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I recently worked up the courage to tell my friend that I liked her. But I didn’t want to go into it without knowing how she would react. So, I decided to find out what her religious background was and what her views were on the LGBT community. It turned out that she was pretty conservative and didn’t really support the LGBT community. My immediate thought was, ‘This just got really awkward.’ It took a lot of courage to say what I said next. When I told her that I was bisexual, she said that even though she didn’t necessarily agree with my lifestyle, she still wanted to be my friend, and I told her that I agreed. But honestly it became more and more difficult to fulfill that agreement because I felt like she didn’t see me as a decent human being. And unfortunately, we ended our friendship five days later. It was the most heartbreaking decision that I ever made.
Looking back on that day, I realized that this experience has become the very foundation of this speech. The American Dream is threatened because of the impact religious views have had on societal norms. Now, I realize that there may be people in this audience who have religious views that are very similar to the views that my ex friend had, and I mean no disrespect to any of them. I happen to be a member of a United Methodist church in Chattanooga. My goal is that by the time I finish this speech, both sides of this issue will have been addressed equally and that a possible solution will be formed. And maybe I will change your views a little in the process.
The cause of the issue of religion versus society dates all the way back to the 1960s; around the time when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, to be precise. This was followed by racial upheaval and the growing controversy about the Vietnam War. Robert Putnam and David Campbell, the authors of the critically acclaimed book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, summarize this period of time with perfection, “The decade of the Sixties was a time...when the old foundations of...patriotic idealism, moral traditionalism, and even of historic Judaeo-Christian [sic] theism, were awash. Presuppositions that had held firm for centuries--even millennia--were being widely questioned” (Putnam & Campbell 92). When you thoroughly examine this quote and the section that it came from, you can really see the motives that churches all across the country had for creating this issue. Religious views were being questioned, people weren’t attending church as much as they used to, and even the churches themselves were losing self-confidence. So, when the 1970s came around, they came back fighting. As Putnam and Campbell describe it, “It was a seismic warning sign that America’s religious landscape was beginning to shift again, this time in a more religious (and conservative) direction” (Putnam & Campbell 100). Speaking of conservative views, the authors also state that there was a surprising shift in views among younger Americans between the 70’s and 80’s, “On homosexuality...views among younger Americans...actually moved in a conservative direction. Among eighteen to twenty-nine-year-olds the view that homosexuality was “always wrong” rose from 62 percent in 1974 to 79 percent in 1987” (Putnam & Campbell 117). But by the time that the 90’s rolled around, people were starting to wonder whether or not religion had too much power, or as the authors put it, “The terms “Religious Right” and “Christian Right” were becoming pejoratives in most Americans’ view, representing a noxious mixture of religion and political ideology” (Putnam & Campbell 120). And it got even worse a year later, “Young Americans came to view religion...as judgemental, homophobic, hypocritical, and too political” (Putnam & Campbell 121). In two decades, the population of the American youth went from being extremely conservative about issues such as homosexuality to viewing religion itself as homophobic. Of course, the 90’s were a time where homosexuality was starting to be accepted, but it’s pretty astounding when you look at the statistics. And in recent years, the issue on homosexuality has come full circle. The war between religion and the LGBT community is perhaps the hottest issue in America today.
As I mentioned in my introduction, I’m bisexual, so this type of religious oppression is one that I’m extremely passionate about. Of course, the views of many people have gotten a lot better, but it has started to take a step backwards in recent years. In his book, Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion and the LGBT Community, Andrew Marin writes, “When someone asks, “Are you (or is your church) inclusive?” what they’re really asking is, “Are you socially, politically, theologically progressive?” That’s not inclusion. That’s a line in the sand...Only those people and those ideological positions sanctioned by people in power are allowed in. Everyone else is cast off” (Marin 157). That argument holds true for the LGBT community, especially in today’s society. And believe me, it’s taken a toll on the community as a whole. Us Versus Us revolves largely around a study that the author and his associates did, asking members of the LGBT community about their relationship with religion. And as Marin writes, “Almost all of our study’s participants...had prayerfully asked God to make them straight when they first realized their LGBT orientation as a youth...Whether atheist or believer...96 percent of them prayed to be made straight as soon as they determined that they weren’t” (Marin 135). The part that’s so tragic is the fact that the church has discriminated against the LGBT community so much that even atheists prayed to God to make them straight. But the results of the study only get more and more heartbreaking. Marin writes, “Our data reports that 54 percent of our LGBT participants left their religious community after the age of 18...Some LGBT people leave because they want to...Some leave because the system is broken and that breaks them--each step they take away from church is laden with sorrow” (Marin 34). And the opinions behind the latter reason are the real kicker, “From an LGBT perspective, religious factions induce shame through teachings on sin and social oppression through theological interpretation. From a more religious-conservative perspective, LGBT people can’t handle God’s truth on relationships and sex” (Marin 36). Unfortunately, the church isn’t just focusing all their hate on one group. Religious discrimination has been going on for many years, and it’s a lot bigger than you might think.
