Unemployed Theologian

I remember, vividly, the Sunday after Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality the law of the land. I remember because I worked at a conservative Evangelical church at the time, and that Sunday I overheard a dozen conversations lamenting the state of moral decay in America. Grown men swearing (in church) and on the verge of tears, incensed that our nation would deign to extend marriage rights to same sex couples. At that point I had more or less come to terms with my own orientation, but I was not out, nor could I have been while working at that church. It’s an interesting experience indeed, to have your identity so publicly and thoroughly skewered, right in front of you. They didn’t know they were talking about me, but they really told on themselves that day. I learned that I was not safe to be myself in that environment. That people like me were not welcome. The last few years have reminded me, over and over, that certain people will stick to their guns in refusing to acknowledge ...

Last week I saw a video (it's a few years old but new to me) called "Why I Stay ," from the perspective of a gay pastor on why she chooses to remain a Christian despite the church's treatment of LGBTQ people. On the second anniversary of my coming out, I decided to reflect on why I stay. The last two years have found me wrestling with what it means to be an out-and-proud bisexual man while remaining a Christian, and a theologically-trained Christian at that. There are those who find my existence a contradiction in terms, who believe it impossible to love and serve God without totally abnegating one’s queer identity. Incidentally, one of my favorite things about being a queer Christian is that all I must do to disprove the inane thesis that one can’t be both (queer and Christian) is to exist as myself. To love God and embrace my sexuality. My mere existence problematizes these rigid categories of who’s in and out. It’s kind of a trip. Still, I have dear friends who...

I tried to fall asleep early on the night of November 8th. I figured, as did many Americans, that the election would go in Hillary’s favor, but that it might be a rough ride to the finish line, so I tried to skip the drama and wake up in the morning with a new president-elect. Needless to say, sleep proved elusive, as I checked election results on my phone every five minutes or so for hours. Around midnight, when the unthinkable suddenly became the inevitable, I sat up in my bed and started sobbing. Few of my friends spent much time before the election worrying about the results. Hillary would take it for sure, they figured. Nobody seemed to seriously consider the possibility that we might elect an unstable reality tv star (with a racist and sexist streak) to the highest office in the land. But it was all I could think about. I carried a sense of dread with me every day for about six months, as friends, coworkers and family assured me it would turn out alright. But on that night, ...

INTRODUCTION Anxiety - For the last few months, little has been on my mind apart from one glaring issue which has induced acute anxiety in me and resulted in many sleepless nights: the election. It’s all I can think about. It’s practically all I dream about. So I figured I’d vent some of my excess thoughts and feelings on the matter into a blog post, and in doing so provide my friends and loved ones some insight into my perspectives. Disclaimer - This is not an unbiased appraisal of both candidates. I have an agenda, and that is to see Hillary Clinton win the presidency next month, for reasons I hope to elucidate here. Some of my points may be broadly drawn, and some of my policy perspectives may be shallow (particularly economic policy) because fundamentally, I’m not a political person. I try to follow politics as much as I can in order to be a responsible citizen, because political elections and decisions really do affect our daily lives, but it doesn't come naturally t...