I still call myself gay. That tells you something true about who I love. I also call myself queer. That tells you something true about the God I follow. Not because queerness is the center of the Gospel. Christ is. But the Christ I know has always been found among the people the empire pushes to the margins.

Each week in The Christian Citizen, we publish a Religion News Roundup with summaries of religion news stories and links for those who want to read more.

With all these things, we love the Lord. And with all these things, we love ourselves. And with all these things, we love our neighbors; queer, gay, trans, and anything else. And we honor the choices they make with the bodies, the hearts, the souls, and the strengths God has appointed to them on this side of heaven.

Just imagine if the body of Christ were humbly receiving the dignity and worth conferred by Jesus and holding ourselves with this level of self-compassion. And then turning around and treating every person we encountered with the same. It would be earth-shattering. 

The 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is a landmark, yet the question remains whether we have a shared patriotism and a cohesive American identity to celebrate?