Most of us were taught in the past that "Jesus died for our sins," and that God demanded this death so that we could be forgiven. Many of us still suffer guilt and shame as a result of that way of looking at things.

But there is another way, and it is being discovered anew in this century. Here is what Bob Goss has to say about it:

:He is a parable of God’s strong assertion that human barbarism, political oppression, and dominating power relations will not triumph. This includes the oppressive political systems that have persecuted and executed men and women with same-sex attraction, that murdered gay men and lesbians in the Nazi death camps, that blocked effective and compassionate responses to gay men with HIV infections, and that promote homophobic violence and oppression. . . . God is there in every death of a gay man or a lesbian woman. God will remember innocent gay and lesbian people, and Easter justice will triumph.”[1]

[1] Robert Goss, Queering Christ: Beyond Jesus Acted Up, 2002. (New York: The Pilgrim Press), pp. 158-160.