“Meet the Gay Christians Who Are Swearing Off Sex”: Two Dudes You May Already Know And One You Might Not

Mic.com quotes Ron Belgau and Wesley Hill, who may already be familiar to my readers; but to me the most poignant and powerful lines were from Seth Crocker, whom I’ve read now and then but tbh haven’t followed as closely:

Seth Crocker, 28, is also a celibate gay Christian. A blogger for Building Bridges in War Zones, Crocker referred to his decision to abstain from sex as a “personal thing,” which stems from his belief that being in a relationship with God means making difficult sacrifices.

“It’s about humility—I feel like this is what God teaches in scripture, but I could be wrong,” Crocker said. “At the same time, I understand how hard [celibacy] is—how it can feel isolating and lonely—and I can understand why someone would pursue a relationship with someone of the same sex—to have that love and companionship.”

Crocker chose to become celibate after entering Exodus International, a now-defunct nonprofit aimed at converting gay men to heterosexuality, during his senior year of college. “I didn’t understand how I could be gay and be in a relationship with God,” he said of his decision to enter the ex-gay movement. “I felt like as long as I was pursuing straightness, God would make me OK.”

After Exodus’ plan for change didn’t work, Crocker left the ex-gay movement when he was 22. He felt intense anger at the religion he grew up in. “I was mad at God,” he said. “I thought God failed me.” A year later, Crocker decided to become celibate.

What resonated with Crocker about celibacy was that it offered a rare positive outlook for those who might be struggling with their sexuality.

“I think it’s quite liberating when you can look past that to see what the Gospel is actually saying—that we’re called to be like Christ, who did not have a significant relationship with another human being,” Crocker said. “It’s an amazing model of what we can do. It can be a really fulfilling life when we feel called to something outside of ourselves.”

more (lol Christ had plenty of “significant relationships”! Mary, John, Joseph, John the Baptist, and like a minimum of ten other disciples would all like to have a word… but no, I mean I know what he means, and “virgin = no significant relationships with other humans” is probably the ultimate Freudian slip)