Real Christians

From Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin, this note about a church camp for gay kids that actually has some value.

And here's a follow-up from WCCO in Minnesota:

As reenactments of the Old Testament go, this one is a little, well, campy. But then counselor Ross Murray explained to this group of nine gay teenagers how Esther went on to reveal her Jewish heritage to Xerxes, hoping it would head off a planned genocide of her people.

"This is where Esther comes out," Murray said. "She is part of a minority culture that is going to be annihilated. When Esther came out of the closet, she put her life on the line to save her people."

Probably the thing that infuriates me the most about the Dobson Gang is the way they've perverted Christianity into a religion of spiritual meanness. Although not Christian myself, Christ's teachings are so close to the beliefs of Paganism -- at least in my tradition -- in so many ways that I find it hard to understand how anyone could not see the parallels. (My main objection to the great monotheisms is that they have excised the feminine from the divine, but that's another discussion.)

At any rate, I am always very happy to see stories like this:

Froslee said the three head counselors have been deeply heartened at the progress made by Tim Lovas, now 18, who as a 15-year-old in 2004 was struggling with depression and recovering from a drug addiction. "We were afraid he might not be around to see the second year," Froslee said.

By this past summer's session, Lovas had emerged as a leader of the campers and talked of his desire to return in a few years as a counselor. He said the Naming Project camp saved his life.

"What I understood finally from coming here, after so many people tried to explain it to me, is that God does love everyone," said Lovas, who's from Wisconsin. "God is there protecting you and watching you and keeping you safe."

This is a prime example of what I call "real Christianity."