dr. Brown writes: “Is it so hateful to believe that homosexual practice is harmful and that change is possible? (If a doctor takes issue with you or me being overweight, do we brand him or her an anti-fat, hate-filled bigot, or do we recognize that the doctor is expressing concern for our well being? Isn’t the doctor trying to be helpful rather hateful?)
That analogy falls apart quickly. When you suggest that an overweight person cut back and deny themselves excess calories, they get healthier. When you tell a gay person to deny their sexual orientation, that is when you get all the symptoms from shame to depression to addictions to suicide at the extreme.
So yes, we see in this chapter that people call each other nasty names in heated dialogues that disintegrate to yell-matches. That is going to happen on both sides when you keep telling someone that they are unacceptable. Dr. Brown suggests we “bring [ing] the real issues into the light [so ] that we can render the hate button obsolete. Isn’t it time?” I fully agree. But we widely disagree on the “real issues”.
And you know what? The “gay left” does not have a corner on nastigrams and behaving badly. Come read my mail from Christians who are not fans of my theology and actions. Lots of people behave badly in discussion of hot topics. And when you treat them as less-than-citizens in a democracy/republic, they may well not say pretty things. They are tired of it. This is news?
BOYS WILL BE BOYS: UNDOING GENDER AND TEACHING “GAY IS GOOD” IN OUR CHILDREN’S SCHOOLS
Children are being taught about inclusion and the many variations of sexual orientation and family structures in schools. It is happening at a younger age (and so is puberty.) Most gay/trans people I know, knew at five to eight that there was some thing different about them. Same sex parents exist and so do gay kids. If this diversity education is not something you want for your own children, then choose alternative education, talk about your family beliefs at home or attend the preliminary curriculum hearings giving your input. I homeschooled my children for six years. I wanted my Christian imprint on them in their early years, so I made sacrificial choices.
SOMETHING QUEER ON OUR CAMPUSES
Young adults go to college and get exposed to all kinds of things that shock parents. (Actually maybe not. I don’t think my kids surpassed my antics.) Our American universities started in Christian roots ( 8 pages of those roots) and homosexuals have functions and study courses and so do heterosexuals. Spring break in Ft. Lauderdale in my college years could rival any perversion listed. College students have and always will push the edges of what parents would like them to. This is not exclusive to queer kids.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, THE FAB FIVE AND HOLLYWOOD’S CELEBRATION OF QUEER
Gay people are becoming mainstream on TV and in the movies. Dr. Brown prints lists of TV shows that include gay characters, have plot lines that include gay topics and reporters that cover gay issues.( They are about 5% of the population, we can’t hide them.) All of media is not like it was in the Hollywood Moral Code days. The same chapter could be written on stupid sexual stuff straight people do. All the filth cannot be laid on the backs of gay people.
Why are there so many gay people on TV? Maybe because they really are the most talented people musical note for musical note or performance per scene? I went to a gay karaoke bar in LA a few weeks back . . . never have I seen such amazing “amateur” talent. Gay people are disproportionately extremely creative. We are going to find them on TV and in movies. And, gay/trans people are coming out of the closet and inquiring minds really do want to know about them. Television and movies are more sexual than when I was younger; making gay people go away will not make media PG again.
IS GAY THE NEW BLACK? ANALYZING THE ARGUMENT THAT “I WAS BORN THIS WAY”
No one has found the “gay gene” and being gay/trans is a result of a complex interaction of environment and biological factors. Dr. Brown writes that other things are “programmed” into people as well: ruthlessness, violence, alcoholism, unfaithfulness and several other unfavorable traits. “I was born that way” is not a good excuse for those traits, so it is not good enough excuse for accepting homosexuality either.
Well, until someone finds the gene that made me straight, I am just not willing to insist that GLBT people find the gay gene so that they can be validated as acceptable.
SPEAKING THE UNSPEAKABLE: SOME DISTURBING PARALLELS TO PRO-GAY ARGUMENTS
The chapter starts with : “MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT EQUATING HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE WITH PEDOPHILIA. MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT CALLING ALL HOMOSEXUALS PEDOPHILES”
However, the next FORTY pages are about pedophilia. So repulsive, it amazed me that Dr. Brown would include it. Why does he say he included it then? Pedophiles say they are born that way and the slippery slope to including homosexuals with equal status will open the doors to pedophiles wanting equality and acceptance too.
