His name was/is Jose Luis. "Chepe" was a kind and loving person with a grand, generous and gentle soul...he was murdered ten years ago last Fall just a couple of weeks short of his 35th Birthday (he loved to celebrate his birthday and big plans and a special guest list were in the making for this one).
Jose was killed in his home after returning from work one night...it appeared to be a robbery we're told, but it wasn't, it was assassination, one that will most likely never be fully investigated...there were full page Memorial Tributes in all of the local/national newspapers the next day because of Jose, his current/leadership job with an American Company, his family and their famous heritage demanded traditional, and culturally 'correct', outpourings of respect with elaborate/expensive print ads
For those who knew Jose as a companion, a devoted friend and a person that was always willing to give of himself to help others, it didn't or wouldn't have mattered what anyone thought or suspected about his most private intimate life and his FINE character...Jose Luis and his ACTUAL, real life, integrity will live on by example to many of his privileged and devoted friends who loved him EXACTLY as he was/is and didn't/wouldn't have required or wished him to change anything about himself or his wonderful way of "being." Not one of his inner circle of friends would have wanted him to "change" to achieve some false/safe or possibly more "respectable" person aspiring to a world of heterosexual pedigreed pretend.
HECKLERS, like the one that verbally abused Bishop V.Gene Robinson in London last Sunday as he delivered a homily, surround us in our everyday lives...sometimes viscious and vile "mouthing off" by a self-righteous ignoramus/idiot (I better notch down the loaded vocabulary), family member, co-worker or friend, can translate into a crime of hate.
Not one of us can afford to LOOK THE OTHER WAY and pretend that ugly and abusive slur words directed against LGBT Christians/others and/or the demeaning and slandering of Heterosexual women will fade away when the likes of Peter Akinola/Nigeria or Henri Orombi/Uganda spew them forward and call it a "religious message."...often, those words/slurs instigate fear/hate and validate REAL and dangerous actions that can't be rationalized away with by irresponsible selective Scriptural nonsense...nonsense that may be simply a distracting "cover" for greediness, grandstanding, self-loathing and/or other cowardly human defective character behavior.
Are you accountable for your words, deeds and actions? Are you responsible in any way for the murderous death of OUR beloved Jose or anyone like him that has touched your life?
Do you agree with +Peter Akinola/Nigeria when he preaches/pontificates that LGBT Christians/others are "lower than pigs?"
Are YOU a responsible Christian/other person in all that you do? Or, do you simply snicker and/or play pretend that fear/hate and those who promote it will go away and take your personal responsibility for defending/serving and aiding the "marginalized" away from you?
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7 comments:
Leonardo,
What a powerful testament and just as important are two questions -
A) What have I done to help rid the world of hate and,
2,
What have I done today to help bring the love of Christ to this world?
I just blogged something really similar today, Leonardo, on a gay man from Uganda.
His blog, today, was very moving.
Thank you cany, I don't know how to work these "links" to your blog but I'll try...please folks, read the commentary direct from Uganda (and the outrages/dangerous acts of hate inflicted on a former Anglican/Ugandan bishop who "ministers" to LGBT Christians by ++Henri Orombi)
http://justanotherblacksheep.blogspot.com/2008/07/cries-from-uganda.html
Sorry, I need "link" training:
Click on "Just Another Blacksheep" Blog on the right sidebar and then scroll down on the "Blacksheep" Blog until you see the picture of Archbishop Henri Orombi of Uganda (then scroll down until you see the story of the excommunicated bishop that has been INVITED to The Lambeth Conference by The Archbishop of Canterbury).
Thank you cany!
What Fred said: a powerful statement, Leonardo. How anyone can justify abusing their fellow human beings is beyond me. There is no justification. "Homophobic Christian" is, simply, an oxymoron.
What a beautiful guy Jose Luis was. He looks kind and gentle and lively. I'm very sorry he was taken so young, and taken from you. I think we know he's in a safe place now, a place with good souls only -- no homophobes, no abusers.
Leonardo, it is so nice to have a face to put with the name of Jose Luis.I can see the combination of intelligence and kindness in his face.
It isn't easy for nice people to confront those who make any group less than full members of God's kingdom. Particularly the less blatant behaviors, such as the kindly "separate but equal" and "don't ask, don't tell" compromises. Ugly and blatant comments are easy to stop short - but standing up to the compromisers is seen as confrontational. I'm learning, keep teaching all of us who care.
Good night from the East coast USA.
Hi Leonardo--We need to be reminded always to take a stand. Your Jose Luis, "kind and loving person," son, brother, friend, fellow human being created in God's image. We must never become complacent.
Today in our local paper is this story:
"Lawmakers getting bullied themselves on anti-bullying bill."
The reason for this is that the "conservative lobby" are arguing "it would create special protection for gay people in North Carolina." ARRRGH.
The bill seems to be getting bogged down in the Senate but hopefully it will still pass.
The article concludes with this statement--to which we will all say, "Amen"--
"And what a sad day for North Carolina when lawmakers are so spineless they can be intimidated into abandoning a bill that would require school districts to protect vulnerable children from a far more damaging form of intimidation."
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