Bridge Building between the Evangelical community and LGBT community.

ILS252 Sustainability Project

Bridge Building between the Evangelical community and LGBT community.

Eric Jeng

As we look into the concept of sustainability, we tend to think in terms of conservation and the efficient use of natural resources and energy. However, sustainability can be applied to not just tangible matters but also to our social interactions, relationships, and spirituality. Looking at our world, living sustainably includes not just the environmental physical wellbeing but also the mental and spiritual aspects. Living sustainably means seeing the finer things in life, to realize and cherish the preciousness of the world and those who call it home. Sustainability gives us hope not only by imagining the possibility of restoring our relationship with nature, but also bringing restoration of human’s relationship with other human beings and living in harmony with ourselves.

In my project I will try to explore how to elevate the conversation between the Christian and the gay community. This project will focus on bridging the divide between two influential communities in our society that are known for their ideological differences and hostility. The conflict can be described as hostile as the “America’s culture war.” (Hankins, 2009) In this project, I wish to address this issue not by saying which narrative on sexuality or theology is the most correct, but to focus on the more problematic approach of encouraging mutual understanding and dialogue in order to elevate conversation. My goal of this project is to learn practical principles of how to organize and host such efforts of cultural engagement and bridge building to thus make our world a better place.

The Founders of our nation insisted on a set of principles that will encourage the separation of church and state. However, in today’s public discourse, faith can still be one of the deciding factors that shape public opinions and debates. Religion can be a double-edged sword in politics. The early civil rights movement in the 1960’s was led by great man of faith such as Dr. King and other Christian leaders. In fact, Dr. King appealed to the roots of Christianity to the white churches in the South to fight injustice and oppression. (Keller, 2008) However, compare to the civil rights movement in 1960’s when Christianity served as a catalyst to social change, the rise of Conservative Evangelicals in the 90’s such as Focus On the Family, or the ministry of televangelist Jerry Falwell setup the reactionary and homophobic attitude of the Christian Right toward sexual minority. (White, 2006)

The legality of same-sex marriage and the larger context of the affirmation of sexual diversity in our society has become one of the most heated debates in our political world now. Some go as far as claiming gay rights movement is our generation’s civil rights movement, with statistics showing that the percentage of self-identified conservative Christians is around 36% and those who self-identified as gays, lesbians and bisexuals around 8%. (Rayside & Wilcox, 2011) This issue is relevant and important now and will be in the foreseeable future.

Due to the access of the Internet and the help of Youtube, we witness a growing number of painful testimonies of bullied teenagers because of their sexual orientation; we feel for these young lives. We are angered, and want to take more actions. There are numerous and very complicated factors as to why such cruelty happens, and it will take tremendous effort to understand teenage psychology, mainstream media, and our education system. In addition, I believe changing the attitude of Christian community will help improve the situation.

In a recent profound study by unChristian, the number one perception of non-Christians toward Christians is anti-gay (91% of respondents), topping judgmental (87%) and hypocritical (85%). (Lyons & Kinnaman, 2007) Improving the relationship with LGBT community will not only help ease the stigma or discrimination that the LGBT community has endured for years, it also will open up opportunities to change the misperception of the Christian community as being intolerant and biased. This effort will allow churches to reach out to a wider demographic. In short, elevating the conversation and building sustainable relationship can be seen as a win-win situation for both sides.

In order to develop a setting for dialogue, there are levels of intervention that we can change current system. As I surveyed theories on political conflict resolution, a great book named Sharpening Conflict Management introduced system theories to ethnoreligious conflicts. In this book the author indicates there are levels of actors in the system from top to grassroot. (see figure Bock, 2001)

