A Connecticut church has attracted a lot of attention over the past few days for a YouTube video they posted showing an anti-gay "exorcism" performed on a teen.
Though the video doesn't explicitly say that the teen is gay, it is clear that the church is afraid that he is. In the video, the boy writhes on the ground moaning and vomiting as an adult screams, "Right now I command you to leave! Right now in the name of Jesus, I call the homosexuality, right now in the name of Jesus!"
Though this video has captured headlines, this teen is not the only one subject to anti-gay abuse in the name of religion. Countless GLBT teens are sent to religiously based "conversion" or "reparative" therapy, which despite the claims of people calling themselves ex-gays, really only has the effect of making gay teens feel bad about themselves.
And boy, do a lot of gay kids feel bad because of what their churches tell them. As a teen wrote in this site's forum, "I'm 13 and I'm gay. I'm also very worried that no matter how good of a person I am, I'm going to burn in hell for all eternity because I am gay. Is this true?" It's not true, but he, like so many other GLBT teens raised in homophobic religious environments, is terrified that it is.
But regardless of what a church teaches, the idea that the Bible opposes homosexuality more than it opposes countless other things that modern people don't consider sinful isn't a universal truth, it is simply one way of interpreting certain passages. Not convinced? You can read more about what the Bible really says about homosexuality here.
Have you been told by your church that being gay is wrong? Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Ugh, religion just causes problems – I’ve never believed in it & my parents are more “spiritual” than religious. My Mother is a bit of a buddhist.
- Zac
I live in northeast mississippi in the bible belt so i know what you mean. In fact my twin brother said that to me before he realized he was hurting me and moma and aunt leigh gave him a stern talking to. I think the only reason he did it was because on of his friends, who is a religeous freak who cant go one second without looking at the bible, influenced him to. Religeous people can be kinda scary sometimes.
ive been locked in a room where a youth pastor, and a worship pastor both tried to change me. i was in the room for a good two hours…i wont go into detail, but for weeks i cried myself to sleep. I am agnostic about god and such. I used to be the bigest christian, and my parents still are. like alot of gay teens, i go through alot with the church viewpoint from my friends, and adults i respected, who all in the end wanted to change me.
I think it’s disgusting. These people don’t bother to find out about being GLBT and that you can’t change your sexuality. Of all people, the respected Church Elders -who we are supposed to look up to- are the ones who know and care the least about the people they are leading. They quite literally “go by the book”.
I am appaled by the way the church preaches about how being gay is wrong. The churches that do this sort of stuff should be countable for endangering the kids that they do this to.