Why Do I Continue To Write For Patheos?

Someone recently asked why I still write for Patheos, in spite of the fact that some of their content is harmful and destructive to people who are already marginalized (like those of us in the LGBTQ community). I didn’t have an answer for them at the time, as I wanted to really sit and wrestle with the question first.

Now that I’ve done that, here’s my answer.

Alternative Voices

First off, I continue to write for Patheos because if I didn’t, there would be one less voice on here who champions those who are marginalized for their gender and/or sexuality. With bigoted and homophobic blogs like “The Chorus In The Chaos” – I’m not even going to link to them because of how homophobic they are – getting frontpage status more often than they deserve, I simply don’t want that to go unchallenged. Not that this is some sort of competition, where the most pageviews wins. I am just not ready to concede to the bigots and homophobes. I’m not going to let them win.

Great Content

Secondly, I think Patheos puts out a lot of GREAT content, in spite of the fact that they continue to give people like the aforementioned blog, as well as Mark Driscoll, a platform. The beauty of an interfaith blog like Patheos is that we get to hear from so many different voices. Of course I take issue with homophobia and heresy-hunting – two favorite dishes at the vomit-inducing restaurant called “The Chorus In The Chaos” – but I’d be wrong to think that’s all Patheos promotes.

Global Reach

Third, I could never reach as many people as I currently do if I didn’t write for Patheos. A lot of people subscribe and follow them on social media, and without that backing, my message of LGBTQ-inclusion, nonviolent ethics, anti-racism, and universal love would not reach nearly as far. So, because of that, I do have to thank Patheos.

Freedom

And lastly, there is a lot of freedom that comes with writing here. Perhaps that’s why some blogs get away with condemning entire groups of people for their sexual orientation, but that freedom also allows folks like myself to counter such harmful ideas (at least so far). I hope that continues into the future, because I’d hate to see LGBTQ people like myself getting censored for standing up for ourselves.

Anyway, I’m sure there are other reasons I could think of, but that’s about it for now. Unless Patheos has other plans, I will continue to blog here for the foreseeable future. Peace, love, and all that good hippie shit.

If you wanna get to know me better, please follow me on social media. I’m pretty active on all platforms:

Also, if you’ve been digging my work on here, and want to see me be able to continue writing as close to full-time as humanly possible, please take a look at my Patreon page at www.patreon.com/mjdistefano. Even $1 a month helps bigly!!!