We’d like to issue a belated “welcome out” to Jason Thomas, and a congratulations on having the courage to tell his story.
Jason recently posted on Facebook about an experience he had a year ago that must have been very difficult, but has ultimately left him a better, stronger person. He was previously a member of the Watermark Community Church in Dallas, and in his Facebook post he describes the psychological abuse the inflicted on him.
After they found out that he’s gay, church leaders sent him to a 12-step program to pray the gay out of him. His abusers at the Watermark Community Church told him to break up with his boyfriend, and that was the last straw.
“I couldn’t see in my heart that what I was doing by breaking up with him was right,” he said.
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After he told them that he was going to resist them, they sent a letter letting him know he was no longer welcome. Here’s what he had to say recently, reflecting back on their letter:
I spent years in your church battling against my homosexuality. I believed with all my heart that God would change me; I prayed for change almost daily. But when I wasn’t able to change, you turned your back on me. …
Here we are a year later and you are still doing to others what you did to me. You are tarnishing the name of God to Christians and non-Christians alike; you should be ashamed of yourselves! Do not forget, Jesus was a angry with people just like you who said certain groups of people were not worthy to be followers of Him.
Thank you for removing yourself from my life! I am who God made me to be. I cannot change my sexual orientation and nor would I want to. I now have internal peace and happiness unlike ever before.
Good for you, Jason, for making the right call. Hopefully other victims of the church will hear about your experience and escape the cycle of abuse too.
Daniel-Reader
Merchants have taken over religion in much of the world, just like Jesus warned about. It is really big business in the USA.
Bob LaBlah
From the article: “His abusers at the Watermark Community Church told him to break up with his boyfriend, and that was the last straw.”
Honey, if it took THAT for you to say “that was the last straw” then I really do think there IS some thing wrong with you and that you DO need some serious help. When they first approached your lost ass with this conversion shit THAT should have been enough for you to hand in your walking papers to that church. Or so one would think.
Xzamilloh
Woo woo sky daddy bullshit still doing damage in the age of technology, when surveillance is around 24/7 in one capacity or another, smartphones and tablets can pull up any piece of information that we ask it to, and people are STILL buying into this Jesus/Muhammad/Thor and all of the other magic land characters? Ask one of your gods to present itself and irrefutably prove its existence… don’t hold your breath. Or do, and go “home” to sky daddy.
Jack Meoff
I am not a believer but I realise that many people are however the big question for me is not why they believe but rather why they feel the need to have to belong to an organised religion to do so. You can believe in whatever god you want and whatever religious teachings you want without belonging to a church etc.
Why put yourself in a position to be judged and lectured to and made to feel beholden to an organisation that exists purely for profit and who try to control not only their own members but the rest of society as well. If you want to believe do it on your own terms and in the comfort of your own environment.
Belonging to a church doesn’t make you a better Christian or whatever it only strengthens their numbers when they try to impose their will on others.
Captain Obvious
@Xzamilloh: Maybe the fact that you believe in nothing is why you’re so paranoid about technology and being monitored? I mean that post is borderline schizophrenic. At best your useless information is sitting in a database somewhere unused so why are you ranting about surveillance?
You can never prove that there isn’t a deity. You don’t even know how you got here. You sound stupid trying to refute claims that you weren’t around to witness in the first place. You want to make others look ignorant for holding religion when you don’t have anything to offer yourself.
Religion is more than just believing in a few words. It gives people something to turn to in their worst situations instead of panicking to the point of suicide. Where are you going to go when you die? Blank empty blackness? Sounds fun…
Heywood Jablowme
There are plenty of gay-friendly churches around, even in Texas. Any gay Protestant can just leave and go elsewhere. No need to become a raging atheist. (A gay Catholic, maybe tougher but a lot of ex-Catholics join the Episcopalians.) Of course, if you are a sensible gay person in Texas, you will probably consider moving the fuck out of Texas!
I must admit I don’t quite get all the fuss in Queerty about this guy and his supposedly “perfect” response to Skidmark Church. Seriously, he doesn’t sound very bright.
Kieran
I wonder how many divorced and remarried people are members in good standing at Watermark church? Jesus was very clear about divorce, but he said nothing on the subject of homosexuality. Nothing like making up your own rules and then considering yourself holier than others.