This reverend says God is nonbinary, and MAGA is losing it

We know that it’s quite fashionable right now for conservative religious folks to claim that trans people are the spawn of Satan. But we also know that, Biblically speaking, that’s not quite true.

As with most religious texts, it’s all in the interpretation. We can make religion as inclusive, or exclusionary, as we wish, and one retired reverend is taking time and care in pointing this out for the masses.

Father David J. Gierlach preached at Saint Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Honolulu for 14 years before retiring in 2023. The beloved reverend came to social media about year later to bring some of his teachings to a broader audience, and it worked.

How about we take this to the next level?

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By infusing his sermons with cautionary tales about what happens when you follow a false prophet wearing a bad wig (just like a certain despot we could mention), he’s alerting true Christians to the many, many godless activities of That Man in the White House.

It’s work that more Christians should be doing, and every time a Father David post shows up on our FYP, it’s packed with historical context, interesting scriptural deep dives, and important truths everyone should be aware of.

The Episcopal priest knows that true religion happens not just in a church, but in the things we do every day in the broader world to create a more loving, understanding environment for our fellow humans. Following Tr*mp, as Gierlach often states, is a direct contradiction to true Christianity and the peaceful teachings of Christ.

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Last year, Father David spoke to his 130,000 followers about what the Bible really says about transness—and his findings were eye-opening.

“Saint Augustine famously said that any interpretation of scripture,” he quotes, “if it doesn’t increase love in the one doing the interpretation, well then that interpretation is wrong.”

Father David went on to comment on Mike Johnson’s use of scripture to justify and spread anti-trans hatred in his speeches to the House, and point out that as much as Johnson might hide behind religion in promoting these views, they’re far from truly Christian. Another video went more in depth on where transness can be found in the Bible, and just how it fits into broader Christian teachings.

Directing his video toward conservatives who are “having a hard time” accepting trans people, he explains that if we look at even some of the best-known Bible verses, we can see how much room there is for trans-inclusive interpretation.

It’s a must-watch:

“Let’s go back to Genesis,” Gierlach says, breaking apart the famous quote “God created them, man and woman.”

“What we discover,” he says, “is that God created humanity in God’s own image.”

Plenty of people think they know what that means, but as Father David points out, there’s room for a much cooler (and queerer) interpretation here. It tells us that “God…has the attributes of what we have come to know as male and female.”

This leads Father David to explain that people who are trans and nonbinary might, instead of being abominations under God, be much closer to God’s image than cis folks. If God is supposed to represent all humanity, why wouldn’t that include an expansive notion of gender?

Trans and queer people have been saying this for years, but sometimes it takes a more traditional-seeming voice to really open peoples’ minds when it comes to Christianity and the Bible. Things in the good book can get pretty freaky, and actual scholars and priests know that.

While MAGA loves to pretend they’re all about the word of God, any actual Christian knows that they’re just doing what the worst pundits love to do: twist the actual text to make it sound like it agrees with their short-sighted, ahistorical understanding of sex, gender, and same-sex attraction.

The Reverend’s fans are thankful to him for telling tea, and MAGA is understandably pissed. He’s exactly the kind of voice we need more of right now.

“As a mother of a trans child,” one commenter wrote under his video, “thank you so much for saying that. It was amazing and I hope you continue to share your thoughts with the world on this.”

“If more Priests and Preachers spoke to some of my family members like this,” another poster wrote, “my adult children might still be going to church. God bless you father.”

Amen to that!

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Is being trans a sin? This Bible scholar has the real answer for anyone still wondering
We need more scholars like Mattie Mae Motl.

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