Jan Shannon

A gay Christian pastor explores religious pluralism, from the Hajj to Pride, asking why we don't give equal coverage to all faiths in our diverse nation.

We talk about the white supremacy that was evident in Charlottesville. White supremacy is real. It's not just a few angry white guys, it's the systemic racism embedded in our country. There are more whites than people of color in seats of authority and power, even in regional areas where whites are the minority. That is just flat wrong! We cannot continue to speak over our black and brown siblings in Christ.

The rules that many different faith traditions have used to bar the LGBTQ+ community from membership, the trauma that the Christian church especially has caused, and the pain and suffering that people who call themselves followers of a loving God have heaped on queer folks, keeps me too busy to waste time writing about it.

I choose the Holy Spirit. Mentioned throughout the book of Proverbs, Wisdom, translated as Sophia, shouts in the streets, and raises her voice to call us back to the fear of God.

Our fight isn’t against the person, President Donald Trump, it is against bigotry and hate and discrimination, and we will lose the fight against the ‘powers of darkness’ if we leave behind truth and righteousness which are founded in the Gospel of peace.

Right here in Spokane, we’ve already had incidents of racism and anti-Semitism. People are asking themselves how this happened, well, it happened because we have abandoned God and tried to fix things on our own.

Do you believe there is a spiritual component to sex? Explain.