Plot Twist: As A Christian, Homophobia Offends And Appalls Me Far More Than Homosexuality Ever Could.

What if everyone everywhere woke up this morning,

Feeling collegial?

What if their very first inclination was to trust one another,

And their strivings toward kindness, rather than rage?

Our country has sunk its teeth into rabid defenses

Refusing to yield

Jaws locked around its...

Do you think there are any situations in which abortions are an acceptable option?

So someone asked a veerrryy similar question to this one, so I sort of answered it already, but I’ll talk a leeetle bit more. To be brief: For me, personally, um…no. Haha I know that’s super blunt and you might wonder how I can answer so definitively. I can answer confidently, unequivocally “no” because my personal view of the subject is that abortion is murder, and I don’t murder. Ergo, I would not be able to kill the child inside of me (hypothetically). People think different things and make different decisions based on what they think. Someone might read this and say “Katherine, you’re WRONG.” Okay, well, if you think something other than what I think, obviously you’re gonna make different decisions than me, right? :P SO, because of that, I am literally incapable of  telling any other person on the planet what is acceptable for them. I know what is acceptable for me, based on my opinions and beliefs, but I don’t know everyone else’s opinions and beliefs. And I know that there are soooo many complicated, complex situations that could possibly arise out there in this big messed up world. But I do know, that for me, abortion is never an option. I personally believe that in an situation, God is able to help me out if I don’t know what to do (Because if you believe that God exists, you have to believe that He is big enough to handle your problems, and to do the impossible). So…yeah. There you go, my very black and white beliefs, haha :PPeace and love! -Katherine 

This is me externally processing.

My beliefs about equality and justice are, to me, the logical outpouring of Christ’s love in my life. God commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves. We are called to glorify God by loving people: indiscriminately and unconditionally. A passion for justice should flow naturally from this love. Injustice violates love. God, whose divine essence is love, is supremely and perfectly just. Our love, as Christians, would be incomplete if it did not seek to correct injustice. 

Jesus was the ultimate social justice activist. He was the great equalizer. He spent time with society’s most marginalized groups of people and never looked down on anyone for the situation or their choices. He met people where they were at. He got on their level. Jesus was not someone who stood back and regarded injustice or oppression from afar. He loved them personally and practically. He was involved in their lives. Furthermore, Jesus did not come to uphold an unjust and corrupt social system. He was radical. He was subversive. He upset the status quo. Jesus came to give sight to the blind, and to set free the captive and oppressed. Jesus is the model of social justice. 

It’s because of my deeply-rooted convictions, because of the belief in Jesus Christ that defines my whole life, because of this moral code to which I adhere, that I am so implacably passionate about social justice. This is why discrimination and intolerance offends and outrages me so much. This is why I fight for the rights of all marginalized groups. 

For the past three weeks, I’ve been teaching the gospel to children at a Christian summer camp. The curriculum I’m using is the 5 Gs of the Gospel: God, Guilt, Grace, Gratitude, Glory. When we talk about Gratitude, we talk about how people act when Jesus changes their life. People who know Jesus begin to act more like Him. And God loves people and we love God so we love people. Now here’s the kicker, for me: loving people and acting like Jesus means correcting injustice. It means feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, liberating the captive, including the outsider. It means accepting people. It means treating everybody the same no matter what their struggle is. 

YOUR GOSPEL IS INCOMPLETE IF IT DOES NOT INCLUDE JUSTICE. THE GOSPEL IS JUSTICE. JESUS IS JUSTICE. 

And here is the very big problem that I have right now. This camp that I work at is not as inclusive and tolerant as I am. I’ve talked to way too many people who think my feminist views are unbiblical. The policies of this camp regarding people who are homosexual are in the process of being decided, and I don’t know how it’s gonna go. I’m told that transgendered persons are not permitted to work there and may not be permitted to attend as campers either. Is it because “we don’t want to send the message to the campers that that kind of lifestyle is okay”? Because parts of my lifestyle in 2015 definitely weren’t okay and still aren’t and you would not want to send the message to campers that it’s okay, but I was still hired. Is it because “we just want to focus on teaching kids the gospel, and not engage in discussions about those kinds of topics”? Well this is a problem, because I believe that your gospel in incomplete without the part about treating everybody with respect and equality. How can you teach kids the gospel while discriminating against people who quite possibly need love and support and acceptance the most? 

