We tend to think of the most religious or most beloved by God as the most outwardly pious person but that’s not how God actually works.

If you look at the stories in the Quran and in the life of Isa, it’s so clear that God isn’t just for the perfect. He’s for the broken, the struggling, the ones who keep messing up but keep coming back.

In the Quran, God is described over and over as the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. That mercy(arguably) is for people who need it, not those who’ve already “arrived.”

Isa said he didn’t come for the righteous, but for sinners. He spent his time with the outcasts, the poor, the sick, the people religion had pushed to the side.

So why do we act like religion is only for the flawless? Like God only loves the people who never fall?

And why do we act like gatekeepers to Gods love / acceptance?

I see so many Muslims and Christian’s say that lgbt people are only worthy of love and mercy if they absolutely hate themselves - but most lgbt folks I know distance from God when they hate themselves / contemplate suicide. But when they learn to accept who they are, that’s when they rebuild a relationship with God and become closer to Him.

Note: when I say “we” I mean as a whole, and arguably a lot less in this space or progressive spaces.