This section made me angry. Just because you say “I am not saying this . . . ” and then publish FORTY pages of trash in the midst of a book on the dangers/damage of/by homosexuals does not negate the impact of the natural association that people will make to homosexuality. This is one of the most disgusting ploys, intentional or not, of the entire book. Dr. Brown could have stated his concerns in one paragraph, yet, I was subjected to reading the NAMBLA boy-love trash???
How many already anti-gay readers will duct tape the whole yucky mess onto the GLBT community? How many potential GLBT readers will you thoroughly offend by this most egregious, don’t-think-about-the-pink-elephant tactic? So offensive and incredibly subtly manipulative. Completely gratuitous porn. No wonder no publisher would touch this manuscript. This may have been one of the two major disqualifiers from options other than self publish.
Yes, I know: “MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT EQUATING HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE WITH PEDOPHILIA. MICHAEL BROWN IS NOT CALLING ALL HOMOSEXUALS PEDOPHILES” but, what will your readers hear? What will they remember? Horrid. You should have left it unspeakable.
DIVERSITY OR PERVERSITY? CORPORATE AMERICA’S EMBRACE OF GAY PRIDE AT ITS WORSE
Corporate America is going after the GLBT dollar and is becoming more inclusive and diverse in the workplace. Some corporations have zero tolerance and enforce it. Gay Pride events are not family environments. (Well, until recently, children for the most part were not there. Remember gay people have been denied much of the family privileges. Now you see more and more families marching, churches marching, married couples marching. My daughter Sami, 24 , was at SF Pride with friends two years ago. She sobbed as people marched by in families with strollers and balloons. “Mom, they are just families. They are no different.” Brava Sweetie, you get what escapes so many others; they are just families.)
And check out the predominately heterosexual Mardi Gras or Freaknik or Love Parade. We heteros can strip down and behave in an interesting manner as well. I go to SF Pride every year. Are there pretty shocking outfits or lack of outfits? Sure. But if Kraft or Starbucks or Wells Fargo wants some of that consumer dollar, they have gone to the right place.
LAVENDAR LANGUAGE, GENDER SPEAK, AND QUEERS SEMANTICS: TOWARDS AN OMNISEXUAL SOCIETY?
Learn the jargon; it’s a good thing. I’m a cisgender heterosexual. AKA straight.
QUEER THEOLOGY, A GAY/LESBIAN AND HOMOEROTIC CHRIST
Oh my. I heard Dr. Brown say “the queer reading of Scripture will blow you away” and that he was “so sad and so pained by the end of the chapter that [he] cried.” Well, I fully agree.
Almost everything Dr. Brown presented as “normal” belief/behavior for gay Christians, I have never heard. Who did he speak to? What kind of fringe spiritual people did Dr. Brown drag up? Prayers for cruising? Fantasizing about taking off the loincloth of a crucified Christ? Come on! This is presented as what gay Christians think about/do?
I can find you fringe freak heterosexual Christians who have all kinds of crazy, vulgar thoughts and that does not translate to what the rest of heterosexual Christians think. I read every footnote, every word. Dr. Brown did not go two and half hours up the road to Raleigh, NC to the headquarters of The Gay Christian Network (GCN) and speak to my friend Justin Lee? Justin, who is a fine gay Christian and is a man of great integrity. GCN is an online and has an in person local community of over 18K GLBT believers world wide. Dr. Brown found the guy fantasizing about making love to the Michelangelo Christ? WHAT?
Dr. Brown did not call Todd Ferrell, President of The Evangelical Network, a group of gay affirming churches. Or Yvette Flunders of City of Refuge Churches. Or personally speak with Rev. Troy Perry, who, by the way, aside from being the founder of MCC is an amazing man of God. Yes. Or Ralph Blair of Evangelicals Concerned. Or Ross Murray of Lutherans Concerned. Or even attend an affirming body of believers and get to personally know the pastors over a meal. Or go to any one of many GLBT Christian conferences . Ahhhhh! Or even talk to me personally or Andrew Marin, personally. This is unbelievably negligent.
This chapter and the pedophile chapter alone should completely disqualify anyone from publishing this book. Careless, deceptive. Sure, the shock value is wonderful, but, is it the truth? Is it a good view of the reality of the norm in the gay Christian arena? Simple answer, no.
SO, IT’S NOT ABOUT SEX? THE ATTEMPT TO SEPARATE BEHAVIOR FROM IDENTITY
Dr. Brown tells us it is not really about equality, it is really about sexual behavior and gay people want to be affirmed in their sexual behavior. “To say that the issue before us is only one of identity and not behavior is to be disingenuous, not to mention completely buying into today’s ‘It’s all about equality and tolerance’ mantra”.
