Difference between revisions of "Guest Commentary"

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PLEASE NOTE:  Past Guest Commentary/Opinion articles can be viewed [[Past Guest Commentary/Opinion Articles | here]].
 
PLEASE NOTE:  Past Guest Commentary/Opinion articles can be viewed [[Past Guest Commentary/Opinion Articles | here]].
  
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==HEROIC AUTHENTICITY - Why Do We Need Gay Athletes As Role Models?==
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==CHURCH:  STUMBLING BLOCK OR STEPPING STONE?==
  
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'''Contributor:'''  ''[[Kristan Burley]]'', Curator/Producer/Olympian, info@heroicauthenticity.org
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'''Contributor:'''  ''Cap Kaylor'',   UNIVERSITY QUAKERS MEETING @ ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL
  
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In the weeks before Christmas something remarkable happened here in Norman, Oklahoma.  At the instigation of the Quakers,  a small coalition of Christian churches:  St. Stephens Methodist, United Church of Norman UCC, First Presbyterian Church in Norman, and the University  Quakers  co-sponsored an Ad in the Transcript that simply read, "NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE ANTI-GAY. AS CHRISTIANS WE WELCOME, HONOR, AND AFFIRM LGBT PERSONS AND THEIR FAMILIES".  That's all.  Just those  two little sentences.  But those two sentences were noticed and talked about around the world, from Australia to California.  Such is the power of modern media.  Behind those two sentences lay months of visits, networking, appeals to clergy, requests to parish councils and vestries.  In the end, four churches, out of a dozen approached, signed on to that simple welcome. 
  
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The experience of trying to get Christian pastors to speak a word of welcome to LGBT persons has made me realize why so many gay and lesbian people feel such  profound alienation from the Church.  Surveys among LGBT persons indicate a widespread experience of rejection and hostility at the hands of Christians, and a sense  that the Church is not the place of healing, compassion, and welcome but uniquely the single greatest threat to their physical safety and civil rights.  And can we  blame them? Christian leaders are sanctioning violence against gay people around the world.  Nigeria's Catholic  Archbishop recently praised as "courageous and wise"  that country's draconian new anti-gay laws which, among other things, makes holding hands with a person of the same gender a crime.  And anyone who attempts, officiates, or attends a marriage between persons of the same sex will be jailed.  Words do indeed have consequences.  After the Archbishop's statement this week mobs roamed the Nigerian Capital pulling suspected gay persons from their homes and beating them with impunity while the police joined in.  Well-funded American  Evangelicals have been working for years in Uganda, hand in glove, with anti-gay politicians to craft anti-gay laws so extreme that they have been dubbed by human rights groups around the world as the ”Kill The Gays" bill.  Groups of babushka clad grandmothers prowl the streets in Russia with vigilantes and stone persons  perceived to be gay with rocks daily brought to the Orthodox churches to be blessed by priests. These things, and worse, are happening around the world.  They are  happening here.  A few days ago a bill passed the Kansas House giving legal cover to any government official or business owner who refuses to provide services to  individuals "perceived" as gay if homosexuality offends their religious sensibilities.  Put away those pink shirts if you want to be sure of receiving your wedding cake, driver’s license, or prescriptions.  The Episcopalian bishops were the only ones to stand up against this Kansas Apartheid. 
  
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The sport community defines itself by excellence in performance above all else yet remains one of the last bastions of cultural stereotypes.  However with every courageous high performance athlete who comes out, acceptance of the humanity of all athletes grows.  LGBTIQ athlete stories can change the attitudes of those around them by bringing the message that excellence is an outcome of talent, training and passion.  
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Violence is not just a matter of stoning, beating, jailing, and torture. Silence is also violence.  Cowardice is violence.  Ducking for cover behind "I'm
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Heroic Authenticity: Identities in Transition is a photographic narrative of the lives of Canada’s LGBTIQ athletes and allies.  The athletes will be photographed outside their sport arenas to highlight their other personal interests and passions in ways we have never seen before. The depth of their humanity beyond their high performance achievement is the focus for this work.  
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personally tolerant but my congregation just isn't comfortable with explicitly welcoming gays" is also violence. These things are complicit in creating a climate
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where people are dehumanized, disenfranchised, terrorized, and finally, inevitably, murdered.
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The goal of Heroic Authenticity is to combine art and athletes to build community, celebrate diversity, and inspire new perspectives.  Beginning with LGBTIQ athletes this project fundamentally seeks to explore how identity and personal authenticity can lay the foundation for innovative social progress.  This is the first time we look beyond the sport and the performance and allow the athletes to communicate who they are.
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The athlete subjects feature those who represent the best our country has to offer in their chosen disciplines.  These Olympians, Paralympians and National Team athletes come from a variety of sports. The term “athlete” describes both able bodied and athletes with a disability since athletes don’t differentiate between the validity of the two.  
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The Church has been, for a long time, part of the problem.  It must also be part of the solution.  South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said recently, "I
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refuse to worship a God who is homophobic.  I am as passionate about that as I ever was about apartheid".  Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmud Martin, has
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said, "Anyone who does not show love toward gay, lesbian people is insulting God because God loves every single one of those people".
  