Applied to our topic, on the national level, we see the divisive political rhetoric on the subject of faith and sexual diversity from the ongoing (and never-ending) election season. A recent example is as his polling numbers in Iowa start trailing behind, Texas Gov. Rick Perry escalated his campaign rhetoric by using comparing the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell to ban on school prayer to point out Obama’s war on the Christian tradition. This has always been a contributing factor to the conflict. As Mel White, now an openly-gay pastor who used to be the ghost-writer and staff for prominent leaders in the conservative Christians movement pointed out, the combination effort of political leaders and faith leaders on mobilization of religious right and stirring up fundamentalist base became a standard tactic to gain publicity, to get out votes, and to create legitimacy within the Christian community. However, this strategy worsens the divide by pitting both communities against each other, while only the few gained political scores. (White, 2006) This is evident from the advocacy of the Defense of Marriage Act, Proposition 8 in California, and the boycotting of Hate Crime Laws based on sexual orientation. As there are little incentives for conservative leaders both on the church side and political side to reach out and end the rhetoric, I believe the system can be change not from top but from the bottom level.

If we look at the Evangelical community as a complex system, we can identify the actors as national leaders, local leaders and followers. Biblical interpretation, faith principles, and actual practice act as the information that define and keep the system running. We can use the Authorative Dynamic chart (Bock, 2001) to showcase how leaders can prevent or promote conflicts. In this part, as churches stress the importance of teaching and leadership. They need believers of the faith to obey and support.

But as the figure showed that as top-level and mid-level. Reaching out to the other side can be risky as there will be no guarantee of result and no guarantee of trust, leadership can be seem as weak and compromising and thus lost their legitimacy.

The breakthrough of the current system can be found from collective efforts of different levels. A successful example is from the success of New York State Legislature’s approval of Same Sex Marriage legislation earlier this year. According to news outlet, conservative constituents the final four Republican votes that switch side and voted to support the legislation came after former Republican National Committee chairman and Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman came out of the closet to his fellow Republicans. This is inspiring as I look into other cases of sustainable relationship building, it comes down to a more individualistic level where interpersonal relations, like trust and friendship.

The three major steps should be 1. Conflict Resolution and Conflict Prevention. 2. Culture Engagement and Practice of Empathy, and 3. Bridge Building and Community Building. For the fir step, the groups need to cease fire and develop a mutual agreement to lay down distrust. It is not easy to promise to stay open-minded, but at least we can practice civility and common courtesy. The second part is to step out of the comfort zone to reach out into the other camp and realize that the other side is not the enemy.  The third part comes in as this effort should not just be tolerance, but understanding, embrace, and empowerment. Not only do we learn an experience, we also learn how to develop and foster relationship by creating a community that has the courage to live in the creative tension,  and make our world a more livable place.

For this project, two foundations that I looked into are the Fair Wisconsin student chapter based here in Madison and also the Marin Foundation in Chicago.

In 2010, Fair Wisconsin hosted a faith forum that invited religious leaders to participate in a panel and try to tackle hard questions. As the religious leaders explain how diverse churches and denominations are, we realize it is unfair to think as Christianity as a common, singular-faced community. Inside Evangelicals there are leaders standing on everywhere over the spectrum. This kind of faith panel brings religious leaders to the LGBT community held on LGBT locations, and this created a safe environment to foster discussion.

Founded by Andrew Marin in 2008, an Evangelical Christian who has been living in Boystown Chicago for a decade after three of his best friends came out to him, the Marin Foundation has become a major success for their effort of bridging conservative Christians and LGBT community. I went to Chicago and interviewed the staff, now they hold regular seminars and meetings in Boystown. Their concept of dialogue is inspirational as it is based on the belief of building personal relationships than trying to find a set of clear-cut answers, thus forming a unique “creative tension” (Marin, 2009) I learned from my interview that instead of focus on the difference or trying to come up with what they all agree on, they just stayed open minded, sharing and listening to lives.

The interview made me thought of Thinking in Systems where Meadows encourages system learner to be a humble learner, to celebrate not only diversity, but also celebrate complexity. For communities like Christianity and LGBT, people tend to ask close-ended question that will only lead to reaffirmation of people’s dichotomy view of the matter. Learning to embrace the complexity of the issue elevates the conversation to more than just simple yes or no, right or wrong. Un-simplify the issue also allows us to expand the time horizon and cherish the dynamic of every individual’s sexuality, identity, and also faith and spirituality.