All the damning data is here. Promiscuity, AIDS, gay men are not as faithful as a man and woman couple. Well, let them get married, dang it! Any couple is more faithful in a marriage. Gay men may never match the “faithful” rates as the man/woman combo, true. As a friend of mine says, “You put two penises in an equation and you get trouble.” Boys.
There is some pretty juicy stuff in this chapter. It is sure to shock, but by now, I am starting to see that is one of the intents. Forget the average, boring, just-as-dull-as-me gay person. There other gay/trans people that are so much more memorable. This one sentence “Why should people be put into a special class of citizens equivalent, say, to race or ethnicity–based upon the way the have romantic and sexual relationships?” tells me volumes. Being gay or lesbian of bisexual is not about the way someone has sex. That one sentence tells me the shallowness of the knowledge and understanding of the gay community.
THE “EX-GAY” MOVEMENT: FACT OR FICTION?
It is a fact that the ex-gay movement does exist. It is a fact that some people find reconciliation of faith and sexuality in these groups. It is a fact that some people do get heterosexually married or remain celibate for the rest of their lives.
It is fiction however, that people change their orientation. When I see the footnotes and quotes citing Nicolosi, NARTH and Gagnon, I know Dr. Brown has gone to the extremes for his research. Even Alan Chambers of Exodus would have told Dr. Brown that no one can change their orientation and Alan Chambers is supposed to be the Christian church world expert. Anything out of NARTH as a resource? Rent Boy ring a bell? Please Dr. Brown, call Michael Bussee and talk to him. One of Exodus originals. Ask him why he got discouraged by the lies of those around him. Or Darlene Bogle, one of the Exodus speakers, leaders, author of two or their books, counselor for fifteen years. She lives with her spouse in San Jose. Or John Smid who ran Love in Action, a residence program for reparative therapy for twenty two years.
Dr. Brown instead focuses on Wayne Besen, Truth Wins Out, gay activist extraordinaire and recounts the tiffs he and Wayne have had.
THE STIFLING OF SCIENCE DEBATE
Lots of facts from NARTH, Americans for Truth, the famous Spitzer study about gay people converting to straight, the coercion of the American Psychiatric Association to take being homosexual off the disorders list and the meeting gay activists shut down so that the discussion of born gay and reparative therapy would not be held publicly.
I researched further on that last point. The short of the “gay activists shutting down the meeting ” is APA was hosting an open discussion of homosexuality and religious reparative therapy . The panel included Rev. Gene Robinson and two Evangelicals. When Robinson heard that the moderator was from Focus on the Family and that they were going to use the event to push the reparative therapy issue, Robinson canceled. Been there, done that. The program host then made the decision to cancel the event before the public outcry to cancel a potentially unbalanced presentation. So, gay activists didn’t stifle this one. Stuff happens.
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING AND HE IS REALLY GAY
This chapter is filled with “no way” stories. Two high school girls on home detention for distributing fliers calling another boy gay with a picture of him kissing a boy. Isaiah Washington of Grey’s Anatomy being fired for calling another actor “fa****”. Crystal Dixon, an HR manager at a University fired for a personal letter to a local newspaper editor. Julea Ward being dropped from a graduate program at a university for not counseling a gay person. And several others.
Again, my truth, your truth and the truth. I researched all the stories in this chapter. I could make a case for the opposite side of each story. When you read something completely ridiculous and say to yourself “no way”, be sure to check it out and not just believe it .
GLBT AND BEYOND: REFLECTIONS ON OUR TRAJECTORY
If you think someone being gay is a stretch on your mind, here are some other rarities. Two used-to-be-women becoming men and having a baby. Transgenders. Children knowing at young ages they are trans. Legalizing gay marriage will lead to incestuous marriage and polyamorous marriage. We are going to have to accept all kinds of people.
Is this really so so scary? There are seven billion people on the planet. I can sure account for lots of varieties of combinations in that mix. The world is just not pink and blue and if you need it to be, you will be very scared.
MY SUMMARY
First, thanks for hanging in there for the long read. A seven hundred page book filled with information on a crucial topic is not a 500 word piece.
I can say this to Dr. Brown’s credit; he did not say directly hateful things about GLBT people. When we agreed that I would read the book, he said “Kathy, God knows that there is love in my words because there is love in my heart. And he knows that the book was written with tears. Whether you recognize that or not depends on your own heart, and I do trust you will hear mine.” I tried. I did not sense or feel love. in this AQTHTA. I wish I did, I wanted to. I wanted to read compassion.
