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What is Faith? When we approached the topic of faith for this issue of qvMagazine, we began to consider all the many aspects of the word. We came to the conclusion that the best way to discuss faith was to open it up to the community, so we sent out an e-mail to qvReaders all over the world and asked them a few questions about faith and how it affects their lives. To our overwhelming, yet wonderful surprise, we found that our readers had pages and pages full of things to say about it! When we looked for commonalities in the responses, what we discovered was that nearly every single respondent used some form of the word "belief" somewhere in their reply. Those beliefs encompassed believing in God (or some other sort of "Higher Power"), believing in yourself, and believing in other people. What follows are just a sample of some of the many answers that were given to us.
"Faith to me is believing in a higher being-in my case, God and Jesus Christ. Faith is also not just believing, but believing that they help you, guide you, watch over you and protect you. This means trusting them with your life." "Faith is what sustains me in times of trouble and gives me hope that things will improve. Faith is believing in a higher power, even if there is no scientific evidence that one exists. Faith is trusting that, in the end, God will take care of you-even if things look very dark and hopeless. As they say, God works in mysterious ways-even if what is happening at the time does not make sense, and it feels as if God is abandoning you. Faith will make you stick it out for the long run." "Faith means the ability to believe in yourself, see the positive things about yourself, and not let obstacles stand in your way." "To me, faith is being able to believe in the things that have no real explanation. Faith is believing in yourself no matter what people say or think about you." "Faith, to me, is not the same thing as religion. My faith is my belief in myself to be the best person I can-to myself and to everything and everyone that surrounds me. Religion is a personal way of staying in contact with what you believe is "out there," be it God, aliens, or nothing." "My faith to me is a belief that no matter what organized religion says or does, if I continue to live my life the way I believe I should, God will look out after me."
To me, faith means that a person has a guiding light that gives him/her the hope and drive to make the best out of one's life. That light [can be] a God, a belief in a higher force, or simply a desire to make life better for oneself and for others. "Faith is the belief in the forces that keep the universe in motion. An energy-sometimes benevolent, sometimes not-that is passed on from person to person by the actions of each. Some people call it God or love. To me, they're both the same."
If your faith community is not open to QVs, how does that affect you? "It doesn't really. I tend to believe that I affect it (the church). They all have these misconceptions on what QVs and lesbians are like. They see me, and all that is blown away. I know I am a good person and I'm not some leather queen trying to corrupt their kids. I have a good standing in my church. I get my respect." "I have never felt a problem with it as I feel that God does not reject me, and that is what matters in the end. The Catholic Church has provided me with a degree of stability throughout my life and I have never considered leaving it. Rules and policies are made by humans, and thus, can be wrong. A person telling me that I am a sinner just by the fact that I'm QV doesn't worry me, even if he claims support for his view by his interpretation of the word of God." "It harder for us QV people to live our lifestyles. Sometimes it makes us feel that we are sinning just for being QV. But as long as you know deep inside that you are happy with yourself, God is happy with you." "Not much. I am what I am, and it doesn't stop me from going to church. I have to believe that God loves EVERYBODY!" "It affects me a great deal. Any message from a church as powerful and important as the Catholic Church has great influence. If the message is 'you are not good enough' as a QV person, then it really affects self esteem. I know that is true in my own life, and I have had to work hard to make choices not to believe that negative message. I believe God creates us QV, and delights in us as QV people. It is very hard to integrate that belief with the Catholic community because the Church has traditionally been so homophobic. After a while, you start thinking "'his is not my place,' and you move on. The tragedy is that it doesn't have to be that way. I don't think that is what Jesus is about at all."
"It has made it difficult in that I have had to search for the meaning of faith on my own. I've had to study, soul-search, and really question my life and where it is going. Not having an instructor, priest-or guidance to turn to-can make every aspect very difficult." "It makes me feel unwelcome and...like an outcast. Here you have someone like me, who is willing to become a part of a spiritual community that is highly based on love; however, I am made to feel unloved. The hypocrisy makes me give up on organized religion altogether, but at the same time, it keeps me searching for other faith communities that will welcome me unconditionally...I feel that I need that community support to let me know that I am not alone."
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