I’m struggling with this because I think that equality and tolerance is so integral to the gospel message, and when I see an organization that doesn’t practise equality and tolerance, I feel that they are misrepresenting the gospel. I wouldn’t want to work for an organization like that any more than I’d want to attend a church that didn’t teach sound doctrine. I do not believe that those attitudes are of God. God is not about discrimination. And I want no part in it. 

Where do you draw the line at what's appropriate sexually before marriage?

I’m pretty conservative, so kissing is my limit. Like, I don’t want hands going ANYWHERE, not even above the belt. :P I try to follow these rules: 1. No clothes are coming off. 2. Don’t touch me anywhere that would be covered by a bikini.

I just do this because the road to sex is a very slippery slope, and I’m worried that once you start down that slope, it’s really hard to stop. And to me, it’s too much of a risk to take, so I’d prefer to stay faaaaaar away from that slope at all, and make absolutely certain that nothing’s gonna happen. I just don’t know how strong my will power is, and I’d really prefer not to find out, haha :P

Thanks for the question! Peace and love! -Katherine

Do you think your parents would disallow you from reading books such as fifty shades of grey, go ask alice or crank?

dude man bro! I’ve read Go Ask Alice and I had forgotten it until this very second. That was such a sad book :( and I googled Crank and would probs totes read it just for educational purposes. [sidenote: this recent affliction I’ve acquired of abbreviating perfectly functional words such as probably and totally is shocking and will be cured as of right now.]

Now my ducky, as for Fifty Shades of Grey…why, I ask you, would I want to read a book whose contributions to the literary world are phrasal gems such as “kinky f***ery” and “puckered love cave”? I mean, I’m not into porn but I imagine that if I was I’d like something a tad more well-written.

All that being said, I wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter until I was 13 and I wasn’t allowed to read Twilight until I was 16 because my mom was worried about the effects on my young impressionable mind. Having since read all four Twilight books, I think she was quite in the right. The relationships in that book are unhealthy, co-dependent and bordering on emotionally abusive. Harry Potter, on the other hand, is and will remain one if my favourite series. Anyway! It’s not that she didn’t want me exposed to the pain and evil in the world, she just wanted to make sure I was mature enough to put everything I read into it’s proper place in my brain. And I think we’re quite past that point now. My brain is far less malleable nowadays, and I think she recognizes my ability to use discernment when selecting reading materials.

And that ability is why I will NEVER read Fifty Shades of Grey. Haha..

Thanks for the question! Peace and love! -Katherine

Body Positivity Rant

You are sooooooooo so much more than your body. 

Please don't hate me for the length.

"We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of Man is begotten in us."

Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

On the nature of love.

You know how people say that love is powerful? I'm not sure if this is gonna sound really hippy-ish but I wanna talk about love. Love is absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most powerful force in existence. This is real love I'm talking about now. Love that *chooses* to be committed to someone despite circumstances, despite emotions, despite personal desires, and despite any mistakes that someone might have made, and any flaws that someone might have. Love that means putting someone else before yourself. I saw the movie Frozen, and *spoiler alert*, the central conflict was thawing Anna's frozen heart, a feat which only true love can accomplish. I greatly appreciated the fact that Anna's heart was thawed not by "true love's kiss" but by her own self sacrifice to save her sister's life. THAT, my friends, is an accurate portrayal of true love. Love is the force that conquers hate and conquers fear and conquers apathy. It is the force that connects and binds all of humankind to one another. It is the force that heals the broken and saves the lost. Love offers truth even when it's hard and grace even when it's harder. Love will never ever ever ever ever ever give up. Love is divine. Love is the closest that humans can get to Godliness. Because God Himself is Love. His essence is entirely love. All love is from Him and is of Him. Any person who has the ability to love someone else can only do so by the power of God and the spirit and soul that God has placed within us. Your love is a piece of God in your life. As long as you know love, you know God. God is great and mighty and all-powerful and vast and crazy amazing and the human mind cannot possible fathom Him, BUT the closest you will ever get to understanding Him is simply to love. Therefore, love is NOT simply warm fuzzy feelings and cute romcoms and sad country music. It's not even an emotion or a relationship. It is a supernatural force. It is the essence of God! Never underestimate the power of God's love for you. It is fierce and it is all-consuming and it is all-encompassing and it conquers every single other thing in all of existence. Never forget that. Never underestimate the power of your love for the people around you. The best thing you can do for this world is to love yourself and to love others, because when we each begin to do that, then this world will know true peace and true joy.

