Comments for The Q

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Raymond Maher, M.Div. '87

Raymond Maher, M.Div. '87 — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:23:40 +0000

Thanks, UTS, for the beautiful testimony. May this message be a comfort and a life support to all who need to hear it. I am so proud of my Alma Mater!

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Marti Williams

Marti Williams — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:30:43 +0000

How awesome of you guys to make this video – to reach out to our LGBTQ youth and give them hope and reassurance that they perfectly normal and created in the image and likeness of God. You did a great job!

I’m so proud of you – even more so because you are a Christian Organization.

Thank you!

Marti
out and proud for many years; mom of 3; grandmother of 2;

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Patrick Minges

Patrick Minges — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:41:45 +0000

Sometimes,we get so far away from Union that we lose sight of the vision of the world that she presents. Sometimes the clamor of own lives gets so loud that we fail to hear her voice speaking to us with an ageless clarity. Sometimes we face so much that we forget the witness that she bears to an often unkind world. In a moment such as this and in the midsts of these crises, she speaks through the voices of her children to remind us that, yes, she is still a part of us and that we have a responsibility to remain true to those values which helped bring to fruition. Moreover, it is a call to action in the still small places of our lives in which the greatest of human rights struggles are carried out. Thank you for helping me to remember. Thank you for calling me back home. Thank you for what you have done for us all!

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by David Piergrossi

David Piergrossi — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:18:04 +0000

That video was awesome. Thank you for all the people who contributed to it. If I get a chance to use it or share it with young people in my line of work, I will definitely do so.

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Maggie Monroe Richter

Maggie Monroe Richter — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:27:10 +0000

My thanks and admiration and love to all of you: for being the change you want to see and for opening your arms–in the spotlight–to those who so badly need to be embraced. May our young ones tune in to your love and lives and ministries and may they see the rays of hope shining out of this seminary. Blessings to each of you and Godspeed on your journeys, Maggie

Comment on A Love that Would Not Let Me Go by Kittredge Cherry

Kittredge Cherry — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:07:19 +0000

Thank you for a heartfelt piece that reveals the tortures of growing up queer. There are so many more whose names are not known.

And thank you for this blog! I just added it to the blog roll at the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts.

Comment on A Love that Would Not Let Me Go by Doug Sloan

Doug Sloan — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 00:56:57 +0000

…and some of us have seen it before – 50 years ago.

There is no more visceral experience than to confront raging hate. The quiet prejudicial discrimination of the North and the sincere rationalization of white superiority in polite circles in the South needed to be confronted and transformed and have all legal protections removed. What fascinated and repulsed us was the raging hate of those who violently opposed civil rights. But to meet it face-to-face, to personally experience the palpable rage and hate… it was bad enough with one person … forget the KKK, which only fed off it … you have to understand there were entire families, neighborhoods, and almost entire cities, counties, and states that embraced an ethos of separation and subjugation based on race. You could feel it…as more than a feeling…as more than group-think or mob rule…it had a presence, a sense of identity apart from those it inhabited or possessed. This was evil and it lived openly in the light of day and laughed at reason and love.

The evil is back – and no apologies for sounding like an ad for a B horror movie. The evil of raging hatred has gone stealthy against a more vulnerable target. Those of us who are older and scarred can give you this wisdom – love wins. It is a war and it takes a militant toughness and tenacity and strategic view. Talk to your parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles – to any in the generations that preceded you – and listen to their stories and attitudes, especially the unpleasant ones. Look to Gandhi and King and all those who have opposed the same enemy and have paid the ultimate price – not as sacrifices – as knowing the life of love and inclusion is sacred.

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Greg

Greg — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:23:50 +0000

Thanks Union for Doing this!

-Fuller Grad.

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Clayton

Clayton — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:19:26 +0000

I’m so impressed with everyone in this video! And excited that there are so many of you in seminary! I hope I get the chance to work with each of you through MyOutSpirit.com, MyOutSpirit Magazine and GaySpiritCulture.com. Thank you so much for lifting up your voices!

Comment on Union Responds to LGBTQ Youth Suicides by Martha Carroll

Martha Carroll — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:52:58 +0000

Thank you, Union, from one more queer preacher who stayed in the church. I now serve an Open and Affirming congregation in South Bend, Indiana, that welcomed my partner and me 14 years ago. This church reminds me everyday there is hope. But I keep thinking–if it takes a village to raise a child, that village must be a place of love and understanding. What a gift that now, through the internet, kids can see there really are such places.