Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Prayers for Bobby


The wonderful Sigourney Weaver stars in this true story about a 1970s religious suburban housewife and mother who struggles to accept her young son Bobby being gay. What happens to Bobby is tragic and causes Mary to question her faith; ultimately this mom changes her views in ways that she never could have imagined. Premiering Saturday January 24th at 9pm/8c on Lifetime.

It's this kind of story that illustrates to me the unnecessary cruelty and pain caused by religion. Even the mantra "love the sinner, hate the sin" that some adopt to convince themselves they are a good person, invites intolerance and prejudice. Those in turn lead to violence, discrimination, the limiting or rights, then left unchallenged even criminalization and genocide. It's history's pattern. The craziest part is that homosexuality is as natural and harmless as heterosexuality. It's a long shot, but perhaps one day more people will actually use their minds and be able grasp that.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am a Christian man dying of an incurable disease. I have many gay friends, many who have walked with me in the most serious of times - the times when I would have rather taken my life than to deal with the sufferings. My own church and my so called Christian "family" abandoned me in that dire time of my life and yet I held onto the shred of hope and love that my gay friends gave me. I have a special closeness and support for them - but yet I have faith in God and trust in that which I hold as the truth. It is far too easy to pidgeonhole "religion" because for some it will not support that which we believe to be right. I, too, hate religion because it is not God-made but man-designed by the selfish and corrupt to control the weak. If you indeed believe in anything - anything at all - is worth fighting for then support it, love it and embrace it. Making a stance to reject something just because you can doesn't make it right and reduces the authentic desire to be triumphant. I live today because someone - a group of humans acted humanely. It's time for both sides to stop the hatred.