The Anti-Manichaeist

As I mentioned a while back, there is a group called Soul Force, that is going to be visting my alma mater, Bethel University as part of it’s equality ride.  One of the people organizing this ride, David Durand, posted a comment at this blog and I wrote him a brief letter, where I expressed my concern about his group showing respect to Bethel University during their visit and also my concern that gay marriage shd not be politicized for this upcoming election. 

He wrote back to me with the following

Thanks for your email. I discovered your blog while doing a search, and was pleased to find that people were beginning to discuss our visit to Bethel and other schools.  Unfortunately, some sites have already passed judgement on our purpose, which makes communication that much more complicated and harder to heal.  We will be going to each college and university with the utmost respect, and I agree with your statement that respect is critical to our mission.  In fact, this is one underlying reasons why we choose Bethel.  Bethel is one of the few schools who have opened their doors to us, and offered hospitality.  Growing up in Minnesota and having friends go to Bethel, I do not doubt that the students and faculty are “good people” and that they wish to foster a holy environment according to scripture.  But where the line must be drawn is when those ideals are based on interpretations of scripture that are inaccurate,  that harm people.  I’m not just talking about harming someone’s ego, I’m taking about depression and suicide, of being kicked out and therefore excommunicated by a religious body one holds dear, of being gay-bashed or murdered, simply for being GLBT.   

Regarding gay marriage…the purpose of this ride is not to make gay marriage into a political discussion, and we would be megalomaniacs to think that we will alter the course of elections due to our visits.  Personally, I would be more than happy with civil unions, and I think while it implies a “separate but equal” inferiority, I would accept it as a good-will gesture from decision-makers…for the moment.  As for this being an election year, I have no control over why people will vote the way they do any more than a green-party voter who voted their conscience in the 2000 elections.  Recently on the news I saw that Hilary Clinton does not support gay marriage, and that a gay group (not sure who) says we shouldn’t support her due to this, but her opinion is alright with me so long as she doesn’t support a Constitutional amendment that would define a marriage as between one man and one woman, or make it illegal for me to adopt, or illegal for me to have one of the thousands of rights I would be given should I be a heterosexual. 

I am glad to hear that he sounds like a civil “Minnesota nice” type fellow.   

I am sorry he did not interact with what I had posted earlier.  I plan to write back to him, exhorting him and his organization to realize that the issue of gay marriages has taken in many people’s minds a significance that it does not deserve and that because of that, it is critical that they and other gay-rights activist groups not pursue legal gay marriages.  

We’ll see how the conversation continues… dlw