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This exhibition will present large format limited edition archival prints combined with multimedia installations. Shooting locations and styles will be determined following detailed personal interviews. An interactive audience component will also be developed.
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Faith is not a club that we are entitled to use to bash, judge, bully, or threaten others into heaven with. Christians have radically misunderstood the gospel if
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they think that one more law, one more pogrom, one more war, one more shunning, or in other words, one more twist of whatever arm you've got a hold of will finally
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Heroic Authenticity empowers athletes to reveal aspects of their identity and experiences formative in their development as people.  Because athletes are rarely referred to as anything but athletes, this project broadens our understanding of and challenges our preconceptions about athletes, revealing the rarely explored other aspects of their lives.  Revealing the substance beneath these exceptional people in the community calls to the exceptional within us all.
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usher in the Kingdom of God.  If our words and deeds fail to mirror forth the power of the gospel then it is cheap to enlist the power of the State to coerce where we
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cannot convince.  Jesus never said a word about gay people. Not one word.  On the other hand he had a lot to say about people who believed themselves to be morally
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Heroic Authenticity will expose the humanity within; empowering both the athlete and the viewer by sharing that every human has a complex identity that informs their achievements.
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superior to others. I think he would have agreed with St. Augustine who wrote, "There are those whom the Church has that God has not. And there are those whom God
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has that the Church has not!"  If we ever do get to heaven I'm sure more than a few of us will be very surprised, indeed, by the folks we find there--and the folks
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we don't!
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“In my experience before something becomes a non-issue, it usually has to be an issue for a while. Being gay in sport is still an issue – even in 2013. I am excited to see the portraits revealed in the Heroic Authenticity project. What did people’s journeys to being themselves look like? How did sport influence them? What an inspiring tale these portraits will tell!”
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~ [[Mark Tewksbury]], 1992 Olympic Champion, Swimming, 2012 Chef De Mission London Olympics
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Revision as of 13:30, 13 March 2014

PLEASE NOTE: Past Guest Commentary/Opinion articles can be viewed here.

CHURCH: STUMBLING BLOCK OR STEPPING STONE?

Contributor: Cap Kaylor, UNIVERSITY QUAKERS MEETING @ ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL

In the weeks before Christmas something remarkable happened here in Norman, Oklahoma. At the instigation of the Quakers, a small coalition of Christian churches: St. Stephens Methodist, United Church of Norman UCC, First Presbyterian Church in Norman, and the University Quakers co-sponsored an Ad in the Transcript that simply read, "NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE ANTI-GAY. AS CHRISTIANS WE WELCOME, HONOR, AND AFFIRM LGBT PERSONS AND THEIR FAMILIES". That's all. Just those two little sentences. But those two sentences were noticed and talked about around the world, from Australia to California. Such is the power of modern media. Behind those two sentences lay months of visits, networking, appeals to clergy, requests to parish councils and vestries. In the end, four churches, out of a dozen approached, signed on to that simple welcome.

The experience of trying to get Christian pastors to speak a word of welcome to LGBT persons has made me realize why so many gay and lesbian people feel such profound alienation from the Church. Surveys among LGBT persons indicate a widespread experience of rejection and hostility at the hands of Christians, and a sense that the Church is not the place of healing, compassion, and welcome but uniquely the single greatest threat to their physical safety and civil rights. And can we blame them? Christian leaders are sanctioning violence against gay people around the world. Nigeria's Catholic Archbishop recently praised as "courageous and wise" that country's draconian new anti-gay laws which, among other things, makes holding hands with a person of the same gender a crime. And anyone who attempts, officiates, or attends a marriage between persons of the same sex will be jailed. Words do indeed have consequences. After the Archbishop's statement this week mobs roamed the Nigerian Capital pulling suspected gay persons from their homes and beating them with impunity while the police joined in. Well-funded American Evangelicals have been working for years in Uganda, hand in glove, with anti-gay politicians to craft anti-gay laws so extreme that they have been dubbed by human rights groups around the world as the ”Kill The Gays" bill. Groups of babushka clad grandmothers prowl the streets in Russia with vigilantes and stone persons perceived to be gay with rocks daily brought to the Orthodox churches to be blessed by priests. These things, and worse, are happening around the world. They are happening here. A few days ago a bill passed the Kansas House giving legal cover to any government official or business owner who refuses to provide services to individuals "perceived" as gay if homosexuality offends their religious sensibilities. Put away those pink shirts if you want to be sure of receiving your wedding cake, driver’s license, or prescriptions. The Episcopalian bishops were the only ones to stand up against this Kansas Apartheid.

Violence is not just a matter of stoning, beating, jailing, and torture. Silence is also violence. Cowardice is violence. Ducking for cover behind "I'm personally tolerant but my congregation just isn't comfortable with explicitly welcoming gays" is also violence. These things are complicit in creating a climate where people are dehumanized, disenfranchised, terrorized, and finally, inevitably, murdered.

The Church has been, for a long time, part of the problem. It must also be part of the solution. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said recently, "I refuse to worship a God who is homophobic. I am as passionate about that as I ever was about apartheid". Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmud Martin, has said, "Anyone who does not show love toward gay, lesbian people is insulting God because God loves every single one of those people".

Faith is not a club that we are entitled to use to bash, judge, bully, or threaten others into heaven with. Christians have radically misunderstood the gospel if they think that one more law, one more pogrom, one more war, one more shunning, or in other words, one more twist of whatever arm you've got a hold of will finally usher in the Kingdom of God. If our words and deeds fail to mirror forth the power of the gospel then it is cheap to enlist the power of the State to coerce where we cannot convince. Jesus never said a word about gay people. Not one word. On the other hand he had a lot to say about people who believed themselves to be morally superior to others. I think he would have agreed with St. Augustine who wrote, "There are those whom the Church has that God has not. And there are those whom God has that the Church has not!" If we ever do get to heaven I'm sure more than a few of us will be very surprised, indeed, by the folks we find there--and the folks we don't!


Past Guest Commentary/Opinion articles can be viewed here.
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