Alexander Lowe examines the role that religions and faiths could play as uniting, rather than dividing, forces.
Watching new Sinéad O’Connor’s single “Take me to Church” I remembered the story of this troubled soul, enfant terrible, black sheep and drama queen of pop music. Propelled into stardom with her ground-breaking cover of Prince’s “Nothing compares 2 U”, she soon became ‘person non-grata’ after tearing off a photo of the late Pope on the live Saturday Night TV performance. The shock and universal condemnation that followed forced her into hiding, even temporary retirement from music. She got four children from four different men, with her last marriage lasting just 17 days. She even had some flip flops with her sexuality, once declaring herself ‘dyke’ she then backtracked on her statement and lately rebranded herself as ¼ gay and ¾ heterosexual.
Through all of her ordeals and mental breakdowns Sinéad remained devoted to religion and despite her crusade against the Holy See in protest of the Vatican’s cover-up of child abuse by clergy; she managed to get ordained as a Catholic priest in Ireland, though with a different from Roman Catholic Church’s nomination. It is clear that Church gives troubled Sinéad a sanctuary, forgiveness, redemption and hope.
Sinéad’s song made me think about other troubled souls, queer folks like me. Can we also find peace, strength, support and inspiration in spirituality? Are we equally welcomed and fully embraced by religious institutions along with heterosexuals? Or is the domain of faith in fact the last bastion of legalized anti-gay discrimination? What about all those exception clauses in the work legislation allowing churches to discriminate and fire gay employees, reject service to gay people and reject gay marriage?
Some churches picket LGBT related events. Others encourage conversion therapy and celibacy for gays. In some priests are excommunicated for officiating gay marriage. Others go as far as spreading anti-gay propaganda and hate across Africa and into Russia inciting homophobic legislation.
So would atheism be the fair price for our sexuality? Indeed, by embracing our gay identity we still effectively rebel against hetero-normal society, challenge established gender norms, reject dogmas, stand up and fight. Many of us would instinctively oppose the Church that has been prosecuting our folks for the millennia, once burning us on the stake for simply being who we are. And being expelled from religion for so long we may often be oblivious of what faith can provide in terms of support, acceptance and guidance.
It has not always been so. Once LGBT people were considered very spiritual, intimately connected with gods. In North America and Siberia transgender men were believed to have two spirits and were held in high esteem, often chosen to become shamans. There was a cult of hermaphrodite in Greece. In Roman Empire gay god Antinous have been worshiped for centuries in many dedicated temples. In Maya, Inca and Aztec civilizations homosexuality was ritualised in religious ceremonies.
Religions once again are becoming visibly more inclusive and supportive of LGBT, with Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism leaders specifically expressing increasing tolerance. Vatican, once practical enough to commission Michelangelo to build St. Peter’s Basilica and paint the Sistine Chapel is changing as well. Defying his homophobic predecessor, new pope Frances claims “who am I to judge (gays)?” and even discusses benefits of same sex civil unions.
Ruth Hunt, newly elected CEO of Stonewall charity in the UK and also a practicing Christian, calls for reconciliation between church and LGBT. “There’s a real sense of The Gays vs The Church and it’s just artificial, it’s not how any of us work. “- she says ‘. “There’s a real need for Stonewall to build a common ground and demolish that sense of ‘them and us’.
Determined to break down barriers between gay people and the church, Ruth Hunt had encouraged Christian rock star and popular blogger Vicky Beeching to come out. Ruth also believes that ‘the spiritual needs of lesbian, gay and bisexual people are completely overlooked…it’s heartbreaking for your family who have to see you be excluded from it.”
Religious acceptance of homosexuals is on the raise, the National Congrations Study shows that from 2006 to 2012, the number of congregations accepting gay and lesbian members increased from 37.4 percent to 48 percent. So why don’t we stop the feud and explore spirituality, ‘reach out and touch faith’, rediscover the healing power of prayer, purifying blessing of confession, sweet grace of redemption and revitalizing strength of holy community?
Regular churchgoers could get feeling of belonging to a community, support and guidance, hope, comfort and refuge during hard times. Faith can help us be healthier, mentally stable, concentrated, relaxed and even happier.
American neurosceintist Andrew B. Newberg studiyng Tibetan Buddhists and Franciscan nuns found that prayer and meditation increase levels of dopamine, which is associated with states of well-being and joy. According to study by American Psychological Association (APA), higher levels of religious faith and spirituality are associated with a range of positive mental health outcomes, including more optimism about life and higher resilience to stress.
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, survivor of Nazi camps, remembered with awe how spiritual people, often of delicate built, coped better with hardships of camp life than seemingly stronger fellow prisoners being ‘able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom’.
Numerous recent studies also demonstrate that people with faith have increased sense of well-being, lower rates of depression and suicide, are more resistant to addictions like substance abuse, live longer and better recover from illnesses and surgeries.
What else unites gay people besides clubs, where else gay culture flourishes? I wish we could get deeper integrated into the society, relating to more of its institutions, getting more pillars in life to be able to lean onto. I think spirituality and faith could be one of these final frontiers for us to explore and equally benefit from together with our heterosexual brothers and sisters.
Photo: Sean/Flickr
Editor’s note: All language as originally used by author.