homosexuality and christianity
The rampant prejudice in America today is disturbing. Hate and intolerance perpetuated by politicians and some Christian leaders is frightening. In an era so close to the civil rights movement in our own country and apartheid in South Africa it is shocking that groups of people can be so blatantly targeted and ridiculed without much opposition. It is distressing that more Christians have not resisted the temptation to join this prejudice and have instead decided to endorse it and claim that God would approve. God would surely not approve of diminishing the rights of individuals, for all people were created in His image. God would surely not approve of our religious leaders or politicians condemning people, for it was Jesus who said, “Let thee without sin cast the first stone.” God would surely not approve of Christians singling out individual sins as worse than their own for Jesus said, “Look first at the plank in your own eye.” God certainly would not approve of Christians claiming righteousness for them while attempting to pass laws to limit the rights of others, for this is the fault Jesus found with the Pharisees of his time.
The prejudice in America I am addressing is the prejudice against homosexuals. First, let me say that I am a heterosexual married woman with three children. For some reason I feel the need to clarify that, perhaps because anyone who defends homosexuals is written off as “probably gay.” I am a Christian woman, since birth, and am very active in my church. I read the Bible and know what it says. I know that it says that judging others is wrong and that we should love other people, not hate them. I also know what it does not say. Some Christian leaders would have you believe that Jesus Christ Himself said that all who follow Him should persecute homosexuals until they change their ways. Jesus, in fact, said absolutely nothing about homosexuality.
I am actually not going to spend time arguing about whether God approves or disapproves of homosexuality. Many churches and church leaders feel strongly that there is evidence that God disapproves of homosexuality. There are also many churches, church leaders, and whole denominations that feel strongly that there is no evidence in the Bible that God disapproves of committed homosexual relationships. Luckily, as a heterosexual woman I have no need to discover the so-called “truth.” You see, if I were thinking of being in a sexual relationship with another woman, I would have to think about whether it would be a sin and I would have to make my decision accordingly. Just as I do with all actions in my life, I would have to consider whether it would displease God. As a heterosexual woman, however, I feel confident that God will judge these people according to His laws. He truly is the only one who knows how He feels about the subject (although everyone claims to know). Jesus warned us that God alone would judge the prostitute, and people should, in essence, stay out of it. God alone will judge whether homosexuals are sinning or not. I do know that there are many homosexuals who have committed their lives to Christ and have given this topic a lot of thought. Their decision is between themselves and God and I have faith and trust in God to lead them in their path to Him.
Anyone who is familiar with the story of Jonah should understand the concept of trusting God. Jonah was sent to a city of sinners to tell them to repent. He did not want to go and was swallowed by a whale in order to convince him to do what God asked. God gave him a second chance. Jonah was to go to the city and tell the people to repent. Finally, he did what God asked. The people of the city listened to Jonah and did what God commanded. God spared them. Rather than being happy about this Jonah lamented that God should destroy the city. God should not give them a second chance because they were sinners. Although Jonah got his second chance, he felt more righteous than the others and did not trust that God could make a good decision regarding the lives of the people. Jonah did not understand grace and forgiveness as it applied to other people. He did not understand that God loves everyone, not just him. This is the same problem we have today. One must have faith that God will judge people according to his will and will provide grace to those who sin according to His plan. It is not our job to do that here on earth.
Today we not only have a problem with trusting God but also with the spreading of hate and intolerance using God and Jesus as justification. Jesus was very clear that using God to perpetuate hate and prejudice is not acceptable. Jesus actually spent most of his time talking about what people should do to help and accept other people. He spoke about loving everyone and accepting others. He summed up the 10 commandments with that now famous quote, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He never encouraged his disciples to go lobby for more laws to keep people from sinning. He actually spoke frequently about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who tried to force people into following laws created to honor God but who never understood the true meaning of God’s love for others. These Pharisees felt as if they were more righteous than others were and could therefore condemn everyone for their sins. Jesus spoke harshly against this practice calling them hypocrites and stating that their lack of humility and their superiority was in fact a greater sin.
