Dear Jeffrey Overstreet:<\/p>\n
Can you only see the world through Christian filters? You are obviously far more intelligent than that. Brokeback Mountain also beautifully documents the suffering of all of its characters caused by the homophobia preached and practiced by intolerant Christians who foolishly believe in biblical literalism and inerrancy. If these Christians think it is wrong to practice homosexuality, then they shouldn\u2019t do so, but why try to impose their religious beliefs and mythologies on others? This is a secular civil society wisely based on the Constitutional separation of church and state. Sexual behavior that harms no one between consenting adults in private is simply not an ethical issue, though it may be a religious one. Christ was a rebellious rabbi who opposed blind obedience to the established religious authority of his day. His primary message was compassion, not unquestioning obedience to scripture. He, himself, did not condemn same-sex love. Why do you? Compassion is far greater and wiser than fear-based childish obedience, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n
Nature celebrates diversity, not one size fits all, or only One Way. Ask your gay friends what religious condemnation of what is central and sacred to them\u2013their ability to love\u2013does to them. See Brokeback from this viewpoint and you will understand. Empathy is the basis of true compassion. Compassion is what our humanity is all about. It is the destination and the path. As you well know, Christianity has the bloodiest history of any major religion. Does this not cause you to reflect and question? Every religion believes theirs is the true one, but as a lifelong student of comparative religions, it seems obvious that humans have invented their gods and religions and then they pretend that they did not. My faith is in alternatives and diversity, not closed-minded dogma masquerading as faith. I suspect you, being intelligent, know well what I mean.<\/p>\n
[name of writer removed by Jeffrey], Ph.D.
\nClinical Psychologist<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ll address this point by point:<\/p>\n
Can you only see the world through Christian filters?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\nHmmm. Good question. Can you only see the world through Clinical Psychologist filters?<\/p>\n
Forgive me if that sounds flippant. My point is this: We all see through filters. Filters are good. If we don\u2019t have filters, we can\u2019t separate what is healthy from what is corrupting. We can\u2019t block damaging ultraviolet rays in order to protect our eyes, so we can see and not go blind.<\/p>\n
Perhaps lenses are a better metaphor. Lenses can either distort reality or help us see it clearly. Through Christ, I believe that I see things more clearly than through anything else. Putting down our lenses does not enable us to see some kind of basic truth. If you believe that I have to put down my Christian perspective in order to see clearly, then you\u2019re using lenses of your own\u2026 lenses that lead you to believe Christianity is misleading.<\/p>\n
You are obviously far more intelligent than that.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nWell, I can entertain <\/strong><\/em>other perspectives, but I\u2019ll only accept them if they ring truer than the perspective that I\u2019ve grown to embrace. To borrow a word from G.K. Chesterton, \u201cMerely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.\u201d<\/p>\nBrokeback Mountain also beautifully documents the suffering of all of its characters caused by the homophobia preached and practiced by intolerant Christians who foolishly believe in biblical literalism and inerrancy. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nDo you really think \u201cintolerant Christians\u201d are to blame for everything that goes wrong in the film?<\/p>\n
Is it the homophobic Christians\u2019 fault that both Ennis and Jack blatantly lie to their wives, pledging fidelity and true love, while secretly clinging to another love? It\u2019s homophobic Christians\u2019 fault that Jack goes to Mexico to sleep with male prostitutes? You give homophobic Christians too much credit.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, you mention \u201cintolerant Christians.\u201d Does that mean you believe that there is such a thing as a \u201ctolerant Christian\u201d? How would you define that? If being \u201ctolerant\u201d means being compassionate and understanding, then yes, Christians should be tolerant. If it means abandoning our convictions that some choices are better and healthier than others, then you\u2019re not talking about tolerance, you\u2019re talking about shaping our opinions based on what other people want rather than what we believe God says.<\/p>\n
Jesus offended people all the time. Anyone who refuses to adhere to an aspect of Christianity just because it offends people, well, they\u2019re not much of a Christian.<\/p>\n
As for \u201cbiblical literalism,\u201d that is a subject of much debate amongst Christians. But just because I don\u2019t take everything in the Bible *literally* (Jesus was a big fan of metaphor) doesn\u2019t mean I can just cross out the parts I don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n
