A group called "Angry Queers" smashed some windows of the famous
anti-gay church, the Mars Hill Church in Portland headed by Mars
Driscoll on Apr 24, 2012. The Rev Jim Wallis of Sojoourners claimed that
"''Angry Queers' taking on Driscoll, Mars Hill the Wrong Way" that
whilst the churches' anti-gay rethoric against GLBT is wrong, it is wrong
for the GLBT community to respond in a "hate crime".
The Rev Jim Wallis had a strew of emotions when he read of the incident
and wrote that "It also compromises the entire face of the pro-LGBT
movement", and that "..such a response actually serves an opposite
purpose from what I believe was intended. ". And on the face of it, Jim
is probably right. Violence is never the answer.
Yet, we smile when some is standing up to the overwhelming power and
predominance of the church to say whatever they like and to cause harm
with seemingly no consequences over the many decades. Perhaps the times
and seasons are changing. There is a far deeper spiritual and moral
reality that is emerging beyond the incident.
A few broken windows, violent as it may be, is a far cry from the grave
harm done to the GLBT community, of hundred of thousands lives in pain
and suffering, hidden in closets, abused at schools and work, with their
basic rights and dignity taken from them. In many countries, due to the
people of faith (in particular Christians), homosexuality is banned,
punishable like in Singapore, a two year sentence (though not enforced).
Many thousands of gays have died taking their own lives as a response
because the rejection and harm was too great to bear.
Therefore, we have on one side, the Christian church ("the dominant
majority") that was supposed to represent Jesus, to be the light and
salt of the world, to be a source of blessing yet causing grave harm and
deaths of many, versus a group called "Angry Queers" ("the insignificant
minority"), a non Christian group who you would least expect to respond
to "Mars Hill Church" by loving their enemies. They are not Christians!,
they must have been harmed very badly to retaliate - not in kind mind
you, not "an eye for an eye" as called for by the religious laws in many
people of faith. They didn't killed anyone, a few broken glasses would
be a very mild response compartively if they have suffered grave harm.
Instead of a strew of emotions that Jim had, I actually smiled when I
read of the "Angry Queers". Who were they to represent the GLBT
community? but yet imagining the response of the churches who would now
jump to declare their moral high ground over a few pieces of broken
glasses. They didn't break the door, they broke
the glass windows, for the church has closed their doors, sent out
agents of harm and now we see the small signs of harm coming back to the
church certainly not anywhere near the harm they had caused. To call it
a "hate crime" as Sojourners did over broken glasses deserves laughter.
The broken glasses can easily be repaired but not the lives harmed nor
the many deaths.
Who were the "angry Queers"? Were they Gay men, were they Lesbians? Are
they the "militant activists" regularly potrayed by the church! No, they
were not. From their write-up of themselves and their motives for the
"crime", they were not likely to be gay or lesbians but most possibly
themselves at the edge of GLBT. They were likely to be Transgenders of
color, for the words used by them is reflective:-
they had done their crime in memory of
the deaths of who they termed as a "fierce queer/trans femme of
color and artist from Chicago".
they were against the Gay/Lesbian community who
had called for peaceful dialogue -
"You are disgusting traitors who prioritize social peace and the
bourgeois aspirations of rich white cis gay people over the more
pressing survival needs of more marginalized queers."
They wanted to get "even", but violence is never the way even when there
is grave injustice and inequality. But what can they do? for the
structures of power and privilage is seen here at its widest, at one
end, white middle class church goers, and at the other transgenders of
colour who had suffered the most.
There is also a deep spiritual dimension. Just as the blood of
"Abel" called out to God, the blood of those who suffered so violently
called out to them for justice. When the glass fell at the church, even
though such a minor damage, represents a turning point. And the turning
point is that the spiritual realm for protection of the church is lost,
for the blood has flooded it. It is the blood of those who died.
Heb 12:24 "... to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."
And therefore, there is a need to preach the Gospel message to the GLBT
Community, and its not only about love, not only about a kindom message
or a fight for equality against the predominant power structures, but of
Jesus who offers a grace so much better than the call for revenge in the
blood of Abel. The religious people of faith has their religious laws
based on the OT bible verses and they will reap what they sow. Yet, our
Christian walk is about God's grace, mercy and love in Jesus Christ.
We are hurting, and hurting badly for the harm caused is great and
perhaps never understood by the likes of Jim Wallis, a Christian
heterosexual man. Yet, where there is grave sin of injustice, there is a
greater measure of grace - the grace to forgive, the grace to love in
return, to be found in Jesus Christ. When we do this, we will have much
greater success of getting redemption and justice rather than causing
harm ourselves in our response.
When we lost everything, yet give grace, surely Christ is in us,
the Hope of Glory. It is easy to cause harm, to persecute the weakest in
the name of religion, but it is much harder to love as Jesus did. We put
Him at the Cross of Calvary yet He loved us. Let us love and proclaim
Jesus, the way, the truth, and the light.
May "Angry Queers" find peace in Jesus Christ, and turn their anger into
love and forgiveness. May it be well with their soul
and may they have peace in this life and the life to come.
Anti-gay mega-church smashed in memory of Mark Aguhar and Paige Clay
author: some angry queers
fuck a church, up the queers
Early in the morning of April 24th a group of angry queers
smashed out the windows of Mars Hill Church in Southeast
Portland. Mars Hill is notoriously anti-gay and anti-woman. Mark
Driscoll, Mars Hill's head pastor, has said that women need to
be subservient to their husbands and that gay people are a
cancer. His personal brand of Christianity crusades against the
"feminization" of Jesus - we angry queers are not fans of Jesus,
but we have a problem with anyone who has a problem with femmes.
This action was taken in memory of Mark Aguhar, a fierce
queer/trans femme of color and artist from Chicago who killed
herself a little over a month ago. We also hold in our hearts
Paige Clay, a trans woman of color who was found murdered in
Chicago on April 16th; Duanna Johnson, a black trans woman who
was in all likelihood murdered by the police in 2008; Agnes
Torres Sulca, Deoni Jones, and all other trans women who have
been murdered by this cissexist, femmephobic, racist, and
transmisogynistic society.
Churches are a major contributor to the culture that deems trans
women of color to be disposable, as not worth keeping alive.
Children who are forced to attend Mars Hill are indoctrinated in
hateful dogma that teaches them their natural desires are an
abomination that will damn them to hell. Dan Savage's "It Gets
Better" campaign does nothing in the here and now for queer kids
trapped in abusive home or religious settings. And it never got
better for Mark, Duanna, Paige, Agnes, Deoni, or the countless
other trans women (especially brown trans women) who are
regularly murdered.
When Mars Hill moved to town, so-called "representatives" of the
queer "community" from the Q Center met with officials from the
church in order to have dialog. What we have to say to the Q
Center is this: FUCK YOU, you don't represent us. You are
disgusting traitors who prioritize social peace and the
bourgeois aspirations of rich white cis gay people over the more
pressing survival needs of more marginalized queers. Fuck dialog
with people who want us dead, the only dialog we need with scum
like Mars Hill is hammers through their windows.
We smashed Mars Hill because they make our lives miserable. We
hope this small act of vengeance will strike some fear into the
hearts of all of Mars Hill's pastors, and warm the hearts of our
friends and comrades (known or unknown). It may not get better,
but we can certainly get even.