Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation With the Gay Community

Hallelujah.....Andrew gets us 2010-02-22

Reviewer: Anthony Venn Brown

"Love is an Orientation" could have been written by many of us. My last 18 years as out gay man, being involved in of the many diversities of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and 22 years living totally within a Christian context certainly have given me the insights to pen this work. What makes this book so remarkable is that it is written by a straight, evangelical young man.

Author Andrew Marin's begins his journey when three of his close Christian friends secretly confide in him that they are gay. He realises his only knowledge of homosexuality is based on what others have said; believing that it was a choice and his friends just needed to pray the gay away.

Surprisingly, Andrew feels a call of Gods Spirit to 'immerse' himself into the LGBT community. And here is the key. For over 12 months Andrew lives and socialises in Boystown (LGBT neighbourhood of Chicago) and goes to gay bars, cafes, venues, support groups, political events and social clubs. And so begins his education through real life relationships and God's Spirit challenging him to face his own prejudices.

Within the LGBT community Andrew is an enigma. A straight Christian who doesn't preach but listens; often to heart wrenching stories of rejection and pain. experienced by LGBT people within and outside the church. His heart is touched for ever as he falls in love with the people his previously preconceived concepts would have judged and condemned.

There are valuable lessons and insights in these pages for straight Christians who are sick of the debates and embarrassed by the condemning, insensitive comments of church leaders and right wing extreme groups. There is a growing number of Christian people who believe there is a more Christ-like way to engage and be like the Jesus we read about in the Gospels.; a man who shunned religious exclusivity and reached out to real human beings no matter what their background. Andrew shows them the way.

Andrew's book is both refreshing and touching. I was moved to tears several times as a gay man who spent many years struggling to resolve the perceived conflict between his faith and sexuality. For the LGBT reader, let me reassure you that Andrew gets us and shows there is not only a better way, it's a new day.

UnChristian 2010-02-20

Reviewer: Steven Hook

Andrew Marin portrays, in this book, true Christianity; making me less ashamed to call myself a Christian. I want to send one to all the pastors in my conference. But I know that many of them would be too prejudiced to even start reading it. I still believe everyone in pursuit of true Christianity will benefit from reading it.
Andrew's unashamed love for everyone he writes about in this book is indeed a huge lesson for us all. I am confident in time more souls than we can imagine will be lead to Christ through love here demonstrated in Love is an Orientation.

Good application of Biblical principles to situations many people find difficult 2010-02-05

Reviewer: A. Shewmaker

This book has been helpful to me to better communicate with friends and relatives. I especially appreciated the section in the latter part of the book where he looks at many of the difficult questions being asked by both Christians and the GLBT community. These questions are usually phrased such that a Yes or No is expected, which just makes real communication just that much more difficult. Andrew Marin looks at how Jesus responded to difficult Yes/No questions, and applies the same principles here.

I highly recommend this book. In fact, I bought several as Christmas gifts and another five more so that I could give them to people.

A Solid Read 2010-01-05

Reviewer: Christopher Heuertz

Andy courageously tackles questions about faith, sexuality and identity. In this book Andy offers an impassioned and spirited dialogue around the issue while maintaining a sense of evangelical diplomacy. It's a really great start for some of us who don't know where to begin in this conversation. Super readable and a good one to pop open a conversation that most Christians don't know how to have.

Love Is an Orientation, so get Oriented! 2009-11-22

Reviewer: Chad Estes

Andrew Marin begins his story this way,

"I am a straight, white conservative, Bible-believing, evangelical male. I was raised in a Christian home in a conservative suburb of Chicago and grew up in a large evangelical church. And I wanted absolutely nothing to do wit the gay, lesbian bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community. Looking back on my upbringing, I don't remember hearing anything explicitly defaming the GLBT community from either my church or my parents. Homosexuality just grossed me out, and I sure wasn't about to have an in-depth conversation with my pastor or my parents about the subject. I just knew that my beliefs were right. I saw gay people on TV. I saw pictures of cross-dressers in newspapers and magazines. For the first nineteen years of my life I was the biggest Bible-banging homophobic person I knew. I used derogatory language about gay people without ever thinking twice about what I believed or said. I didn't care about the gay community nor did I ever want to care about them. "Don't ask, don't tell" "Don't see, don't care," "Out of sight, out of mind": those philosophies all worked great for me--until, that is, the summer after my freshman year in college."

That was when three of Andrew's best friends opened up to him that they were gay. Now he was faced with a dilemma. Did he have to give up his beliefs or his friends? He wanted to do neither. Instead he did a remarkable thing: he opened his heart, his ears and his life to people who had a different sexual orientation than him.

What has resulted is The Marin Foundation, a nonprofit focused on bringing together the religious and GLBT organizations and people. This bridge-building is led by Andrew and his wife who live in a predominantly GLBT community in Chicago. Andrew shares his journey in his book; Love is an Orientation--Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community. I've read several books on the issue of homosexuality, but all of them have been about proving a point, taking a stand, or presenting a formula. Andrew's book is significantly different. It really is a book about understanding and love.

In his book Andrew identifies and addresses questions that Christians and the GLBT community both ask:
1. Do you think that gays and lesbians are born that way?
2. Do you think homosexuality is a sin?
3. Can a GLBT person change?
4. Do you think that someone can be gay and a Christian?
5. Are GLBT people going to hell?

Andrew also shares nine different concerns that GLBT people fear about interacting with the Christian church:
1. How can I possibly relate to Christians in a church environment?
2. Will Christians always look at me as just gay?
3. Will I be able to be like everyone else in church activities and groups?
4. Do they think that homosexuality is a special sin?
5. Do they believe that I chose to be like this?
6. Do they think that I am going to hit on them?
7. Do they think that I am going to abuse their children?
8. Are they scared that I am going to infect them with an STD or HIV/AIDS?
9. When will I be rejected and kicked out?

Reading the book was personally painful. I recognized many attitudes and actions in my life that have been anything but loving. I recognized how I was good at trying to prove a point, but I didn't have much to show for being "right." I recognized that I was better at burning bridges than building them. I recognized my desire to fix people has kept me from genuine friendships. I also recognized that my heart was built for love and was tired of expressing anything less.

This isn't much of a book review. It's more of an endorsement. I feel people need to read this book, including those who think they've been righteously homophobic, those who have been compassionate to the GLBT community but want to be better at building bridges, and those who have put their head in the stand thinking that this issue doesn't affect them at all.