If these Christians think it is wrong to practice homosexuality, then they shouldn\u2019t do so, but why try to impose their religious beliefs and mythologies on others? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nSome Christians do try to impose their beliefs on others. Some homosexuals do too. So do some clinical psychologists. (Are you imposing your way of seeing the world on me by asking me to set aside my \u2018Christian filters\u2019? I\u2019m not sure.)<\/p>\n
I voiced my opinion in a film review. I haven\u2019t gone out and forced anybody to do anything. Since Americans are free to voice their opinions, and free to follow the religion of their choice, Christians have just as much right to express what they believe as anyone.<\/p>\n
You seem to believe in a \u201cmythology\u201d in which Christians are fascist monsters who go around forcing things on people. There are a few freaky Christian blowhards out there, and thanks to the media, they\u2019re often in the spotlight because they\u2019re freaky. And, at times, Christians have, as a majority, been swayed toward false perspectives. But I encourage you to stop by my church sometime. You might go away disappointed, because nobody\u2019s going to force anything on you. It\u2019s difficult to find a good representation of Christians in the media\u2026 the freaks are much more interesting.<\/p>\n
This is a secular civil society wisely based on the Constitutional separation of church and state. Sexual behavior that harms no one between consenting adults in private is simply not an ethical issue, though it may be a religious one. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAh, but there\u2019s the rub. Some of us believe that certain kinds of sexual behavior do harm people, even if others disagree.<\/p>\n
Again, I\u2019m not sure where this is coming from. Did I say that homosexual activity was illegal? No. Did I say that I think it is a sin? Yes. So, yes, it\u2019s a religious issue. To me, a religious conviction is not\u00a0just a cultural detail that I can set aside. It is a core belief, something that stems from my faith, not an accessory I attach to it.<\/p>\n
Christ was a rebellious rabbi who opposed blind obedience to the established religious authority of his day. His primary message was compassion, not unquestioning obedience to scripture.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nWhen Christ showed compassion to the adulteress, he condemned the Pharisees for judging her, yes. But he also told the adulteress \u201cGo and sin no more.\u201d He didn\u2019t just say \u201cGo.\u201d (I\u2019m quoting someone from a recent blog there, but at the moment, the source escapes me. Sorry, Source!)<\/p>\n
Christ wasn\u2019t just about compassion. If you think so, I encourage you to read the Gospels again.<\/p>\n
He was also a hardliner on the issue of sin.<\/p>\n
And he constantly reinforced the idea that righteousness is not defined by what feels good, or what we want.<\/p>\n
I take it on more than just faith, for the reasons spelled out in my review, that homosexual behavior (not homosexuality or homosexual impulses) is a sin, just as drug abuse (not drug addiction or desire for drugs) is a sin.<\/p>\n
Impulses are one thing. Choosing to indulge those that are not what is best for us, that is another.<\/p>\n
We all have appetites. And all of those appetites have the capacity to veer off the best course. This world is so messed up, sometimes we\u2019re born hungering for the very things that are bad for us. The compassionate thing to do for the child born with destructive tendencies is to help him learn the difference between what he wants and what he needs. Compassionately, of course.<\/p>\n
He, himself, did not condemn same-sex love. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nThere are many things Christ didn\u2019t specifically address. Pornography, for example. And yet, he encouraged us not to lust. Gambling, for example, and yet he encouraged us away from recklessness and greed.<\/p>\n
He did, however, instruct us to respect God\u2019s law and, moreoever, to go above and beyond the law to understand the spirit that created the law.<\/p>\n
I understand that love is not about what I want sexually. (For a good definition of the fundamentals of love, see First Corinthians 13.) If a man and a woman decide to show love to each other by beating each other, that\u2019s not really love, even if they enjoy it. That\u2019s a distortion and a peversion, something that should be dissuaded even if it \u201cisn\u2019t hurting anybody else.\u201d Love is about more than finding somebody with the same appetite. It\u2019s about developing a discernment about God\u2019s design for human life, and he created man and woman to serve each other, a plan that is uniquely blessed by the possibility of children.<\/p>\n
Compassion is far greater and wiser than fear-based childish obedience, don\u2019t you think? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nI do not obey out of fear. There are, however, certain children who don\u2019t respect what they\u2019re told, and the only way they learn is through harsh discipline because of their rebellious natures.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m all for grounding rebellious teens if they hang out with the wrong crowd, because the fear of grounding will save their lives. Note that the scriptures say that \u201cThe fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.\u201d Fear is a good place to start, but you mature past the fear to realize that the rules were established for good reason. If you just ignore the fear, you may end up regretting it. Have you seen Grizzly Man?<\/p>\n
