Colorado Calling
by Rev. Dr.
Tom Thresher
Suquamish UCC and Soulforce protest Dr. Dobson’s
erroneous teachings on homosexuality.
What a remarkable church! When I am out
in the community, at different gatherings, or just over
lunch, I regularly share with people how remarkable I
believe this church to be. When I look around I am even
more grateful that you have called me to be your pastor.
Our
trip to
Colorado Springs to join Soulforce, in standing up
for the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender individuals, and more broadly, all of the
civil rights that are being undermined in this country,
is just one example. Next to the Metropolitan Community
Church that co-sponsored this event with Soulforce, we
appeared to be the largest contingent, even larger than
the Denver UCC. Nine of us made the trip from Suquamish
-- Frank and AJ, Vicki and Natalie, Bob and Jeaneane,
myself, Jennifer and Summer -- and Carrie Gentile joined
us from Denver.
As I shared with you during our service,
the issues go well beyond the important concern of
protecting and respecting the rights of gay folks in
this country. The “gay issue” is, in part, a wedge
issue that opens the door to radically scaling back both
the civil rights and the social safety net for
individuals in this country. This is the agenda of the
religious right and the neo-conservatives (as they are
quite willing to admit). The current, temporary power
alignment in this country gives them unprecedented power
to implement this agenda. It is up to folks like us to
stand up against this program. Sending roughly 10% of
the active church population to this event makes quite a
statement, not only in the world, but to us. It says a
lot about who we are as a community. It is one more
thing to be proud of as a community.
As Mel White argued quite provocatively,
both at our church and in Colorado Springs, the
Constitution trumps the Bible, not as a spiritual tool,
but certainly as a political guide. The radical
religious right would emulate the fundamentalist Islamic
nations and make the Christian scripture the guide by
which we govern our nation.
This would, of course, be a fatal
mistake, one that is 180 degrees away from the intent of
our nation’s founders. They wrote the Constitution to
prevent just such a possibility. We must not, in other
words, become a “Christian nation.” We must not
become a nation which founds itself upon the narrow
understanding of people who lived thousands of years
ago. Our Constitution is an enlightened document that
provides a framework for embracing the wonderful
diversity of humanity, our differences in race, sexual
orientation, and religious understanding, to name a
few. We must guard it against the fanaticism of the
political or religious left or right. You have helped
in this fight.
On an individual level, your commitment
also made a difference. As Jeff, one of the Soulforce
organizers commented: “Today you saved a life.”
Our event made it into over 100 newspapers, as far away
as India, and onto a variety of TV and radio programs.
Somewhere, a young (or perhaps older) man or woman who
was struggling with their sexual identity discovered
that he or she was not alone, that there were people of
faith who cherish who they are, and that people are
willing to stand up for them. Whether we prevented them
from taking their life, or gave them the support they
need to live their life openly and honestly, we helped
save their life, and I am personally very grateful.
As I mentioned during our service, my
daughter Jennifer was pivotal in
making
this trip happen, and I am exceedingly proud of her.
Both she and Summer were deeply touched by this event.
I
believe it was an important time of healing and
connection during a difficult transition in our family.
I thank you all for this support.
With Love and Blessings... Tom
