Evangelist Lives As Gay Man For 1 Year In Hopes Of Changing His Mind., page 1


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Topic started on 2-12-2012 @ 09:06 AM by tothetenthpower
Here we have a brave and courageous man.

The experiment began after a lesbian friend opened up to Kurek about being excommunicated by her family. All Kurek, an avowed evangelical Christian, could think about, he says, “was trying to convert her.”

He was quickly disgusted by his own feelings, more pious than humane.

In fact, Kurek was so disgusted by his response to his friend that he decided to do something drastic. Living in Nashville, Tennessee, he would pretend to be gay for a year. The experiment began on the first day of 2009; Kurek came out to his family, got a job as a barista at a gay café and enlisted the help of a friend to act as his boyfriend in public.


For an entire year, stopping short of actually being physical with a man, this Kurek lived and breathed the Gay community in Nashville.

His doubt about Christianity’s condemnation of homosexuality, Kurek writes, was “perfected” in 2008, when a close friend recounted the story of coming out to her family and being disowned.

“I betrayed her, then,” writes Kurek. “It was a subtle betrayal, but a cruel one: I was silent.”

His recognition of that betrayal, he writes, led him to believe that “I needed to come out of the closet as a gay man.”

“I believe in total immersion,” Kurek says in an interview. “If you are going to walk in other people’s shoes, then you are going to need to walk in your shoes.”


Story On CNN

As he states in his book ( which I will be reading this week ) he become more religious, not less religious. But he did come to an understand about organized religion and how faith without reason can certainly lead down some really dark roads.

It's no secret that I am gay. I can tell you one thing. I would not, actually could not, live as a devout Evangelist for a year. 5 minutes would probably be too much actually.

Kudos to this man, for doing what all of us should do before we attempt to judge another for the choices they've made in their lives and the circumstances they were given.

“I want to tell more stories,” he says “and humanize the people who Christians always want to look at as labels.”


For Kurek, his year as a gay man radically changed his view of faith and religion, while also teaching him “what it meant to me a second class citizen in this country.”


If a guy who was against you at one point, can turn his viewpoint around to this, I wonder what would happen if all extremists had a year in the life of those they hated.

Thoughts?

~Tenth


reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 09:18 AM by tothetenthpower
reply to post by Socrato


Sure, Utopia doesn't exist.

There will always be those who dislike thing and who voice their opinion. It's how you do so that can become the problem.

As this man pointed out, before doing this he was convinced that all gays were HIV positive, liberal pedophiles.

We can all agree the belief written above is ignorant, intellectually dishonest and serves only to foster and solidify an un-healthy mindset regarding a group of people.

You have the right to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

~Tenth



reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:10 PM by tothetenthpower
reply to post by Socrato


No I'm sorry.

You may choose to live in another reality but there's only 1 reality. There is only one plane of existence that we all operate on. So no. You don't get to say the sky is red because you want to. I should say you can, but people are going to tell you that you're wrong.

And they would not be wrong In saying that.

your opinions are your own and facts aren't reliant on our belief of them.

An error does not become truth by reason of.multiplied propagstion nor does.truth bevome error because nobody sees it.

-Tenth
edit on 12/2/2012 by tothetenthpower because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 03:10 PM by Kandinsky
reply to post by tothetenthpower
Interesting idea and pretty admirable too. His approach reminds me of the author John Howard Griffin in the late 50s.

In the fall of 1959, Griffin determined to investigate the plight of African-Americans in the South first hand. He consulted a New Orleans dermatologist, who prescribed a course of drugs, sunlamp treatments, and skin creams. Griffin also shaved his head so as not to reveal his straight hair. He spent weeks travelling as a black man in New Orleans and parts of Mississippi (with side trips to South Carolina and Georgia), getting around mainly by bus and by hitch-hiking.

His resulting memoir, Black Like Me, became a best seller in 1961. The book described in detail the problems an African American encountered in the Deep South meeting such simple needs as finding food, shelter, and toilet facilities. Griffin also described the hatred he often felt from white Southerners he encountered in his daily life — shop clerks, ticket sellers, bus drivers, and others. He was particularly shocked by the curiosity white men displayed about his sexual life. His account was tempered with some anecdotes about white Southerners who were friendly and helpful.[


I read the book years ago and it certainly left an impression. Even the great George Orwell walked the walk when he travelled as a homeless man in Paris and London.

The challenge for this evangelist is in trying to create a positive impression on other evangelists when it comes to tolerance, walking the walk and being reflective.

Sadly, as we see in this thread, many will ignore the value of the message and mischaracterise him into being a closet gay guy. It's easier to carry on with the prejudice if he's treated that way. I wonder if Griffin was ever accused of being a wannabe black guy? Probably! The same innuendoes were levelled at feminists over the past decades and men supporting feminism were often questioned about their own sexuality.

All BS in my opinion. If we take away the evangelical framing of his beliefs, it has to be said he was a brave man and risked a lot to find out for himself.


reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 03:44 PM by Bixxi3
reply to post by ProfessorT


But to everyone on the outside he was gay and had gay sex with his gay boyfriend. We only found out afterwards that he didn't do that stuff.
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