What happens when love and faith crash?
Finding love is everyone’s wish. The french singer Michel Sardou said in his song, “…Elle court, elle court la maladie d’amour dans les coeurs des enfants 7 à 77 ans” which can be literally translated as “…Love sickness runs and runs in hearts of children from 7 to 77 years old”.
Love is a beautiful thing that implies commitment, engagement and determination. In any relationship partners come from different backgrounds, with different stories, different motivations and different expectations. When it comes to gay couples it also depend on everyone’s journey into accepting oneself. This journey differs from one to the other, depending on their cultural, religious and family background.
James 26 and Richard 28 are in a relationship. They both grew up in catholic families in Uganda. Their relationship with their faith is however different and complex. James is more into church while Richard is only sympathetic. The commitment of James to church seems disturbing Richard because he failed to unite his faith and his sexual orientation. In a culture that believes so much in blessing there is also a belief of cursing because if God doesn’t Bless you, He curses you.
Richard believes that if you are gay you don’t have anything to do with God in order to live happily. If you are gay and go to church, you are attracting a curse from Him. An unshared feeling because James believes being christian helps him to do better as a human being. He believes, also that his relationship with God helps him to build a very healthy and strong relationship with Richard. He however thinks the church can do more for LGBTQ+ community.
“You can not be christian and gay, the two things are not compatible. I don’t know what is in the mind of James” Richard said while being asked why he doesn’t go to church with James. Their differences about faith have never been a subject of dispute. They have learned to talk about their stands respectfully. James is certain that God loves everyone regardless his sexual orientation.
He is also positive about the future because he thinks the way the church has changed his positions about many things such its position on slavery, the place of women and so forth in the past, will be the same with LGBTQ+ community. “They will see that we can pray, we can love, we can help, we can also spray the Gospel. We are more than what the church thinks we are or should be.” said James. He is convinced that Richard’s feeling is the result of the position of the church on homosexuality. He believes this kind of feeling leaves uncurable wounds in people’s hearts, “ It preaches discrimination and rejection which is neither Godly nor Biblical”