Having said that, I obey because I learn, more and more each day, that greater fulfillment and joy comes from living within the guidelines God has designed for our benefit. It\u2019s not fear anymore. It\u2019s joy, and gratitude for the things I can enjoy because, to some extent, I have learned to control my appetites.<\/p>\n
Just as Timothy \u201cGrizzly Man\u201d Treadwell learned by overstepping certain lines and deciding that, \u2018Hey, who has the right to tell me I shouldn\u2019t live with grizzly bears?\u2019\u2026 so many will learn the hard way that the boundaries God has set for us are there for a reason.<\/p>\n
The sad thing is that our hearts are messed up, and they guide us to desire things beyond those boundaries. And when we are ruled by our own hearts and natures, rather than a higher authority, we inevitably overstep those bounds and pay the price.<\/p>\n
Nature celebrates diversity, not one size fits all, or only One Way.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nNature is flawed. I don\u2019t assume that nature has all the answers. Hey, praying mantises do bloody awful things to each other. Should I imitate that? Each thing in creation follows after the design God charted for it, and imperfectly, because sin has messed everything up.<\/p>\n
We can learn from nature, but we should also be discerning about where the things that penguins are supposed to do are different from the things that we\u2019re supposed to do. (Nod to Steven Greydanus\u2019s review of March of the Penguins at DecentFilms.com.)<\/p>\n
Ask your gay friends what religious condemnation of what is central and sacred to them\u2013their ability to love\u2013does to them.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nIf \u201ctheir ability to love\u201d means having gay sex, and if that is what is \u201ccentral and sacred\u201d to them, then they are basing their convictions on their sexual preference. They are building their worldview on their appetites. Back to your idea of filters, they\u2019ve just established filters that will reject anything that gets in the way of them fulfilling their appetites.<\/p>\n
Let me repeat your words back to you with a twist: \u201cAsk your obese friends what nutritonists\u2019 objections to what is central and sacred to them\u2013their ability to eat fast food\u2013does to them. \u201d Do you see what I\u2019m saying? Just because the truth hurts doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t the truth. Now, Christians are responsible to represent the truth, but they\u2019re supposed to represent it with grace and love. As a teacher of mine used to say, \u201cYou can be right, but you can also be damned right.\u201d<\/p>\n
See Brokeback from this viewpoint and you will understand. Empathy is the basis of true compassion.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nIn its proper place, empathy is a good thing.<\/p>\n
But say, for example, I start empathizing with the KKK and stop trying to change their minds. Will that make everything better? I\u2019m not saying gay people and the KKK are equal, please don\u2019t get me wrong. But I am challenging your point that I should abandon my objections and just empathize.<\/p>\n
Compassion is what our humanity is all about.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAnd again, I can have compassion on someone without affirming all of their choices. I have compassion for my friend who is addicted to heroin. And that compassion leads me to want to coax him in a better direction.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I would hope, as a clinical psychologist, you\u2019d understand that idea.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It\u2019s interesting to me that so many who wish Christians would be more compassionate are so quick to slap labels and generalizations on Christians as \u201cright-wing extremist homophobes.\u201d If I object to the choices of a heroin-use, am I a heroin-o-phobe?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It is the destination and the path. <\/em><\/strong><\/div>\nCompassion is a characteristic, a virtue, not a\u00a0destination. If you see someone choosing something that isn\u2019t healthy, what is the compassionate response? To affirm their choice? Or to kindly ask them to consider otherwise? Ack, I\u2019m becoming redundant.<\/p>\n
As you well know, Christianity has the bloodiest history of any major religion.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nIn any religion, there are those who twist the fundamentals and wield them for ther own greedy ends. You\u2019re not talking about Christ anymore, or true Christianity. You\u2019re talking about people who proclaim the name of Christ in the process of deceiving others, so this is irrelevant.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d encourage you to show me a religion that has done more to prevent bloodshed, and to encourage healing in the world, and to give to the poor, and to bring medicine to the sick\u2026
Does this not cause you to reflect and question?<\/em><\/strong>\nIt\u2019s always a good idea to be reminded to be compassionate. But since Christ is indeed the epitome of compassion, no, it doesn\u2019t cause me to question him. In fact, it was compassion that motivated him to draw us nearer to God, to God\u2019s law, and to God\u2019s intentions for us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That tells me that I shouldn\u2019t bend the truth to meet my own selfish ends, but adhere to what God wants instead.
