The Christian Century magazine published an outstanding review of “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing up Gay in America.” Edited by Mitchell Gold, the book was released in September 2008, has received rave reviews from all corners of the country.

David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, a Baptist college in Macon, Ga. Gushee quickly recounts the stories of several of the books contributors, including Jared Horsford, Mitchell Gold, Jarrod Parker, Mary Lou Wallner, Elke Kennedy and me.

He boldly says:

As an evangelical Christian whose career has been spent in the South, I must say I find it scandalous that the most physically and psychologically dangerous place to be (or even appear to be) gay or lesbian in America is in the most religiously conservative families, congregations and regions of this country. Most often these are Christian contexts. Many of the most disturbing stories in this volume come from the Bible Belt. This marks an appalling Christian moral failure.

In contrast to the love and mercy that Jesus exemplified, Christian communities offer young lesbians and gays hate and rejection. Sometimes that rejection is declared directly from the pulpit. But even when church leaders attempt to be more careful, to “hate the sin but love the sinner” (as that hackneyed formulation has it), the love gets lost. Perhaps we need to focus on refining our ability to love; maybe we are not actually capable of compartmentalizing hate.

But the best line comes at the end: “Moreover, after reading these stories, I feel that Christians have something they need to request from God and from gays and lesbians, and that is forgiveness.”

Thank you Professor Gushee.