You're braver than I was. I stayed complicit and silent at my nonprofit and for-profit Christian publishers, working for 20+ years and telling myself I could accomplish more within than otherwise. But so many of us found out otherwise. The fruit is absolutely where arguments about acceptance and inclusion break down. Believers continue to routinely ignore marginalized communities, but I'm so encouraged by those like you standing for what Jesus did. Thank you for the boost.
Most of us felt like things were moving in the "right" direction, so it made sense to stay and push. (Though, I was banned from writing about gay issues at my previous publisher...ha!) Before my former denomination's decision last summer, in which the anti-LGBTQI stance became a confessional issue, I felt free at least to talk openly about the difference in views on the Scripture or say I disagreed. After this summer, that got much more complicated!
Thank you for writing your story. We left our evangelical church in 2019 and joined a progressive, post-evangelical church where I helped revise a statement of affirmation for LGBTQ people and the shift personally required me to be honest about a few things. 1) We have treated LGBTQ people terribly and I could not stand by anymore. 2) I wasn't taking a stand because I was afraid of rejection by family and friends. 3) I honestly don't know enough scholarly reasons for a pro-homosexual reading of scripture and my lack of knowledge wasn't a good enough reason anymore. So I really appreciate these posts and as always am grateful for your writing. I hope many people stay with you and the publishing world is reasonable.
Great writing Caryn
After being an Evangelical (Pastor, Seminary Prof etc) for 5 decades I left the fold
I wrote about my coming to terms with LGBTQ+ issues in "Don't Say Gay but Pray it Away? on Medium https://medium.com/p/e00b4a888f97
You're braver than I was. I stayed complicit and silent at my nonprofit and for-profit Christian publishers, working for 20+ years and telling myself I could accomplish more within than otherwise. But so many of us found out otherwise. The fruit is absolutely where arguments about acceptance and inclusion break down. Believers continue to routinely ignore marginalized communities, but I'm so encouraged by those like you standing for what Jesus did. Thank you for the boost.
Most of us felt like things were moving in the "right" direction, so it made sense to stay and push. (Though, I was banned from writing about gay issues at my previous publisher...ha!) Before my former denomination's decision last summer, in which the anti-LGBTQI stance became a confessional issue, I felt free at least to talk openly about the difference in views on the Scripture or say I disagreed. After this summer, that got much more complicated!
Thank you, Caryn, for your thoughtful, prophetic thoughts.
Caryn,
We continue to walk with you and explore and love our journey together.
Thanks again Caryn and particularly for pointing out how biblical passages can be misused to support these very harmful viewpoints.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you for writing your story. We left our evangelical church in 2019 and joined a progressive, post-evangelical church where I helped revise a statement of affirmation for LGBTQ people and the shift personally required me to be honest about a few things. 1) We have treated LGBTQ people terribly and I could not stand by anymore. 2) I wasn't taking a stand because I was afraid of rejection by family and friends. 3) I honestly don't know enough scholarly reasons for a pro-homosexual reading of scripture and my lack of knowledge wasn't a good enough reason anymore. So I really appreciate these posts and as always am grateful for your writing. I hope many people stay with you and the publishing world is reasonable.
Thanks for your allyship and great writing!!