“They Say Jesus Was A Friend Of Sinners, But He Didn’t Describe Himself That Way. His Motto Wasn’t

there's always a lot of talk about how being gay or trans is a "sin." and a lot of people have reclaimed this, have joked about their "sin," have held it up yourself so it can't be held against you.

but to all of the religious queers, the ones trying to find or create a home in themselves where their identity and their religion don't contradict... i see you. i've been you, i am you, i love you.

your orientation is not a sin.

your gender is not a sin.

you are not sinful or wrong or bad just for being who you are.

your identity does not contradict your religion.

you are beautifully and wonderfully made, just as you are.

you are loved by your creator, just as you are.

nobody can take any of that away from you.

[ please do not tag or censor my use of the word queer. do not derail this post by talking about how much religion sucks. ]

The most devastating and heartwrenching thing about the Last Supper is that Jesus knew that His disciples, His friends will betray him. Still, He washes their feet, and still, He gives them His blood and body.

And this is the tragedy of God, that He dies for those who are not just abstractly imperfect and who have done something nasty, He dies for people who betray Him daily.

He says: here, I give you the Kingdom, to you who betray me, here, I give you the Kingdom, I've bought it for you with my blood.

And this is the tragedy of Man, that He must carry all that sorrow in Himself, in His human body (it is unthinkable for humans, impossible). And the sorrow evidently eats Him alive, He tries to comfort Himself in His last hours, so He spends them with apostles. Jesus is eager to find a shoulder to lay His head on, a shoulder to cry on. But He has no one to share the sorrow with who won't betray Him, He is alone in that. He has no one who would even understand His sacrifice, oh no, no one would even care to stay awake with Him.

So He turns to the Father, He prays and prays and in His last moments, it's only the Son and the Father who are left. But even the Father leaves Him. Everyone leaves Him, Everything leaves Him. Candles out, it's dark, the Saturday will be quiet.

every day i think about jesus and the samaritan woman at the well. she really said why are you bothering to speak to me? do i matter to someone? does god see people like me? and jesus really said i see you. i love you. god loves all the people you've been told god doesn't love. and honestly when i realized that i wanted to drop a water pot and run screaming about it into town too

Joan of Arc illustrated by Angela Barrett 1998

lord above blessed be the queer kids this Easter. for you died to save each and everyone of us. our queerness is not a sin, but a gift, and you rose again to let us live a life in love. I love you I love you I love you.

Saint Michael and the Fascist // inspired by Raphael’s “Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan”

We needdddd a transgender spear of divine justice as of late yall

My hope is in Him.

halos are fun but tbh realistically i think that saints would just have heads burning up with holy fire from the inside out. they'd be uncomfortable to look at, not only because they burn so bright and billow with smoke and flame, but because of the abjectly contradictory, miraculously terrible nature of it. headless but whole. dead yet alive.

sooo when are you dropping the links. to texts about religion and sexuality and transgression

closet devotions by richard rambuss

the man jesus loved by theodore w. jennings, jr

jonathan loved david by tom horner

the sex lives of saints by virginia burrus

toward a theology of eros

i also recommend the essay "gendering jesus crucified" by richard c. trexler that you can find here & richard rambuss' essay "pleasure and devotion: the body of jesus and seventeenth-century religious lyric" in queering the renaissance