Imagine having an understanding of God & faith that pushes you to frame something you've also described as loving, beautiful, tender, and life giving as sin. That is what breaks my heart about Jackie Hill Perry & her messaging on sexuality, being LGBTQ, & being a Christian.

Jackie frames a same-sex relationship that she also affirms the beauty of as objectionable to God and that's sad to me.

It's sad to me because it suggests/signals a few things:

1) She believes in a God who will not rejoice over or delight in her unless she hides or suppresses part of who she is. That God's love is insufficient because it's conditional in nature.

2a) It sets an example in which shame is bound to emerge and that's dangerous. Imagine experiencing attraction that could be engaged in a healthy, consensual, caring manner and thinking you have to sidestep it or not act on it.

2b)That cultivates shame as well as loneliness, anguish, and embarrassment amongst other things. That all can lead to stress, depression, self hate, risky behavior, self or interpersonal harm, engagement with toxic people, and faith loss that are all entirely avoidable.

3a) Her stance on sexuality and theology reveals gaps in her theological/ministerial training. When she talks, it's apparent that she hasn't sat with the scriptures deeply enough to unpack critical things like context or word choice.

3b) That may be a sign of lack in the theological community she rolls with because you don't always have to study a specific thing, you just gotta know who does so y'all can cover gaps in your knowledge.

#SquadGoals

I could keep going but I won't in the interest of time. It's possible to be a LGBTQ+ Christian who celebrates & honors their attraction. If you need examples, you can see some via #FaithfullyLGBT or in the #SlateSpeak community. I can also give you some folks to follow via PM.