Wedge Issues 4: Homosexuality
Honestly I don't want to get into a theological discussion on whether being gay is right or wrong, to be honest I don't want to get into the rightness or wrongness of any of my issues .. I just want to change a few Christian's perceptions. Complaining about the wrongness doesn't make it right and is counter-productive.
I'm believe I said that when I introduced my wedge issues but I'm re-iterating because this topic stands out above the others as being, somehow, more inflammatory. Frankly, people on both sides of this issue are filled with a lot of hatred and intolerance and I don't really want to be in the middle of that. To that end, the previous statement is the only direct opinion on the subject I'll give in this segment. The rest my dear reader, is for you to decide between yourself and God.
So lets discuss the Bible. Most Christians believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God (if you don't that's another discussion). The unfortunate problem with humans however is we see everything though our own cultural lens. Compounding that is the Bible itself was written from stories and books over a period as long as 1500 years, so we have a lot of different cultural lenses within the book itself. Biblical authors were usually writing to a limited audience and probably never imagined that we'd still be reading their work for a few millennia into the future. So you've got all the differences within the Bible itself and add a few thousand years worth of tradition and the knowledge gained collectively by humans in the last 2000 years (or the last 100 for that matter!) and one can easily see that there's a lot of room for interpretation as to what the original authors meant, and then what God means by those words. (note: I do personally believe that Bible is still authoritative).
So how about an example: I don't believe that drinking alcohol in moderation is a sin, however I have a good friend who believes drinking any alcohol is a sin. For us, this is not a problem, we respect each other's beliefs. We can go to the same church, we can hang out together. My occasional drink does not cause him to become alcoholic! But say there's another person who has decided like my friend has, that drinking is a sin, but this person takes it a step further: if you drink you're no longer welcome by God. That God will cast me out because I have at one time taken a drink of alcohol, and that further more I was in more trouble because I don't believe that my action is sinful. I think most people would agree that the person is crazy.
And yet when it comes to homosexuality ... suddenly its different. Everyone is saying their interpretation is the correct one and large groups of people have decided that believing another interpretation is wrong as well. I've met people that truly believe that one cannot be both gay and Christian. I find that sad ... that people would believe that Christ's love somehow ends at a particular type of person.
God will judge each one of us according to our actions. Until then I think we should learn to get along. Tonight, reader, I'm not going to do my "points" and continue my rant. Instead I'm going to encourage all of you to do two things: First read Romans 14 ... think about what Paul says about judging our brothers and what it says about the size of our faith. Secondly become friends with a gay person. Seriously ... whether you believe its right or wrong, find something out about a group of people that you fear. I think you'll find that most people gay or not are exceedingly normal. I don't suggest this as a way to "save" gay people from their gayness ... hopefully as Christians you are doing all you can to save anyone from separation from God.
I'm believe I said that when I introduced my wedge issues but I'm re-iterating because this topic stands out above the others as being, somehow, more inflammatory. Frankly, people on both sides of this issue are filled with a lot of hatred and intolerance and I don't really want to be in the middle of that. To that end, the previous statement is the only direct opinion on the subject I'll give in this segment. The rest my dear reader, is for you to decide between yourself and God.
So lets discuss the Bible. Most Christians believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God (if you don't that's another discussion). The unfortunate problem with humans however is we see everything though our own cultural lens. Compounding that is the Bible itself was written from stories and books over a period as long as 1500 years, so we have a lot of different cultural lenses within the book itself. Biblical authors were usually writing to a limited audience and probably never imagined that we'd still be reading their work for a few millennia into the future. So you've got all the differences within the Bible itself and add a few thousand years worth of tradition and the knowledge gained collectively by humans in the last 2000 years (or the last 100 for that matter!) and one can easily see that there's a lot of room for interpretation as to what the original authors meant, and then what God means by those words. (note: I do personally believe that Bible is still authoritative).
So how about an example: I don't believe that drinking alcohol in moderation is a sin, however I have a good friend who believes drinking any alcohol is a sin. For us, this is not a problem, we respect each other's beliefs. We can go to the same church, we can hang out together. My occasional drink does not cause him to become alcoholic! But say there's another person who has decided like my friend has, that drinking is a sin, but this person takes it a step further: if you drink you're no longer welcome by God. That God will cast me out because I have at one time taken a drink of alcohol, and that further more I was in more trouble because I don't believe that my action is sinful. I think most people would agree that the person is crazy.
And yet when it comes to homosexuality ... suddenly its different. Everyone is saying their interpretation is the correct one and large groups of people have decided that believing another interpretation is wrong as well. I've met people that truly believe that one cannot be both gay and Christian. I find that sad ... that people would believe that Christ's love somehow ends at a particular type of person.
God will judge each one of us according to our actions. Until then I think we should learn to get along. Tonight, reader, I'm not going to do my "points" and continue my rant. Instead I'm going to encourage all of you to do two things: First read Romans 14 ... think about what Paul says about judging our brothers and what it says about the size of our faith. Secondly become friends with a gay person. Seriously ... whether you believe its right or wrong, find something out about a group of people that you fear. I think you'll find that most people gay or not are exceedingly normal. I don't suggest this as a way to "save" gay people from their gayness ... hopefully as Christians you are doing all you can to save anyone from separation from God.
Comments
Consider, on the other hand, the gay person, who is *fundamentally* gay. This person cannot shut off their gayness. Thus, to criticize their gayness is to make an unassailable assault on their very value as a human being.
Imagine if someone told you that all white people are sinners and they're all going to hell, because being white is a sin. You wouldn't like that very much, would you? Now imagine that there's thousands of people who will harrass you, try to eliminate your freedoms, or threaten your very life on the basis of that opinion. It would probably be enough to get you really, really angry, wouldn't it?
Thanks for your comment. You're right its very hard to make a good comparison and your comparison to racism is probably much closer to the truth. However, I that the people against you, do believe you can change and don't see it as assaulting your value as human. That's one of the reasons I chose drinking as my example because I'm trying to speak to those very people with this blog.
What people need to realize is that whether you can change or not makes no difference. I'm not going to stop drinking alcohol because a crazy person tells me not to. That's between me and God. Just like you being gay is between you and God ... there are bigger spiritual issues for believers to focus on.
If you are not a believer, I hope that you can see past the garbage that some people say and know that God is loving and accepting. I believe he weeps when other people (believers or not) harm his children.
Thanks again for your comment
-cfreak