This project inspired me to take more action and brought out my passion of bringing people together. So, in order to make my world a better place, I plan to take action on three levels, personal, local, and national. For the personal part, I need to learn deeper and wider about this issue, so one of the direct impacts of this project is that I am enrolling in the LGBT studies program next semester. On an interpersonal level, I also share to dozens of my friends in the Christian community about why, what, and how we can do to improve the current situation. One particular effort is for me and other friends to go to gay bar such as Plan B just to have fun and hang out with people from the LGBT community. On the other hand, I also wish to bring other friends to check out churches. On the local level, I hope to join Fair Wisconsin or other similar student orgs that advocate for LGBT rights. I have also proposed a plan to my leaders in church for possibility of organizing forums or workshops on this matter. On the national level, I will be interning in Washington D.C. this coming summer, and I hoped to participate with legislative representatives or NGOs to improve LGBT rights.

In the end this project changed me personally and profoundly. I hope that just by changing my attitude, by making one less homophobe and making one more ally, I am already making my world a better place. As we look into the inspiration from Meadows, I am glad that I found a way to “Go for the Good of the Whole”, to “Celebrate Complexity” and start asking and answering open-ended question, and “Expand the Boundary of Caring.”

Sources

Bock, Joseph. Sharpening Conflict Management: Religious Leadership and the Double-Edged Sword. New York: Praeger, 2001.

Ewing, Tim. “Students for a Fair Wisconsin reaches out to faith leaders”  Fair Wisconsin. Apr. 29, 2010. http://fairwisconsin.blogspot.com/2010/04/ students-for-fair-wisconsin-reaches-out.html  

Hankins, Barry. American Evangelicals: A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.

Keller, Timothy. The Reason of God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.

Landau, Christopher. “Why Conservative Christians Flock to a Chicago Gay Bar.” BBC World News, Chicago. Sep. 23, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15034651

Lyons, Gabe and Kinnaman, Dave, unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christians … and Why It Matters. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.

Marin, Andrew. Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009.

Meadows, Donella H.. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. White River Junction: Chelsea Green, 2008.

Rayside, David., Wilcox, Clyde. Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011.

White, Mel. Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right. New York: Tarcher, 2006.

White, Mel. Stranger At The Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

 

Introduction to Bridge Building in Communities

ILS252 Sustainability Project

 

Bridge Building between the Evangelical community and LGBT community.

Eric Jeng

As we look into the concept of sustainability, we tend to think in terms of conservation and the efficient use of natural resources and energy. However, sustainability can be applied to not just tangible matters but also to our social interactions, relationships, and spirituality. Looking at our world, living sustainably includes not just the environmental physical wellbeing but also the mental and spiritual aspects. Living sustainably means seeing the finer things in life, to realize and cherish the preciousness of the world and those who call it home. Sustainability gives us hope not only by imagining the possibility of restoring our relationship with nature, but also bringing restoration of human’s relationship with other human beings and living in harmony with ourselves.

In my project I will try to explore how to elevate the conversation between the Christian and the gay community. This project will focus on bridging the divide between two influential communities in our society that are known for their ideological differences and hostility. The conflict can be described as hostile as the “America’s culture war.” (Hankins, 2009) In this project, I wish to address this issue not by saying which narrative on sexuality or theology is the most correct, but to focus on the more problematic approach of encouraging mutual understanding and dialogue in order to elevate conversation. My goal of this project is to learn practical principles of how to organize and host such efforts of cultural engagement and bridge building to thus make our world a better place.

