A Prayer in Response to Recent Waves of Religion Inspired Homophobia

Homophobia is running rampant (again)~Arizona, Tennessee, Nigeria, Uganda...a lot of crazy in the world right now, and religion at its most dysfunctional is the root of almost all of it. Some have given up on religion (and honestly, who could blame them?).

Others of us have found myths and rituals and community to be healing and life-giving and we just refuse to give them up even if far too many have used religion as a weapon to oppress, vilify, marginalize, and torment first one group and then another.

As one who still believes in the potential of healthy religion, or at least in shared spirituality which religion at its best faciliates, today I pray:

May the divine Power, the indomitable hope, the mystery of life, the power of love, the vastness of the universe, the invisible ties that unite all living beings, the wisdom of ages, the indefatigable creativity of the human spirit known as gods and angels and guides and ancestors and magic lead us in the ways of healing, peace, and justice. May religion ill used be redeemed; and may those who use religion as a weapon have a change of heart. As I think of those who live in fear or danger because religion has dehumanized and demonized them, I pause in this moment to affirm their sacred value and to wish them safety and well-being; in the name of all I call holy. Amen.

-- Durrell Watkins (2014)