Jeff Chu

On Tuesday, I was able to hear Jeff Chu speak here at Syracuse. Chu is a journalist and author of the book, Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America. Being a gay man raised in a southern Baptist family, Chu states that he wrote the book because it was the kind of book he wanted to read when he first came out. Many people, both conservatives and liberals, told him what he should do about the controversy from his religious upbringing, but nobody asked what he was experiencing. Chu seemed to be stuck in the middle, not wanting to abandon his family or faith but also not wanting to ignore his sexual orientation. Chu explained that keeping his emotions in check while he was reporting to create his book was one of the hardest parts. Many people tried to tell them how he should feel and what he should do but he said the pros of creating this book outweighed the cons. His favorite part was being invited into others’ homes and getting them to tell their stories and experiences. Chu said it was way easier to talk to groups like the Westboro Baptist Church because they are “media whores.” Whereas trying to find a closeted gay Christian was harder. What I personally thought was interesting was how Chu seemed to successfully report both sides of the topic equally well. He explained that many people are opposed to homosexuality because they don’t believe it’s right and they do it out of love. He also went in depth with the struggle gay people have with coming out and becoming accepted in their community and within their families. Chu came to an understanding through his reporting that people’s hate for homosexuality seems to be rooted from love, and the people who love him don’t want him to go to hell. Chu explained his book more thoroughly but he also talked about his journey as a journalist. Currently he is a writer at Beacon, which has a vision to tell stories that aren’t being told and to explore journalism. He explains that his jobs are nonstop, there is no time for him to stop being a journalist. In his experience as a journalist he found that humans have a tendency to see the things that happen in their own bubble and think they’re news, when the same thing happened years ago but in a different area. Chu also read a part of his book to his audience and had a Q&A session. In the end he answered the question, “Does Jesus really love me?” and according to Chu, “his” Jesus loves him. Chu gave an interesting and surprisingly unbiased, journalistic view on religion and homosexuality. His book is definitely on my list of books to read now.