I propose that judging homosexuals is a greater sin than being homosexual (if it is even a sin). Jesus said, “Judge not lest ye be judged by the same measure.” I also believe that if we truly trust in God and have faith in Him as our almighty Creator then we should stop trying to do His job for him. I feel no great desire to legislate God’s judgment here on earth. Commandments that interfere with the lives of others are legislated for the public good, not to uphold God’s word. Thou shalt not murder and steal are legislated to keep order in our society. Thou shalt not commit adultery is not part of our law as a society because it does not affect our society as a whole. It is a law from God for private use. Those countries that have made it part of their law we condemn as theocracies. We say that they do not provide human rights because they kill women who have sex outside of marriage. We are right to condemn this use of scripture for legal purposes. Why then are so many people eager to follow this practice of legislating sin in America?
Homosexual people live and work among us virtually undetected. They are our doctors, our lawyers and our teachers. They cut our hair and mow our grass. Their children sit next to ours in homeroom and they sit next to us in the pew on Sunday or in the next cubicle at work. They are our aunts and uncles, our brother or second cousin. Homosexual people contribute as much to our society as heterosexual people. I believe the vast majority of murderers, rapists, child abusers, child molesters/pornographers, and other violent criminals are heterosexual. Why do we fear gay people and spend more time campaigning against them than we do criminals? Why do Christians burn rainbow flags and support amendments limiting rights to homosexuals? First, people oppose homosexuality because some “conservatives” spread false information about them in order to perpetuate the prejudice and fear. Mrs. LeHay said, on Larry King Live, that she opposes gay marriage because homosexuals spread AIDS. No one pointed out that married homosexuals would not spread AIDS and that the largest population of people getting AIDS right now is heterosexual women (from their heterosexual partners). Misinformation and outright lies such as these allow a climate for hate and intolerance to grow.
The attack against homosexual people was most evident during the last election because so many states had “gay marriage amendments” on the ballot. The scope of the amendment in Ohio also changed the rights of heterosexual couples who live together as well. I was astonished that Christians were the ones with signs in their yards supporting this amendment. The most shocking part was that they saw this amendment as supporting family. Allowing a child’s parents to get married would support family values. Giving incentive for people to stay in monogamous committed relationship promotes family values. Giving benefits such as health care and next of kin rights to the parents of all children is promoting families. Allowing two committed adults to raise and love a child who would otherwise be lost in the foster care system promotes family. Making it illegal for daddy to hit mommy, even if they are not married, promotes family values.
Really, the opposition has absolutely nothing to do with family values or with the Bible. The Christian Right and those who follow it oppose homosexuals so vehemently because it makes them feel better about themselves. I finally realized this when I stumbled across Mathew 19 verse 3-9. Christians use this verse all the time to try to oppose homosexuality. When you read the text, however, the passage has nothing to do with homosexuality. Jesus is actually answering a question about divorce posed by the Pharisees. Jesus states that divorce is wrong and that anyone who divorces his wife and remarries is committing adultery. If these people are really interested in spreading Jesus’ word, they should be going after divorced people. If their primary concern is saving souls and forcing people to follow Jesus then why not propose an amendment to ban divorce or re-marriage? How absurd. No one would ever do that. Not only are a large percentage of parishioners divorced, many ministers are as well. It is not acceptable to attack divorced people nor is it politically helpful. People ignore the very clear message of this passage in favor of making it about homosexuality.
Attacking homosexuals, however, is very productive. Heterosexual people can feel righteous by making homosexuality the “big sin.” I see it all the time. “Yes, I value material wealth and sleep with my secretary and gossip about he neighbors but at least I’m not gay.” This unfortunately, has become common thought among Christians, which I find alarming and hypocritical. Even scarier, however, is the fact that some churches have perpetuated this thought by placing homosexuality in this scapegoat role. Christians can feel secure that this is a sin they will not commit so they are comfortable naming it the “big one.” Divorce, adultery, coveting, gossip, etc. are all possibilities in our future. The Bible clearly states that all of these are sins. We pray that we will not sin but we are human, we fail. By the time we are adults we can be certain, however, that we will not be gay. So we feel better. Maybe we are not such wicked sinners. At least we are not sleeping with someone of the same sex.
