Artifact Proposal: "Take Me To Church" by Hozier

This song needs no introduction. Hozier's "Take Me To Church" is widely regarded as a musical masterpiece not only because it is simply a great song, but also for the powerful message that Hozier wove into its lyrics and music video. The song is a condemnation of Christianity's hypocritical crusade against homosexuality, highlighting how the church is often a source of shame and persecution for lgbtq+ people. This message hits pretty close to home for me because for a long time, I was a part of that persecution. Not that I was going around actively seeking out and hurting lgbt people, but I believed in the idea that being gay was a sin and that lgbt+ people were inherently "wrong", just because that was what my parents believed, and what I was taught through the church and through my parents. I'm still a Christian now, but I've come to realize that what I was told about the lgbtq+ community was wrong. How I came to that conclusion is a story for another time, because I want to use "Take Me To Church" to analyze how Christian homophobia has turned the church into a hateful hive-mind against the lgbtq community. It's especially important to me because I feel that the church could help the lgbtq community so much if we could only look past the hatred and rejection and instead remember that Jesus called us to love unconditionally, because that's the way that He loved us. Instead, it feels like the church has ostracized and pushed away the lgbtq community almost to the point of no return, and it pains me to think about the fact that I can't call myself a Christian without carrying this legacy of persecution with me. A simple essay isn't going to change things, but I think it's important to talk about the issue more, and maybe if I talk about it enough for long enough I can help to bring about some real change in the church.

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