When I heard that Jeff Chu was coming to speak at Newhouse, I was immediately attracted to the session. Jeff Chu is the author of “Does Jesus really love me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America.” His book explores the different attitudes varying sects and denominations of Christianity have towards homosexuality. Since this topic is rarely discussed in a cohesive and unbiased setting, I was excited to hear what an educated, journalist, gay, Asian American, man, raised in the south by southern Baptist parents would have to offer to the controversial discussion of what role homosexuality plays in the Christian faith.
Jeff started by giving an overview of what topics his book actually covers (from new insight into the motivations of The Westboro Baptist Church to a heart breaking coming out story from a gay teen growing up in an oppressively religious household), he told us personal information about himself (like the fact that his husband has never been invited to a family function), and he spoke about his methods of research and how to get as much information as possible out of an interviewee (play dumb and make them explain everything to you, even if you already know).
Next Jeff began the “story telling” portion of the night. He read a passage of his book, which contained stories from his trip to Topeka, Kansas to visit The Westboro Baptist Church. He frames the idea of the Westboro Baptist Church by saying, “When something is so obviously offensive to us we don’t bother asking ‘Why?’ because we think we already know.” That’s exactly what he attempted to avoid when visiting the church. The Westboro Baptist Church is a highly Controversial organization that identifies itself as a church, although they are best known for they’re highly volatile protests that involve the use of signs that feature such phrases as “God hates fags.” The interesting thing about Jeff’s visit to Topeka was that, unlike most people who interview Westboro, Jeff attempted to truly understand where the members of the church were coming from. One girl explained to him that they do what they do out of love (hard to believe, I know) she defended their message by saying, “what kind of neighbor are you if you do not tell your neighbor how to avoid going to hell?” They see there’s as a message of mercy, although the packaging of that message is offensive to most who hear it and often throws the majority of the American public into a rage, they consider this method a way to reach as many people as possible. If they upset people and cause outrage, more will hear their message. It is twisted logic, but logic none the less. Because Jeff was able to put aside his presuppositions about Westboro, he was afforded much more access to the truth and although there was no way he would ever agree with the church’s perspective, he was able to draw out the human aspects of the congregation.
The next story Jeff told was that of Gideon. Gideon is a young man that responded to Jeff’s tweet asking for stories from closeted Christians. At first their correspondence was very quite and hidden. But when it came time to publish, Gideon insisted that Jeff use his real name, “It’s important” he told Jeff. This was a major risk for him seeing as most of his family had no idea he was gay and they had made it clear that they would be far from accepting if he ever came out. His family was very open with their distaste for homosexuality. Gideon’s mother would disinfect the entire house with bleach anytime his uncle and his uncle’ partner came to visit. After the release of the book his family shunned him and although Jeff encouraged Gideon to move away from his hometown, he refused. Gideon, to this day, is determined to remain a presence in his hometown; he wants to open a bakery right in the center of town. Despite his attempts to reach out to his family (birthday cards, gifts on holidays, etc.) they refuse to respond.
Gideon’s story was a reminder that so many gay Americans risk so much just to live the only life they know how to live. Although, many of the stories Jeff told often implied that there was insurmountable division between Christians and gays he told a final story that shined a light in a dark and seemingly hopeless place. A few months earlier Jeff’s mother came to visit for the first time since he had moved away from home. He and his husband were unsure of how the visit would play out “Would she accept the offer to stay in their bedroom, or would she be disgusted by the prospect of sleeping in their bed? Would she want to meet any of their friends?” “My mother does not show her love verbally…she shows it through food. She told me to invite my friends over for dinner because she wanted to cook a big meal for them.” In addition to this gesture of love and acceptance, his mother also gave his husband a gift, “Every member of my family has a pair of antique, ivory chopsticks and while she was visiting, she gave my husband a set.”
He closed his session by answering the question “does Jesus really love me?” “I think if you ask 2,000 different Christians that question, you will get 2,000 different answers, but I believe my Jesus loves me.” Jeff Chu’s storytelling ability was enhanced by his commitment to finding truth as opposed to a biased, contorted version of the truth. He offered no concrete answers, merely experiences to allow the audience to construct their own conclusion. Through these experiences Jeff communicated a message of hope, understanding and finding the truth in both sides of the story.