My name is Gregg Allen. I am a new columnist for The Freedom Mercado Message periodical published by Chef Freedom Mercado. I am excited about my contribution and the opportunity to share with and challenge readers on a new perspective.
I plan to bring fresh and thoughtful perspective on a hybrid issue that usually gets very little in- depth consideration. It is the mending of the rift between LGBTs and Christians. I come at it from the standpoint of just because a task is incredibly colossal and seemingly impossible, that doesn’t mean you can’t bring about some measurable understanding, change and impact. This action would tamper down some of the rhetoric and hatred in some individuals who represent these communities.
What makes me believe I have something relevant to say on such a zeigeisty subject? It is because I come from both these two communities and I know them at a level beyond what the average person does who may only know one as “the other,” “the adversary,” or “the enemy.” I know a lot about what motivates their divergent thinking and the rhetoric they perpetuate.
You see, as I said, I come from both communities. I was LGBT before LGBT existed for 14 years officially, and 23 years unofficially altogether. As a Christian I was first introduced casually to Jesus at the age of 8 years old. However, it wasn’t until I left the homosexual lifestyle that my true relationship with Jesus began. And I must confess that that relationship of 24.5 years has developed into a partnership in the last 7 years of my life.
In these many years I have discovered that at its core, at its essence, basically everyone wants the same things in life, even these two disparate groups. It’s just that they have different ways of achieving their desired ends. It is my belief and opinion that should both camps drop their worldly weapons of words and warfare that they both would hear something different, learn something different, even life-changing that would result in a transcendent love and appreciation between the two that they have not heretofore experienced or achieved.
Yes, I am an unapologetic dreamer, and yes I am a believer in the best of humanity, even in the last days and these days of such turmoil and pain. In fact, I venture to believe, and humbly submit, that if it were not for me and people in the world like me, there would not be much hope to hold onto for anyone in this world. Think about it, only the hatred, death, destruction, agony, defeat, and hopelessness of this world accumulated and consolidated to the nth degree with no counterbalance to be aspired to or achieved. How devastating would that be? It is coming. However, while we have a chance, we can find ways to love with abandon and change the world.
As previously alluded to, my goal here is to bring these disparate thinking camps closer together in understanding one another to the point they amicably agree to disagree without all the rancor and animus that their clashes are typically known for in the public. I know this is a herculean feat, but here again just because something seems hard doesn’t mean it is out of our reach or unachievable by any stretch of the imagination.