Basically, religious oppression has been an issue since religion was first created. We can’t all agree on everything, and a lot of times, the church takes this way too far. In many ways, Valerie Tarico of Alternet.org agrees when she writes, “To stay strong, religion trains believers to practice self-deception, shut out contradictory evidence, and trust authorities rather than their own capacity to think” (Tarico). As more and more people are drifting away from religion and towards scientific fact, churches are doing whatever it takes to make sure that their religion stays strong, even if it means having a complete disregard for the greater good, which leads me to Tarico’s next point that, “Religions...are willing to wield their power and wealth in the service of self-perpetuation, even if it harms society at large” (Tarico). And the list just goes on, “Religion often redirects moral disgust and indignation, attaching these emotions to arbitrary religious rules rather than questions of real harm” (Tarico). But this next fact really hits home for me because not only have I been the victim of it two or three times, but it’s also the reason behind some of the biggest acts of violence in the past five years, “Religion divides insiders from outsiders...At worst, outsiders are seen as enemies of God and goodness, potential agents of Satan, lacking in morality and not to be trusted” (Tarico). Charlottesville, Orlando, all of the hate crimes against the many minorities in this country, they are all connected to the fact that I’ve just shared with you. And I recently found out that hate crimes in the US have risen for the second year in a row. But the reason why all of this hate just keeps growing might surprise you.
Maybe the reason why the issue of religion versus society isn’t getting any better is because both sides are guilty. And you’re probably thinking, ‘Oh, no. She’s gone crazy,’ but just listen to me for a moment. The conservatives aren’t the only ones at fault here. The blame also falls on the liberals. And if you don’t believe me, then listen to this quote from American Grace, “Generally speaking, those on the left tend to be more concerned to protect the rights of progressive groups, while conservatives tend to be more protective of the rights of right-wing groups” (Putnam & Campbell 482). Conservatives have done a lot of bad things to this country, I know. Like I’ve said many times, I’ve suffered their hate, too. But the reason why the issue of religion versus society isn’t getting any better is because both sides are too stubborn to just talk with the people they hate and find out why all of this is happening. Honestly, this issue has been going on a lot longer than the 1960s. And according to Kenneth Wald and David Leege, it goes all the way back to the 1800s, “Although the Civil War was not fundamentally about religion, it took on added ferocity because Northerners and Southerners alike believed fervently that God was on their side” (Wald & Leege 10). And it honestly keeps making more and more sense. Let’s go back to one of my quotes when I talked about religion vs the LGBT community, “From an LGBT perspective, religious factions induce shame through teachings on sin and social oppression through theological interpretation. From a more religious-conservative perspective, LGBT people can’t handle God’s truth on relationships and sex” (Marin 36). Both sides in this situation are resembling the very thing that I’m trying to convince you of. We’re all too stubborn to just talk with our enemies, and because of that, we’re letting the war of religion versus society get worse and worse. So what do we do now? How can we end an issue that has been going on since before any of us were even born?
As you’ve probably figured out, the solution to this issue is extremely complicated, and I’ve divided it into three parts. The first part is a call to the oppressed. And Andrew Marin couldn’t sum up this call better, “Over the long haul a person will either work to embody their new reality or work to reject it. The former more likely produces a well-adjusted life and sense of self; the latter, a life hovering in and out of shame, self-hate, and physical, emotional, and spiritual upheaval” (Marin 157). Don’t be the latter. Be proud of who you are and don’t let anyone get you down. And for those of you who are already living that lifestyle, I commend you. The second part of my solution is a call to the oppressors. For you, I have a quote from V for Vendetta, an amazing story that I often use for guidance, “We were all humans until race disconnected us, religion seperated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us.” All of this religious oppression is inhumane. I’m begging you, please stop, for everyone’s sake. No one deserves to suffer this much. The third and final part is a call to everyone. As a certain fictional, time-travelling alien once said, a war can be ended in an instant if both sides just sit down and talk. So, I want everyone in this room to listen to someone whose views you disagree with, and I want you to listen to one person every day. It may not make much of a difference now, but trust me, it will in the future. Religious oppression--or any other kind of oppression for that matter--doesn’t have to go on forever. It can end right here, right now. We just have to work together to end it. Thank you for your time.
Works Cited
Marin, Andrew P. Us versus Us: the Untold Story of Religion and the LGBT Community. NavPress, 2016.
Putnam, Robert D., et al. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Tarico, Valerie. “6 Ways Religion Does More Bad Than Good.” Alternet, www.alternet.org/belief/6-ways-religion-does-more-bad-good.
Wald, Kenneth D. and David C. Leege, “Culture, Religion, and American Political Life,” University of Florida.