El blog de Carlos Osma

The book "Only a faggot Jesus can save us" was certainly controversial in the Spanish- speaking Evangelical world. Maybe that’s why I decided I needed to read it. Lucky me, this was such a smart move! This book has been a like oxygen in a time where I was suffering from the pain of rejection from my family and my old church. I feel very well portrayed by the author when he compares the stories of queer people of faith who have the courage to leave enslaving and dehumanising faith communities to wander in the desert to the story of Exodus. This book is a guide through that desert of pain, sadness, even delusional nostalgy of those “old good days”, like the Israelites who often moaned about Egypt. But in this desert there is also healing, joy and celebration. For many, like myself, this may be the first time we may be experiencing LIFE in abundance and LOVE (in as much as our old churches ironically promised to be the only place one could find these).

  En el Evangelio de Juan fueron José de Arimatea y Nicodemo quienes tras la crucifixión pidieron a Pilato el cuerpo de Jesús, lo envolvieron en lienzos con especias aromáticas y lo pusieron dentro de un sepulcro vacío. No eran dos personas cualquiera, José de Arimatea era miembro del Sanedrín, una asamblea o consejo de ancianos que administraba justicia interpretando la Torá, y Nicodemo un fariseo y líder religioso respetable. Ambos habían creído en Jesús, pero no se atrevieron a seguirlo públicamente, la razón nos la explicita claramente el evangelio: tenían miedo de los judíos, por eso lo seguían en secreto. [1]

  Benditos los gatos persas, los siameses, los bobtail japoneses, los tonkineses y los monteses. Benditos los perros rottweilers, los bulldogs, los caniches, los pastores alemanes y los salchichas. Benditos los canarios, las cacatúas, los loros, los jilgueros y los papagayos. Benditas las tortugas, las iguanas, las cobayas, los hámster y los hurones. Benditos los caballos, las vacas, los burros, las gallinas y los cerdos. Benditos éstos y el resto de animales que nos acompañan, dice el sacerdote el día de San Antonio Abad.

  We don’t need to be very clever to realize that the Bible is replete with experiences of men and women who for one reason or another were out of the ordinary. People who did not fit in with what at the time was considered normal . We don’t need to think hard to know why we don’t talk about them at the church today. It’s much easier to use acceptable and harmless stereotypes that won’t take us anywhere. But it is clear that not everyone can accept such manipulation, and LGBTIQ people who live their faith from what they are need to know that those muted or whitewashed biblical characters can say something to them.