Emancipation very practical: On TikTok and Instagram, “The Voice of Germany” discovery Jonny vom Dahl (27) asks his fans things like: “What would Jesus think about feminism, veganism and climate change?”. Some of his thematic social media videos even make it into the religious education classes at many schools.
Now the pop artist, who grew up as the son of a pastor, has released a song and accompanying video, “In Love With Him,” that tells the coming-out story of a good friend. Like Jonny, he grew up in a conservative Christian environment.
The video criticizes the church and the Christian scene and is intended to show that homophobia and discrimination is still a major problem in the Christian world.
BILD met the 27-year-old for a conversation about God and the world.
BILD: How did “In love with him” come about? What is your motivation to release the song now?
Johnny: “A friend called me on FaceTime and then hesitantly told me about his friend. You could literally see how much respect and fear he had for this conversation because he didn’t know how I would react. That shook me to the core, because only then did I become aware of the problems and challenges of coming out as a queer person. The mere fact that it is still necessary to come out is bad and challenging enough for those affected, but if, like us both, you come from the Christian scene, unfortunately even more so. ‘In love with him’ was created to tell the perspective of people in such situations and to be able to empathize with their situation.”
I want to build bridges between homosexual and heterosexual worlds.
What is wrong with the German churches regarding LGBTQ at the moment? And how would you like the topic to be dealt with in the church?
Johnny: “The problem with ‘the churches’ is that they are so difficult to reconcile. One can distinguish between the Catholic and the Protestant Church – apart from all the free church tendencies that exist. The Catholic Church still has a lot to do when it comes to LGBTQ issues. The evangelical church is much further along, but has other problems. I would wish that both churches would start explaining from the perspective of faith why, for example, being a Christian and being queer are not categorically mutually exclusive. The churches and therefore Christians are the only ones who can answer this question and if they finally did so adequately, there would be more incentive for LGBTQ people to be part of these churches. THAT is what I would wish for as a Christian.”
Let’s go straight to the source: what do you think Jesus—a man who (for all we know) lived with outsiders his entire life—would say to LGBTQ people in the church today?
Johnny: “Let’s keep it short: ‘Welcome! Nice that you are here, I love you!’ Everything I know and have learned from Jesus has to do with the message of charity! I believe that Jesus – by the way, as a Palestinian today he is not a white man either, as is so often portrayed – would not and even then did not make any distinctions between skin color, sexuality, race or anything else. Jesus always saw people – with all their faults and quirks – and loved and accepted them individually.”
Jesus would say to LGBTQ: “Welcome! Nice that you are here!”
Do you have queer friends yourself, and what connects you with them?
Johnny: “Of course, and it enriches my life a lot! That’s how the song came about. I admit, of course there are things about the scene where I feel that they ‘separate’ us, like with any other scene that I don’t belong to, too. Parts of the CSD, for example, overwhelm me as a straight man at one point or another. Because I realize that I can’t really put myself in some of them. But I keep noticing: apart from sexuality, everything is exactly the same. Being human – that connects us!”
To be honest, have you ever been in love with a boy yourself?
Johnny: “Honestly, on a romantic level, not that I know of… But I know so many men where I could absolutely relate!”
Jonny vom Dahl wants everyone to be welcome in the church
How do you think your dad would have reacted to his son coming out? What can other pastors learn from him?
Johnny: “I think each of us has gone through our own personal journey with the topic. I am very happy and grateful that my parents were always willing to listen to their children, to learn from them and also to change points of view afterwards, which they perhaps never really had to think about before, because they have dealt with it . In this respect, coming out in our family would almost certainly be a very relaxed and loving affair, except for the person affected, of course. I believe not only pastors, but everyone, should remain willing to learn throughout life and never think they have understood everything. Then everyone and every discussion on every topic is already a lot of help.”
“The people in the churches are much more open than the churches themselves”
At the moment there is a lot of movement and discussion on the subject of homosexuality and bisexuality in the church in Germany. Have the German churches been much more open than we all think?
Johnny: “Definitive! But here, too, one must distinguish between the churches and judge the institution separately from the Christians within it. The evangelical church is very broad and open when it comes to these issues. Unfortunately, what she often forgets to convey is her actual message, namely to tell the message of charity and the story of Jesus. It is the task of the churches to approach all these issues from the perspective of faith and to pick people up in the here and now – and take them with them.
The 27-year-old singer is already looking forward to performing live with his new song
Apart from various bad scandals, the Catholic Church largely has the problem of being a universal Church that is controlled centrally from the Vatican. Unfortunately, the German Catholic Church does not have that much to say about moral-ethical decisions. Since this is not my church, I don’t dare to make a final judgement. What I do know is that a lot is happening at grassroots level, for example with the “#OutInChurch” initiative. And: The Christians themselves, for the most part, see it very differently from what the institution prescribes.”
How exactly does that look?
Johnny: “I firmly believe that the vast majority of Christians out there are actually very open and tolerant people who just haven’t dared to say anything about it for a long time. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to experience first-hand what happens to those who open their mouths… you get hit hard by the loud screamers. I think a lot of people are afraid of that, which I can understand.”
Are you looking forward to performing live with In Love with Him, maybe at Christian festivals? How do you think the audience will react?
Johnny: “I’m really looking forward to it, but pssst! I’ve even tried it and the reactions have been overwhelmingly good!”
Do you describe yourself as “the coolest pastor’s son in Germany”? Why?
Johnny: “Of course, that’s meant with a wink. I thought it was funny when I came up with it at some point and I stuck with it because it describes my nature and my origins in detail. Even as a pastor’s son, I was always a very open-hearted and fun-loving person who wears his heart on his sleeve and approaches life relatively casually, hence the saying.”
“In Love With Him” was released this week. More information about the singer can be found on his site.
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