Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
How Can You Help Save the Next Jamey Rodemeyer?

How Can You Help Save the Next Jamey Rodemeyer?

Last updated on: October 2, 2011 at 7:26 pm by John Shore

How Can You Help Save the Next Jamey Rodemeyer? 2011-10-02T19:26:34-08:00 John Shore

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Letter o’ the day:

Hi, John. Thank you for taking your time to read and maybe answer this. I’ve been following your blog for a little while and everyone here is so passionate. In light of Jamey Rodemeyer’s suicide, I have been wondering what more I can do to help with this.

I am an 18-year-old college student with no power to make anyone listen to me. Going into churches makes me very nervous at the moment. I feel like they will look at me, and all they will be able to see is my sexuality, not me; they will see me, a lesbian, only as an unrepentant sinner, and not as someone who is trying to live a Christ-like life.

My question to you is: how can I get more involved in preventing more cases like Jamey’s from happening? Should I swallow my fear of the church and begin speaking up? I’m not sure what else I should do. I appreciate your time and any suggestions that you could offer. Thank you.

Dear Sweet Young Woman Who Wrote Me This:

I deeply appreciate your sensitivity to the Rodemeyer tragedy; thanks for sharing with us the degree to which it has moved you.

Wars are won by all kinds of people contributing in all kinds of ways. Front-line soldiers are necessary, yes. But victory also takes all those who work in support of those soldiers: who sew their uniforms, feed them, construct their barracks, process their paperwork, maintain their communication systems, etc., etc. Those people are as necessary to victory as any front-line soldier or general could be.

In the fight for full religious and societal equality for gay people, serve in whatever way works best for you. I have no idea what that way might be: you, and you alone, can discern that. But you must put forth the effort to make that discernment. If you really want to help create a world in which no more gay teenagers are so trashed by low-self esteem they end up convinced the world would be a better place if they eradicated their own existence, then it is incumbent upon you to get serious about discovering how you might actually help to bring that world about.

If you’re afraid to go to church, don’t. (Or, better, find a church near you that is gay-affirming, and start going there: such churches need you at least as much as you do them.) We need you feeling positive and empowered, not frightened. Don’t ever put yourself in a position of being frightened. Challenged, yes; frightened, no. Being frightened means you’re being bullied. And the last thing we need is to give bullies another victim.

Follow Christ. Which is to say, ask where Christ is leading you: where he needs you; what he wants you do to; how he wants you to serve his purposes on earth.

I love that you’ve asked me how you might best serve the cause that so many of us these days hold so dear: it’s flattering to me, and stirs in me all kinds of desires to both protect and empower you. But I don’t know you. You don’t know you. None of us knows ourselves with anywhere near the depth that God know us. We like to think that we’re the world’s leading experts on ourselves, of course. And in a great many ways we most certainly are.

But in the ways that most matter, we tend to know billy-badoinkers about who we are, or what we’re supposed to do.

For that kind of true and steady knowledge, we need God.

So ask God! Settle yourself; close your eyes; breathe deeply, and with the most humble and purest heart you can muster (‘cuz, you know: what are we, angels?) ask God how you personally can best help fight against all that which ultimately led to the suicide of young Jamey Rodemeyer.

People say that God works in strange and mysterious ways.

I personally have most definitely not had that experience: to me, God is so overt about his desires—about what exactly he wants you to do—that he’s almost obnoxious about making that clear.

So find out for yourself how God wants you to help prevent young people from sharing Jamey Rodemeyer’s terrible fate.

Pray.

Ask.

Listen.

Do.

Christian Issues

LGBT and Christianity

Previous Post

October 2, 2011

"The Cornerstone": A Sermon From Pastor Bob

Next Post

October 3, 2011 Meet Scott Anderson, Soon To Be the First (Openly) Gay Minister Ordained by Presbyterian U.S.A.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Dear John En Espanol Everywhere She's Not Humor Look See Pastor Bob's Corner Personal Portuguese Relationships Russian Short-short story Smith Family Chronicles Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2024 August 2022 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 June 2019 December 2018 May 2018 May 2017 January 2017 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What continent was the birthplace of Christianity?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Africa Australia Asia Europe

Books by This Author Books by John Shore

See All Titles »