As I See It Cover

As I See It

A series of columns written from 2007 – 2011 about being gay and Christian written for the RUM-NC newsletter
by John Suddath

I wasn’t able to attend the convocation at Vanderbilt, and I would appreciate those who did sharing some of their impressions or experiences. I think this online group could be more of a dialogue and less of a posting of announcements and new clips if folks made more of an effort to participate.

Since we are scattered over a large area, not everyone is able to attend monthly meetings. This not only is a “safe place” to discuss issues and concerns but also to share insights and successes in bridging the gap with those who talk inclusion but practice exclusion in the church.

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The torch has been passed on with Caleb assuming leadership of RUM-NC. I don’t think a lot of people understand what the demands of leading a small volunteer group are: physically, financially or emotionally. We owe a debt of gratitude to Jeanie Aycock for taking on that role for the past two years and keeping the torch burning. We’ve lost some core people who have moved from the area, moved on, or moved away from the Methodist Church because of its apparent intractable stance on this issue. But we still have many resources and supporters for a more inclusive and welcoming church for all minorities with an emphasis on preaching the gospel rather than becoming an exclusive social club of “respectable” people who reside in the mainstream of society but have no personal conviction towards evangelism. That’s one thing we’re very deficient in comparison with our evangelical brethren in that we’re lukewarm about everything and passionate about nothing.

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I attended the movie “In-laws and Outlaws” and joined the candlelight march around the State Capitol on October 12th. It recalled to mind a similar march I made several years ago from the U.S. Capitol to the White House and wondered what the marches accomplished other than to make some people feel better about themselves and realize that they weren’t alone. Some of my friends have just become cynics and given up that some churches are ever really going to change and will never do more than just “tolerate” our community. I’ve already seen a lot of change in the attitudes of American society during my lifetime even though there is more work to be done, such as passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The Methodist Church seems to be one of the last “holdouts” in acceptance of GLBT persons.

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I was feeling discouraged by what I sensed was a feeling of public apathy about social concerns and community issues in the Triangle. Even though more than a million disabled or elderly people are in some type of long-term care facility in North Carolina, the public apparently doesn’t want to hear about it, discuss the issue, or plan for their future needs. One of the advocacy groups to which I belong has had difficulty in getting people even to attend workshops dealing with the issues so I was reaffirmed in my goals at our annual awards banquet last week when a nurse aide received recognition for the work that she does in a nursing home. We also recognized three other individuals as well as two facilities for their accomplishments. These people demonstrated that not everyone is primarily concerned with cutting corners to maximize corporate profits. It is evident that in spite of many of the problems these facilities face, there are people who really do care for others and are sincere in their calling.

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