Gentle LGBT-affirming humor is needed now as news reports magnify the conflict between conservative Christianity and marriage equality.
Two cartoons by Canadian artist David Hayward may make people smile while pointing out some of the paradoxes behind the headlines:
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis was jailed last week for refusing to issue marriage licenses because granting them to same-sex couples “conflicts with God’s definition of marriage.”
Such conservative Christian certainty about God’s judgment is addressed in a scene at the pearly gates of heaven in one of Hayward’s all-time most popular cartoons. A new arrival insists, “I’m NOT going in there with all those homosexuals!”
The godly gatekeeper replies, “Who said you were going in there?”
Hayward looks specifically at the Kim Davis controversy in a new cartoon with both humor and humanity. She becomes boxed in and separated from Jesus and the rest of humanity by the words she scrawls over and over: “My religious beliefs.”
On his Naked Pastor blog, Hayward explains, “The humble truth is that Kim Davis would believe it is my belief that separates me from her. The problem is belief. Belief is not the way to unity. Is there a way to transcend belief? Is there a way to manifest the union that surely exists between us other than through conformity or compatibility of belief?”
Hayward has a master's degree in theology and 30 years of pastoral experience. His books include “The Art of Coming Out: Cartoons for the LGBTQ Community” and the 2015 autobiography “Questions Are The Answer.”
This week Davis was released, but the controversy -- and the cartoons -- will continue.
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Related links:
Kentucky clerk Kim Davis on gay marriage licenses: ‘It is a Heaven or Hell decision’ (Washington Post)
David Hayward (nakedpastor): How do LGBT people know God loves us?
Queer Kwanzaa: Black Jesus icon by David Hayward honors African American holiday
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This post is part of the Artists series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series profiles artists who use lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer spiritual and religious imagery. It also highlights great queer artists from history, with an emphasis on their spiritual lives.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
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Jesus in Love Blog on LGBT spirituality and the arts