Introduction

Embraced by God...

INTRODUCTION

If you've ever picked up a book of theology about queers, you probably flipped through a few of its pages, then set it back on the shelf. This isn't that book, for I've made this one an enjoyable read. More than that, this book's target audience is queer youth--an audience that gets zero theological consideration. So even if that were all this book had to offer, it would be important. But it's much more than an easy read of theological rehash interlaced with cartoons--this book also contains new arguments that absolutely shred the conservative Christians' case that God hates fags.

So here's the scoop: I’m not here pitching Christianity, only the rightful UNQUALIFIED INCLUSION of queers into the Christian Church. If this topic is of any interest to you, then I hope you’ll give this book a chance.

There are four sections to Embraced by God. The first takes a historical look at the Church to see whether there is a precedent of the Church making wrong theological, social and/or moral judgments. This is important, for many of us were raised to mindlessly accept the authority of the Church or at least the authority of our church's pastor. Yes, even if you've never done so before, it's time to begin questioning your indoctrination. Next, we'll look at the key passages in the Bible that are used to make the case that God hates all of us abominable GLBT persons. I guarantee you there is more to be said here than what you've been told by your pastor, priest or even the seminary professor who attends your local church.

In the third section, we’ll explore how God has definitively settled the question of whether GLBT persons can be Christians, for "he" has declared everyone who has received the Spirit to be a Christian—even the queerest of folk can cash in on this one. And don’t worry, I’ll explain all that Spirit stuff. Having established that GLBT persons can be Christians, the fourth section explores how we can integrate our Christian beliefs into our lives. The focus here isn’t on rules but principles. We’ll discuss the love-bound freedom God intends each Christian to enjoy. And if that weren’t enough, you’ll also be treated to an epilogue and two appendices!

REGARDING MY LANGUAGE:

1. QUEER vs. GLBT

Let me ask for your understanding if my choice of words in referring to the GLBT community offends you in any way. The fact is there is no good solution to the problem—every possibility contains some elements of offense to some readers as shown below:

Queer = A term of oppression? Is it inclusive?
GLBT vs. LGBT (or the 14 other letter combos) = competitive rankings?

It could be said we need a new inclusive term for us queers, but any new word would eventually pick up baggage, causing it to be embraced by some segments of our community, not others. Personally, I favor the idea of reclaiming the word "queer" from our oppressors, but in the absence of a perfect solution, I’ll use both GLBT and queer in a very complicated pattern of randomness (i.e., whatever word comes into my head).

2. GOD AS "HE" OR "SHE":

Pronouns for God will be put in quotation marks to indicate that God is without gender.