Every religion believes theirs is the true one, but as a lifelong student of comparative religions, it seems obvious that humans have invented their gods and religions and then they pretend that they did not. <\/em><\/strong>\nSo, because they all say their religion is true, it thus follows that none <\/em>of them are true?<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAll of the virus-protection programs at Best Buy are trying to persuade me that they\u2019re the best. But I don\u2019t believe they\u2019re all equal and disregard all of them. I need virus-protection for my computer. I\u2019m going to test them all and see what holds up.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In my life, my departures from Christ have been the cause of my failures and grief. When I try to follow him, I find healing, revelation, and joy. Those are strong selling points.
My faith is in alternatives and diversity<\/em><\/strong> \u2026\nPlease say more. I don\u2019t know how to have \u201cfaith\u201d in \u201calternatives.\u201d Faith is \u201cthe assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.\u201d What does it mean to have \u201cfaith\u201d in alternatives? Or diversity?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Can \u201calternatives and diversity\u201d answer your prayers? Can \u201calternatives and diversity\u201d forgive sins? When your grandmother is dying and she is afraid of what lies beyond, do \u201calternatives and diversity\u201d give her substantive comfort?<\/div>\n
\u2026not closed-minded dogma masquerading as faith.<\/em><\/strong>You\u2019ve just told me that you think it\u2019s obvious that all gods have been invented by humans. Who\u2019s closed-minded?\n<\/div>\nThere are, indeed, closed-minded dogmatists masquerading as people of faith. But there are also people of faith. Your own statement strongly implies this. Just because there are some violent homophobic bigots out there doesn\u2019t mean that people of strong Christian conviction are automatically homophobic or bigots.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Again, see the Chesterton quote above\u2026 If you don\u2019t select a car, you won\u2019t get out on the freeway and go anywhere. Use discernment, be cautious, but man\u2026 make the best choice you can.
I suspect you, being intelligent, know well what I mean. <\/em><\/strong>\nWell, I have faith that I am somewhat intelligent. But I\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t see what you mean due to the contradictions and \u201cfilters\u201d you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I welcome a follow-up message.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today I received this letter in response to my Brokeback Mountain review. Its typical of other responses I\u2019ve received, but this one was such a convenient distillation of the various contradictions and claims that I was grateful for the chance to address so many common attacks on Christian faith in one fell swoop. When someone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1779,290,384],"class_list":["post-14032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-brokeback-mountain","tag-reader-mail","tag-tolerance-except-for-christians"],"yoast_head":"\n
Letter of the Day: Response to "Brokeback Mountain" Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today I received this letter in response to my Brokeback Mountain review. Its typical of other responses I've received, but this one was such a convenient\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/01\/letter-of-the-day-response-to-brokeback-mountain-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letter of the Day: Response to "Brokeback Mountain" Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today I received this letter in response to my Brokeback Mountain review. Its typical of other responses I've received, but this one was such a convenient\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/01\/letter-of-the-day-response-to-brokeback-mountain-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-01-24T23:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-31T23:18:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"15 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/01\/letter-of-the-day-response-to-brokeback-mountain-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2006\/01\/letter-of-the-day-response-to-brokeback-mountain-review\/\",\"name\":\"Letter of the Day: Response to \\\"Brokeback Mountain\\\" Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-01-24T23:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-31T23:18:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Today I received this letter in response to my Brokeback Mountain review. 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