Both divorce and adultery threaten family values more than homosexuality. Letting Alice and Janet get married so they can support their two kids does not affect my family at all. It does not make me consider becoming a lesbian and running off with my friend Lucy and our five kids. It actually strengthens Alice and Janet’s family. They would be in a committed relationship, have health care for their family and have rights that we take for granted such as hospital visitation and next of kin. Without the right to marry, they are still going to be gay and live together to raise their children. If they cannot marry each other, they are not going to decide suddenly to get husbands. What difference does it make to heterosexual people if they are married? It only makes a difference to their lives and the wellbeing and the lives of their children.
Now, divorce and adultery could both affect my family or any heterosexual Christian family. It disrupts the lives of the children and is expressly forbidden by Jesus himself and later by Peter and Paul. If this is a greater threat to family values then why isn’t the Christian Coalition writing amendments and printing signs? It is much more common than homosexuality. You are likely to know dozens of divorced people at this moment and maybe only one gay married couple. Why aren’t these churches legislating God’s law in this case?
Everyone knows the answer if they are truly honest with themselves. This attack on homosexuality has absolutely nothing to do with God or the Bible. For politicians it is simply a political tool to get elected. It is an easy way to get votes based on fear and bigotry. It could be any group of people at any time. As long as it is a minority group that people are afraid of or do not understand. Any group of which the majority of people know they will not ever be a part. In the past, it was women and blacks (in America). That minority became too large to be oppressed any longer. It has also been Irish people, Chinese and Japanese. In some parts of the country plagued by illegal immigrants from Mexico, it is very vogue to pick on Hispanics. Muslims and Arabs in America have serious possibilities for the future and many already target them. In a country with pesky civil rights laws, however, it is hard to legally pick on any of these groups. Plus most Christian groups have a hard time Biblically supporting outright bigotry based on just skin color or country of origin (although the KKK found ways around it). Christians instead feel more comfortable picking a sin and focusing on that. Of course, they must ignore much of the rest of the Bible but they can at least find some verses to back up their argument when they pick on certain sins or other religions.
The Christian right also likes to pick on other denominations of their religion. It is a way for some Christians to feel better about themselves. To feel superior to others as if they have knowledge that will keep them out of hell. The bad news is that Jesus had a lot to say about self-righteous people and none of it was good. The very thing that helps them feel secure in their salvation may really be their elevator to the basement. The point is that our culture has picked homosexuality because it is an easy target. Politicians can be elected by smearing a group of people and can look like they are achieving something by adding amendments to constitutions banning gay marriage. In the end, it does not make anyone’s lives better and it does not improve our country. It does not help us live a better life and it limits the freedoms and liberty on which our country was founded. This type of bigotry does not hurt only gay people and their children. It hurts any person who wants to share living expenses for any reason (think TV show Kate and Ally or the Golden Girls). It hurts foster kids and orphans who could have permanent loving parents. It hurts our society by causing hatred and bigotry. It hurts children who may be struggling with their sexuality. It hurts all families. Most of all, however, it hurts the Christian religion.
Christianity’s core belief is salvation and grace for everyone through Jesus Christ. When some churches turn from that core belief they cause millions of people to turn away from Christ (homo and heterosexual). They limit access to the Father, which is exactly what Jesus told us not to do. People who recognize this hypocrisy will only fill their lives with something else. We cannot legislate everything that everyone does in a country built on democracy and freedom. We cannot force people to follow Christ or God’s commandments. All we can do as Christians is spread the message of Christ and be open to people when they come to us. They will not bother to come to church if church attacks them politically. True salvation comes by grace and Jesus expects us to extend that grace to all we encounter. Carrying signs, name calling and lobbying for the limitation of civil rights is not the way to love others and accept them as Christ commanded. Regardless of whether you think homosexuality is a sin or not a sin you should be called to love each person for who they are and you should trust that God knows what he is doing.
posted by progressive christian @ 8:33 PM
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