Received 3.20.2000

Hello, my name is Suzanne and I am a believer in YAHWEH and consider myself saved by the lamb He sent for His sacrifice.

But to get past that one has to know why things are the way they are. I don’t attend a church as a member. I just share my personal testimony of YAHWEH in my life. You see free will is just simply that.....nothing very grand.....we can either choose Him or not. This is how it has always been.

There are things that never get taught in the church on the corner and as a matter of fact in some of them if I taught what I believe....I would get stoned I am sure. Because "religion" is really a dog that’s eating itself. And people enjoy getting their ears tickled. They want to hear what they want to hear not the truth that’s really important.

I met and accepted the Savior into my life 14 yrs ago. I was living in a lesbian relationship that continued for another 5 months or so after being saved. Not one time did anyone in the fellowship condemn me or confront me about this relationship but when I asked questions they always took me to the bible for answers. YAHWEH taught me between His right and wrong ......there is a difference between ours and His. I met my husband a few months later. My cousin who was an evangelist in a COGOP went to preach at another church and a woman asked him to write to her son who was in prison and they told me about him and we were married a year from the day I got his first letter. 12 1/2 yrs later we still have one of the best marriages in either of our families.....not because of ourselves but who we believe in.

Almost 6 months after we married we lost our first baby. And about 4 months later we found out that he is HIV+. And today he is one of the oldest living HIV+ people without benefit of the cocktail or doctor supervision. His philosophy is don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.....so to look at him you would never know he had the virus. In Feb. of 1996 we found out we were pregnant. And she was born in September. Healthy and neg. 18 months later her brother was born....healthy and neg. And to this day the three of remain healthy and neg. What are the odds? not very good are they? Well you would be right. But it is nothing we have done other than believe in YAHWEH and His Son Yeshua. Whether one believes or not does not make it any less true.

So I guess I write to you and ask that you give the ones like us out here a break and don’t clump us in with people that basically don’t believe either......just say they do for appearances. If you would it’s a good picture of the curse of the fig tree in Mark. The tree was green and leafy......(as a person that goes to church every time the door opens.....has the image) and that tree bore no fruit even though it wasn’t season for fruit...and Yeshua cursed it. Why? Because it is important for people to understand that having the image without the Power (faith and love for YAHWEH) are cursed. Many will say LORD LORD....but he never knew them.

And another thing to consider is testimony is an accounting of what ones GOD is in their lives. Everyone has one whether they believe in YAHWEH or not......think about it.

Suzanne

My Reply:

Suzanne,
As you point out in your letter, Christianity possesses tremendous diversity, perhaps more than any other faith. I know Jesuit priests who feel that the Old Testament and the majority the New Testament are only allegory, and I know Fundamentalists who believe God actually did turn Lot’s wife into salt for looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah. The Christians who did not judge you while you were in a lesbian relationship obviously think differently from the Baptist publishers of www.GodHatesFags.com. It is only the Christians who wish to impose their views and limit the rights of others that concern me.

I want to congratulate you on your healthy family and successful marriage. I know you feel that without God, your family would not have been able to defy the odds. I will respectfully ask you to consider what makes something an act of God. Is it just the fact that it is unlikely? We often hear about freak accidents, things that you would probably be reluctant to attribute to God’s intervening hand. Is it because you have accepted Jesus? I would venture that improbable good things happen just as often for Christians and non-Christians alike. Admittedly, this is something that can never be proven, but it makes sense that Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists are no less lucky than Christians. No doubt, you will continue to see your family’s good health as a testimony of God’s love, but I wanted to try to illustrate why I would consider it good fortune rather than divine intervention.

As far as your marriage, it is you and your husband who support each other and work at keeping your relationship strong, not God.  Perhaps you should give yourselves more credit.

I sincerely hope you and your family continue to stay happy and healthy. Thanks for visiting the Closet Atheist site.