Tauwetter im Westen

Melissa Etheridges Musik habe ich immer gern gehört. Aber auch ihr Engagement für Frauen und Homosexuelle ist weithin bekannt. Nun habe ich auf Brian McLarens Blog diesen Link zu einem Bericht gefunden, wo sie eine Begegnung mit Rick Warren beschreibt, der ja durch seine Mitwirkung an Barack Obamas Amtseinführung nächste Woche für Schlagzeilen gesorgt hat. Hier beschreibt sie, was ihre Befürchtungen waren, als sie zum ersten Mal von Warren hörte:

This Pastor Rick must surely be one hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist like all the others. He probably has his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know. One more hater working up his congregation to hate the gays, comparing us to pedophiles and those who commit incest, blah blah blah. Same ‚ole thing.

Dann erfuhr sie, dass sie auf der Veranstaltung (einer islamischen Organisation!) auftreten sollte und Rick Warren der Gastredner war. Sie entschloss sich, ihn anzurufen. Es stellte sich heraus, dass er fast alles ihre CDs hatte. Viel wichtiger aber war dies:

He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife’s struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine. When we met later that night, he entered the room with open arms and an open heart. We agreed to build bridges to the future.

Eine Entschuldigung zur rechten Zeit – und Melissa Etheridge schließt mit einem Appell, den man sich von allen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen nur wünschen kann:

Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket. But there are also good people out there, Christian and otherwise that are beginning to listen. They don’t hate us, they fear change. Maybe in our anger, as we consider marches and boycotts, perhaps we can consider stretching out our hands. Maybe instead of marching on his church, we can show up en mass and volunteer for one of the many organizations affiliated with his church that work for HIV/AIDS causes all around the world.

Maybe if they get to know us, they wont fear us. I know, call me a dreamer, but I feel a new era is upon us.