It seems as if we are always fighting against stereotypes. In the Christian community I am misunderstood because my brothers and sisters have listened to the media stereotypes about pedophiles. They do not have good information to come to rational, loving conclusions.

In the boylove community, as a Christian, it is assumed that I am brainwashed, naive and conservative. Most of my BL friends find it difficult to believe that one can hold common BL opinions and still be a Christian.

But, why am I surprised? Human beings function primarily on stereotypes. Whether the issue is race, economic status, sexual orientation or religion we tend to develop opinions based on the people we have met or heard about. This is totally normal and to be expected. There are such vast amounts of information in today's society that we require ways in which to organize, compartmentalize and process these bits.

If we work at explaining to non-BLs from a context that expects them to hold certain views, we can then focus our dialogue in a way that challenges these assumptions head on. In so doing, Christians will be forced to re-examine the foundational precepts of their faith. The meaning of the Gospel message will become more apparent, and possibly, it will help our brothers and sisters to have more empathy on many other issues that our church communities do not seem to take to heart: racism, economic disparity and others.

The challenge to our faith communities is so great they are daunted by the task. Seriously considering the plight of boylovers requires them to question several beliefs that tradition has maintained. And I did say tradition and not the Bible. Many of our social conventions today are based in church tradition, and not really instituted biblically by Christ. Ideas about sexuality, marriage, finance, wealth, community, spirituality and appropriate expressions of our faith are some of the areas I would propose to evaluate. If we look at the many translations of the Bible that are available today, we begin to see that each translation has its own agenda. How are we to truly know God's will for us? How do we lead prophetically, rather than follow behind the trends of society as it accepts homosexuality? Are churches simply vehicules for mass brainwashing on social conduct or do we discern together what it means to love one another?

I pray that God empower us to consider His Kingdom, Our Kingdom.
Peace of Christ,
Bach