The Founders of our nation insisted on a set of principles that will encourage the separation of church and state. However, in today’s public discourse, faith can still be one of the deciding factors that shape public opinions and debates. Religion can be a double-edged sword in politics. The early civil rights movement in the 1960’s was led by great man of faith such as Dr. King and other Christian leaders. In fact, Dr. King appealed to the roots of Christianity to the white churches in the South to fight injustice and oppression. (Keller, 2008) However, compare to the civil rights movement in 1960’s when Christianity served as a catalyst to social change, the rise of Conservative Evangelicals in the 90’s such as Focus On the Family, or the ministry of televangelist Jerry Falwell setup the reactionary and homophobic attitude of the Christian Right toward sexual minority. (White, 2006)

The legality of same-sex marriage and the larger context of the affirmation of sexual diversity in our society has become one of the most heated debates in our political world now. Some go as far as claiming gay rights movement is our generation’s civil rights movement, with statistics showing that the percentage of self-identified conservative Christians is around 36% and those who self-identified as gays, lesbians and bisexuals around 8%. (Rayside & Wilcox, 2011) This issue is relevant and important now and will be in the foreseeable future.

Due to the access of the Internet and the help of Youtube, we witness a growing number of painful testimonies of bullied teenagers because of their sexual orientation; we feel for these young lives. We are angered, and want to take more actions. There are numerous and very complicated factors as to why such cruelty happens, and it will take tremendous effort to understand teenage psychology, mainstream media, and our education system. In addition, I believe changing the attitude of Christian community will help improve the situation.

In a recent profound study by unChristian, the number one perception of non-Christians toward Christians is anti-gay (91% of respondents), topping judgmental (87%) and hypocritical (85%). (Lyons & Kinnaman, 2007) Improving the relationship with LGBT community will not only help ease the stigma or discrimination that the LGBT community has endured for years, it also will open up opportunities to change the misperception of the Christian community as being intolerant and biased. This effort will allow churches to reach out to a wider demographic. In short, elevating the conversation and building sustainable relationship can be seen as a win-win situation for both sides.

 

Sources

Hankins, Barry. American Evangelicals: A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.

Keller, Timothy. The Reason of God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008.

Lyons, Gabe and Kinnaman, Dave, unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christians … and Why It Matters. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.

Marin, Andrew. Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009.

Rayside, David., Wilcox, Clyde. Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011.

White, Mel. Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right. New York: Tarcher, 2006.

White, Mel. Stranger At The Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.

 

Cultural Engagement and Bridge Building

Before I transfer to Madison, I was a devoted student activist in Taipei, Taiwan and I worked on various issues that i sincerely believe my effort made the world a better place.

In recent weeks, three events took place that made me felt an urge to reconcile the Christian part and the Activist part in me. First, two months ago I attended UW Law School’s Workshop in the role of court and same sex marriage. Second, last month Presbyterian Church ordained their first openly gay minister here in Madison, that drew controversy and also the protest of the notorious homophobic Westboro Baptist Church. Third, Taipei just held one of the largest Pride parade in Asia this past weekend, and I was one of the campus organizer and co-sponsored a legislation in student council that support gay rights two years ago for the parade.

These events made me think hard on the constant tension between the gay community and christian community in our society. I believe issue like same-sex marriage will be a relevant and dominating social issues for these couple of years. I also believe that dialogues and more understandings can shed light to the situation.

So my project design is to look into more resources, both scholarly and non-scholarly, then try to provide a new scope of confronting this issue that can create productive outcomes, thus benefit our society as a whole.

I will look into opportunities that can advance lgbtq rights in wisconsin politically and legally, and try to see what I can do. I will look into progressive theology, gender and sexuality and faith in a modern context.

On the more academical part, I am thinking about applying what I learned in political science and international relations, such as conflict resolution and reconciliation to this situation and see if we can use the concept.

I will also interview an organization in Chicago called The Marin Foundation, which is the first organization established to build a bridge between the christian community and the gay community.

Their work was getting noticed and was featured in Guardian and BBC last month, I was deeply inspired. I will think of ways that I can participate in this courageous effort to bring together two communities that are long divided by mistrust and misunderstandings.