Walking With Integrity, Reaction Paper Example

Blog 1: Pastorgaycrhristian

The reflections of the pastor, author of http://pastorgaychristian.wordpress.com/ talk in an open and honest way of being gay and Christian. Indeed, the author talks about his journey to accept his “otherness” and dealing with judgment. In the post titled: Reflections Part 6: Other Relationships he tells how his friends “dropped him” from Facebook and stopped talking to him. Most of these friends were calling themselves Christian, still were unable to live without judgment. Even his family distanced themselves from him. He talks about his faith and spiritual journey in his post: Reflections Part 4: My Faith. He states that the journey impacted his faith, but instead of completely losing it, he developed a new one. He accepted that he can be a Christian and gay at the same time: Jesus accepted everyone; so should fellow churchgoers. If they do not, they are at fault. He accepted that God is stronger than the church itself, so he should follow him, not the guidance of people on how to live life. Overall, the blog is very open, honest, and spiritual at the same time. It can be inspirational for all people who are trying to come to terms of being gay and Christian.

Blog 2: gaysubtlety

This blog has a very personal tone and is updated with reflections on life events. In the post “Other”, Jordan, the author says that he sometimes forgets that he is gay. He states that prevously he focused too much on “image control” and tried to hide the fact that he was being “different”. He is fully aware of his self, and therefore he can make use of it to turn it into something spiritual, and something that will grow his faith. He says that understanding people who are different is much easier for him, so he can do a better job at the orphanage where some children are “pushed to the fringes”. So, he states that people who are attracted to the same sex can be very valuable for the church. Still, from what I see, these are the people who are being judged by church officials and often rejected. I honestly think that accepting otherness is a Christian virtue that is not very often exercised by leaders. This makes the churches of the world less effective, and their limited inclusiveness results in falling numbers of regular churchgoers. People who feel judged or rejected will turn away from religion. Jesus did not turn away from sinners, so the church shouldn’t, either.

Blog 3. Walking with Integrity

This blog reflects on churches’ movement and initiatives related to gay and lesbian communities. The blog post titled “Bishop Singh Speaks Out on LGBT Rights” talks about an initiative that Prince Singh, Bishop of Rochester started to eliminate society’s judgment. The bishop of the Anglican church talks about equal rights for all people. Criminalizing being gay or lesbian, according to the writer and the bishop is unfair. One’s freedom of lifestyle shouldn’t be affected by other people; church officials and politicians. If gay and lesbian people were created by God, just like straight people, they should not be punished for what they are.

Prince Singh also stated that vulnerable people in the society should be supported and helped by the church. Gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual people are just as marginalized as the poor, ethnic minorities, or other outcasts. It is important that fellow Christians understand this, and the post -among others, reflecting on church initiatives to support LBGT people has indeed pointed out another way of looking at these people; without judgment and without the intent of exclusion.

Bibliography

Anon. “Pastorgaycrhristian” n.d. Blog. Accessed: May 24, 2014, http://pastorgaychristian.wordpress.com/

Jordan. “gaysubtlety” n.d. Blog.  Accessed: May 24, 2014, http://gaysubtlety.wordpress.com/

Integrity USA “Walking with Integrity” Sunday, March 2, 2014. Blog. Accessed: May 24, 2014,             http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/bishop-singh-speaks-out-on-lgbt-rights.html