I think it is a grievous flaw to write about a group of people from a distance. I know Dr. Brown’s brother in law “struggled” and he has had meals with Matt Comer, but nothing will ever substitute comfortable, regular everyday relationships. The rules all change when you like someone.
I know the Bible very well. I have been reading, studying and listening to it for twenty five years. I love the Word of God and I am crazy about Jesus. When I see Him in the lives of people who are gay; when I see gay Christians living for Him and committed to doing the will of God and I see the life changing power and fruits in them, it must force me to consider that indeed they are every bit as Christian as I am. No need to change or suppress orientation. No need to demand they be celibate. The same rules apply to them as me and committed, monogamous relationships will have to stand in lieu of marriage for now.
The clear witness of GLBT believers in my life tells me, without question, that my former interpretation of Scripture was flawed. Dr. Brown can fight it all he needs, he can write 700 pages telling me how far the GLBT community is from the blessing of God, but there will always be God’s truth. I see God’s truth in the lives of hundreds of gay/trans people’s lives.
“A Queer Thing Happened to America” may well feed the fears and biases of many Christian believers and followers of Dr. Brown. I think they will really enjoy the validation of their notions about GLBT people. But, is it God’s truth?
I think AQTHTA manipulates the facts, presents the worst of situations, travels to the fringes to find the extremes and interjects damaging oddball situations and thinking to horribly skew and demonize an entire class of people, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. And, the cover is wildly offensive.
I did not read any solutions in the book to practically engage the GLBT community in the higher callings of Christ; the ones that tell us to love and serve. I know that was not the intent of the book, but if forty pages can be devoted to pedophilia, then how about some practical steps for love and serve options?
I would NEVER NEVER give this book to a gay/trans person. NEVER. I could not imagine any GLBT person could sense love on any page. I was appalled by the many comments about transgender people. I have an unusual burden for this community and only God knows why. I never even knew a transperson a few years ago. Now I weep over the abuse of them and ignorance towards them.
Sentences like: “We [speaking about transgender people] would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia.” And, “No doubt there are many beautiful people among them, but that hardly means that each of their sexual orientations and identities and proclivities must be recognized, endorsed and celebrated by society or that their sexual orientations or identities or proclivities are what make them beautiful. Really now, it is beautiful for a grown man to surgically mutilate his penis and wear a dress?” No one is asking for a party to celebrate them; they just want the dignity to be the human they are. Same thing we all want: love, acceptance and dignity. If you do not take issue with the offense of these sentences, you do not fully understand the issues of brain stamping versus body biology.
I absolutely believe Dr. Brown believes this effort was done in love. I hear his sincerity in his own belief in his effort . I am aware I risk attack and ridicule from the Brown “camp” on this. I promised honesty and think I have delivered. Dr. Brown has told me he has felt “nothing but harsh judgmentalism from [me] from the first day we interacted.”
I was pained to read so much of this book. This struggle is part of the great mysteries we deal in when we are followers of a God that we try to understand with a human mind. How can the same God tell Dr. Brown that his attitudes are the truth and those same attitudes make me ache? When I hit these walls , I ask “Where is the strategy of God in each side of the debate? Do I “smell” Jesus in this one or that one? Is the calling from humility?” We will not know fully till we are face to face with Him. For now, my Spirit bears strongly to me that the heart of Jesus is in my ministry.
The saying goes “I have no dog in this fight.” I am not a lesbian, never had one romantic thought about a woman, my kids are straight, I don’t have a ministry at risk or any book deal on the line or a board to answer to. I am just one person, called by God, I believe ,to love , understand, listen to, encourage, serve and give voice to the GLBT community. I am not any less valuable because I only speak English and very spotty Italian. I do know that with every ounce of me, I am convicted that God is orientation and gender blind. His people limit Him way too much. He has created beautiful people in every complexity imaginable.
I would strongly suggest you spent the significant number of hours it would take to read this 700 page book and go befriend and listen to a gay/trans person. Get to really know them, not the them you think you know. “A Queer Thing Happened to America” feeds fear. Ditch your fears, your biases, your ignorance on this issue and go do relationship with gay and trans people. I did and it changed my life. If you need a bit more understanding on the topic of GLBT Christians, I am getting to be an expert. I can help point you to answers if I do not have a response for you.
We really need to move beyond fear to understanding and love. God help us.
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