What would your reaction be if right now the story of the life of Jesus, and the bible were completely proven to be fiction? Do you think you would still have faith in something more than ourselves?

Well, see…people have been trying to tell me my whole life that what I believe is fiction. I’ve had friends, coworkers and teachers who put religion in the same category as fairytales. I’m really over it, cause the truth is that both creationism and darwinism are based on someone’s experience and observations, and both theories require a little bit of faith on the part of the believer. Furthermore, as I’ve outlined in a previous post, there is ample evidence supporting the veracity and credibility of the bible. 

Therefore, should such an event occur wherein the bible was exposed to be fraudulent amid a massive media storm, prompting a worldwide scandal, I expect that I would be one among thousands who point-blank refused to accept it. I wouldn’t be out protesting in the streets or anything, but I would just quietly and contentedly carry on with my life as if nothing had happened. You might call me pigheaded and stupid and any number of other negative adjectives, but it would probably be nothing I (or at least my religious group) haven’t been called before. 

Here’s why: I don’t believe what I believe because of something anybody else told me. I don’t believe what I believe for anybody else. I believe what I believe because of my own experience. So nothing external can sway my belief. No single force of this world can sway my convictions, because they are firmly rooted in a force that is decidedly outside of this world. 

All that being said, let’s play devil’s advocate for a second and say I’m wrong. What if after we die, there’s nothing but blackness and emptiness, and this life is all there really is (an idea that I honestly find completely absurd). If this life is the be-all, end-all, then I did pretty good. Barring the possibility of injury or illness, I probably lived a longer, happier, healthier life (both physically and psychologically) because I didn’t drink, smoke or fall prey to other addictions. I had a strong sense of self-value. I successfully avoided STI’s and teen pregnancy by eschewing sexual promiscuity.  I treated others with respect and acceptance. I loved people. I helped a lot of people. And I was surrounded the whole way through by a community of people who encouraged and supported and loved me (the church). All because I believed in Christ. Now, all that I just listed is NOT the reason I believe what I believe. They’re just perks - happy side-effects in the physical world -  of a decision which has eternal repercussions in the spiritual world. 

And what if I’m right? Then I get to live forever in paradise with my loving creator. Sweet deals. But what about you? If I’m wrong, there are really no downsides for me. But if you believe something else, and you’re wrong, what happens to you when you die? I dunno man. I’m not into the whole high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou, self-righteous, I-get-to-go-to-heaven-and-you-don’t shtick, but it’s still something to think about. Cause I have no qualms about what happens after my death, and it’s a very comfortable feeling to have. It’d be nice if everyone could be this comfortable with the idea of their own demise. 

That’s all I have to say :PThanks for the question! I know it took forever and a day for me to answer it, and I’m sorry. I hope you haven’t given up on me and actually read this answer. Peace and love! -Katherine 

Hate is not a productive response to hate. How are we to have genuine dialogue with someone when we're putting them on the defensive? How are we to overcome evil by stooping to the same level? How are we to correct ignorance by overshadowing the real issue with our ugly words? By hating those who hate us, we ensure that we will remain trapped in a cycle of hate. Just because you're hating in the opposite direction doesn't mean you're doing the opposite of hating. You're still hating. Two wrongs will never make a right. We must overcome hate with something stronger than hate. You know where I'm going with this, right? Love. Love will always conquer hate. Love is the most radical, scandalous answer to hate, because it is unnatural. Not unnatural. Supernatural. Jesus says to love those who hate you. When your love is big enough to swallow wave after wave of malice and vitriol, then you will be truly victorious. Then you will see people take notice. Then you will change the world.