We are legion (Mark 5:1-20)

And the last post* of that old bgg thread. 

*It is the current last post at the time of writing this entry, but of course the thread is still live (although I cant post anything there) so I bet it wouldnt be the last post eternally  

This monday I had a virtual meeting with James Alison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Alison

in that meeting he talked us about Marcos 5:1-20.

Quote:

5:1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him from out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not even with chains,
4 because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped Him,
7 and cried with a loud voice, and said, “What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God that Thou torment me not!”
8 For He had said unto him, “Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.”
9 And Jesus asked him, “What is thy name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
10 And he besought Him much that He would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought Him, saying, “Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.”
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently down a steep place and into the sea (they were about two thousand), and were choked in the sea.
14 And those who fed the swine fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And the people went out to see what it was that had been done.
15 And they came to Jesus, and saw him that had been possessed by the devil and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
16 And those who saw it told the people what had befallen him that was possessed by the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray Him to depart from their borders.
18 And when He had gotten into the boat, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed Him that he might be with Him.
19 But Jesus suffered him not, and said unto him, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them what great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how He hath had compassion on thee.”
20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him. And all men marveled.

At first I was a bit surprised by the choice, but by the end of the talk I think it was a very good choice. He told us how historically LGBT people have been the scapegoat of the religion, same as that damned men it was the scapegoat of his community. He was always around the community, no part of it, but close to it, and he even self inflicted wounds to himself, like lgbt people sometimes self inflict ourselves the worst wounds. And then Jesus came and cure him and more than anything that terrorifies their neighbours(5:15) because they were seeing that their previous scapegoat was now clothed and on his right mind, and that afraid them. And the sane men asked Jesus to go with him, something quite natural, because after being the scapegoat of that town for most of his life he would much prefer to go any other place but He ordered he to go back to where he lived to preach the word.

In this regard is true that LGBT people (like jews and other minorities) have been the scapegoat of the society from a long time. And they were being forced to live outside the community, without a proper job, working on the nights or having a double life. They existed and didnt exist at the same time and they had not place in a "normal" society. However that have changed. Jesus, or in this case, science and social advacements have saved us from the scapegoat. Just a few years ago I would have been considered a insane person for being transgender. When I looked for some profesional aid (psychiatrist) one time I was told I probably was a victim who had suffered major sexual abuse from my parents at a very early age (even as I dont have any memory of this and I always feel my parents were pretty good with me, but to be sowed this kind of distrust to your own parents can be quite disturbing, specially when is done by "one profesional"). Other time I was told I should live as a woman but not because I was really one, but just because it was easier for everyone to play along with my madness than to confront it. Other times I was directly denied that I was transexual because that person was a doctor (by the way I am a doctor too) and he knew better than me who I was. Maybe I was unlucky but I tried 4 different psychiatrists along my life and all my experiences were quite bad. I was a insane person at that point in history according academic data. And to an extent that affected me. What would you think of yourself if every profesional (and the books) say that you are insane, even if you dont feel that way? Just think about it for a minute. It was not a easy or pleasant experience, I can tell you that. I thought that insane people dont realise they were insane, so at that point in my life it was just a question of trying to limit my "insanity" to avoid hurting the rest of my life. And what if I tell you about God now? The insane person talking about God and her relationship with Him. That is what this thread is, in a way. If I had started this thread, lets say 5 years ago, when I was still oficially a insane person, I wonder how many of you will think "the ramblings of a mad man"? In fact as I joined bgg on 2008 you could easily conclude that during my first 10 years here every post I wrote here about rulings of games were just the ramblings of a mad person, literally 

But since 2018 Im oficially a sane person, and to tell the truth its feel great. To do not be discussed who I am, and to be treated with the respect I deserve, as any sane person, correctly dressed and on her right mind, like the person of the story. But it is now that there are some people afraid, not of the demon but of what the previously scapegoat, insane persons have to say. And we have plenty to say in all aspects of life, including, of course, religion. And as the man on the story we would like to go to other places, to start a new life in a new place but the command of Jesus is clear: go back to your home and preach there. So we must preach in the same circles where we lived, and that include the own lgbt community. As people of this thread can attest, to spread the word of God is not a easy task. My life was never a easy one. But with God´s help every obstacle can be overturned. Im constantly attacked by people who doesnt want my voice to be heard. I receive many ad wominen attacks, but that is useless because who I am is unimportant, what it is important is the message I transmit, and they cant argue against it. And if they try to silence the message is because there something interesting to be hear. And that is the important part, not me.

By the way I would like to add that I feel that even the name of the exorcised demon, Legion, was very properly chosen, as there are plenty of lgbt people in every place, a lot more than a cis het person could be see at first glance. Since I got out of the closet more than a few persons had told me privately that they are lgbt (lesbians mostly) but they were somehow in the closet. Sometimes I have been even quite surprised because there were people I knew from several years and I never would have imagined they were lgbt,but I guess they would have never figured out I was a trans woman, so we are tied. Bottom line the lgbt people you can see are just the peak of the iceberg, believe me. And for all those people I think is important to give testimony and to tell that you can be lgbt and to feel Christ or God in your heart. Dont let yourself to be robbed of that, because is precious.

And I wouldnt like end this post without remarking that there is also a lot of feminism on this message, as women have been also traditionally silenced when they tried to speak about God. There still some implied machism in our culture that assume that only men can know and talk about God, because God is an important subject, and woman should step aside and just listen. So, me being a woman and opening a blog/thread to talk about God can be seen also as pretty revolutionary, but we women had also a lot to say about God. Like Mary, more than 2000 years ago I just said sometime ago: let it be done in me according to your word. And here we are now. Only God knows where we will end.