Sine Frater
The Church of Scientology has a practice called Disconnection, in which members of the church go about disconnecting themselves from members of their family that don't hold the same wacky belief system. The Anti-Scientology forces out there have used the idea of this practice time and again as a way of showing the loveless nature and utter stupidity of the Church of Scientology.
Never did I think in my 22 years on this earth would I experience something so heinous. This time it was from a member of my own family. My brother has asked that if I visit his family in Texas, that i not enter his house (I infer that that means not around his daughter). Here's the fun part - My brother is not and has never been affiliated with the Church of Scientology. My brother is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is a mormon. Here's another fun part - so am I. I am being disconnected from my brother, not because i don't share his beliefs, but because I am a homosexual and because I consume alcohol on occasion.
My brother cites a bible verse for his actions - 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 - in which Paul is writing to the Corinthians about not fellowshipping sinners in Corinth. The verses are as follows -
9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
Funny, I don't remember living in Corinth in first century A.D. Did you ever stop to think that this message wasn't necessarily meant for us in modern times? Much like most of Leviticus? When's the last time you heard a general authority of the LDS church tell the members to go about cutting off family members in this manner? Nate - I really hope you'll follow the bible literally. We wouldn't want you to chomp down on an unclean pork chop or anything.
Maybe this is just because it's still fresh, and I'm still fuming, but right now I'm considering asking that my name be removed from the church membership. I can't decide whether I should be offended by the LDS church or just this one bigotted member who i used to call a brother.
I remember this issue of Time magazine I used to keep(I may even still have it somewhere). The cover article was about the gays in scouts issue a few years back. The article profiled 3 different gay scouts. One, I don't for the life of me remember. Another was that one guy who made all the headlines and made this whole thing a national press fling. The last story is the one that I always remember, because it involved a young guy raised LDS who came out as a homosexual while still in the boy scouts. The scouts then proceeded to kick him out and he was ostracized at church of course. What got me was that his family stood behind him through all of this and even left the church after the persecution of the church members towards their son. That family blew me away - mainly because i could never see my family doing something like that. I love my family wholeheartedly(well...the ones that haven't disconnected themselves from me) but I never felt like they would be behind me in my actions or decisions in life.
So there it is. I'm done with that holier-than-thou, pretentious, religiously immature person I used to call a brother. I'm done with religion. I'm done trying to convince my family that I'm a homosexual. I'm done with this entry.
posted by sammy @ 9:13 AM
2 comments
