Conversations with KK: If You Believe in God…

KK and I discussed each of the Raising Unicorns PRIDE guest blog posts as they were written last month.  Below is one of our conversations related to the blog post written by our family’s pastor, Rev. Meredith Keseley.

Me: I am glad you liked what Pastor Meredith wrote for the blog.  You know, what she wrote is really important especially for the many gender expansive and LGBTQIA+ folx who have been hurt by the church.

KK: What do you mean hurt by the church? Why would anyone at church hurt someone?

Me: I know it is hard for you to believe given the affirming, welcoming and loving place that our church has been for you and our family, but not all churches are this way. In fact, there are many churches that actively exclude or try to change LGBTQIA+ people. There are too many gender expansive, queer, trans, and gay people with painful experiences from growing up in churches that excluded them.

KK: Why? That doesn’t make any sense.

Me: I agree it doesn’t make any sense to me, and it is not Christ-like. I think one of the reasons these kinds of churches give for excluding LGBTQIA+ people is that God doesn’t approve of expansiveness in terms of gender and sexual orientation.

KK: Well, that makes absolutely NO sense! All churches should welcome everyone, no matter what. If you believe in God, and you believe that God created the world and all of the living things on it, and you love God, why would you think it is okay to be mean to someone that God created? I mean you don’t get to choose who you think is “right” in God’s creation and only be nice to them. Why are some people who believe in God this way?

Me: There are a lot of possible reasons and I don’t really know for sure because that is not the way I think. Also, it is hard for me to take perspective when someone is intentionally causing pain to another human. These ideas of a God that is exclusive is just not what I and so many others in our church community believe. I hope there are more of us on the right side of including and ensuring all people can feel God’s love. Those who exclude and cause pain to LGBTQIA+ people and call it Christianity, in my opinion, are not Christ-like and are not doing what Jesus would do.

A recent photo of wise young KK.

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