cosmicbookworm's reviews
309 reviews

Much different than the movie.

Wow, that was exhausting. I guess I don't know that I would love it if my high school aged kid read this if we didn't have a chance to have a good discussion about it. I read this just because it was on a list of 100 books that should be read. I'm glad that I've read it. Almost as exhausting as living through high school and college.

I highly recommend reading Kathy Baldock's book. It is a bit outdated....it was published before the Supreme Court acknowledged that gay folk should have the same right to marry as everyone else. She has another book coming out later this year. She also has a youtube presence. Some of her internet presence may make the information more readily available. Kathy Baldock has taken the time to learn of which she speaks. She takes us through history to see how we got to where we are today. She shows how our traditional understanding of the six clobber passages misses the point. She tells the story of many gay Christians and families that have dealt with having a gay child or a gay parent. She tells of her transformation from a "Bible Believing Evangelical" to a person who will REALLY take the time to understand scripture instead of using the Bible to support the biases that we have learned from our peers and parents. What if everything we have always been told to be true is a misunderstanding? And what if people have died and been kept from Christianity as a result? My heart is heavy. Especially this afternoon when I open my mail to an invitation from Gospel Coalition to watch a debate and I hear a pastor speak in ways that would be SO hurtful to our gay or trans brothers and sisters. Sometimes as Evangelical Christians we are SO addicted to needing to be right that we refuse to learn what God is showing us, no matter who gets hurt in the meantime.

Julie Rogers has a message we need to hear and learn from.
I was introduced to Julie by watching "Pray Away" on Netflix.

I remember being vaguely aware of who Julie was when Wheaton College put their toe into the waters of trying (temporarily) to provide space for LGBT students, but at that time I never spent the mental energy to look into who Julie was or what her story was.

Julie grew up in the same kind of evangelical environment I have been in most of my adult life.
She tells her story with both grace and truth. She reveals, but does not dwell on, some of the power negotiations within Christian organizations. She exposes the inner workings of "ex-gay" organizations and how they have destroyed lives. She brings to light uncomfortable truths of how families and churches have forced the gay community into the fringe and kept them from being able to experience the love God has for them.

This book is thought provoking, heart warming, and heart breaking all at the same time.

Written by podcasters, whom I have yet to listen to. Encourages us to be participants rather than consumers and be patiently in relationship with one another. Strengthen connection by recognizing that our unique identities are what bring us together. "We honor the specialness of each human being, be it our parent or our president, by letting it exist and not demanding conformity. We honor the divine in others and ourselves." Agreement is not the goal. Connection is the goal. A thought provoking read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It follows three generations of a family dealing with loss, trauma, being trapped by social expectations, family expectations, assumptions of expectations, saving face and prejudice. A heart breaking story, but somehow cathartic.