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March 5, 2004
Homosexuality
Filed under: Hot Topic
The dictionary defines homosexuality as:
1. Sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.
2. Sexual activity with another of the same sex.
"When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one." - Epitaph of Leonard P. Matlovich, 1988
"War. Rape. Murder. Poverty. Equal rights for gays. Guess which one the Southern Baptist Convention is protesting?" - The Value of Families
Distinctions
I see two major distinctions in this topic of being "homosexual." I see the issue of being a Christian and being gay/lesbian and being a human and being gay/lesbian. Both have very real implications yet very different worldviews.
Can Christians Be Gay?
In a July 2001 Charisma magazine cover story by Bill Shepson, he refers to Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando, Florida. The church would be viewed as normal by all accounts with the exception that the congregation of 200 is nearly all openly gay. According to the article they have "reconciled their faith with there homosexuality." They believe the Scriptures regarding homosexual behavior are out of context or not what God meant. They tell gay and lesbians who visit the church that God does not have a problem with their sexual behavior. Joy Metropolitan Community Church is a part of a denomination (UFMCC) that is 300 churches strong in over 18 countries representing 32,000 people.
Mel White, a dean of UFMCC's Cathedral of Hope in Dallas - the largest gay church in the world - says, "Homosexuals, like heterosexuals, shouldn't repent of their orientation, but of their sinful responses to their orientation."
Although I don't agree with UFMCC and their position, I do think White has a point. What would we think of homosexuality in terms of being something like ADD, or a compulsive gambler, or a drug attic, or a person who has a "porn" problem? It certainly isn't the issue in my opinion as much as the response to it. I wanted to have sex before I was married - was that thought wrong? Had I acted on it, it would have been. If the argument is "we're born that way" then fine, argue that. But that logic breaks down very quickly because can you be born to want to kill, or rape, or lust, or be jealous, or greedy? Absolutely! But that doesn't make it right. The real question of being a homosexual comes down to a moral issue of whether it is right or wrong - just as you have to ask the same question of everything in life. Is ignoring the poor wrong? Is getting drunk wrong? Is cheating on your taxes wrong? Is infidelity wrong?
What happened to our moral compass? Our conscience? Our quest for truth and not just tolerance? I think the reason this "gay" issue is such a hot topic now - and will continue to be - is because as a culture/society, we've been on the downhill dive losing our morality with every sloping inch. This isn't the first time we've had issues with sin and its implications. And it definitely won't be the last.
Can Humans Be Gay?
Exodus International is the largest Christian referral and information ministry dealing with homosexuals. They estimate that 1% to 2% of the population is gay (not the 10% as widely spread). Their response to the question "Is homosexuality genetic?" is educated:
"Relatively recent brain studies done by Dr. Simon LeVay examined a portion of the hypothalamus believed to control sexuality. He used cadavers from a very small sample of homosexual and heterosexual men (their orientation was, in some cases, presumed but not confirmed), and heterosexual women. Some of the men had died of AIDS. He measured this portion of the brain and found it significantly smaller in homosexual men. Although LeVay did not say this proved inborn homosexuality, some among the media and activists eagerly reported the tentative findings as being conclusive.
However, the results are highly speculative. This particular area of the brain is not much bigger than a pinhead anyway. And in fact, researchers debate whether weight or volume is a more accurate measurement method. The results do not shed light on causation: did genetic homosexuality cause a smaller portion of the hypothalamus that governs sexual behavior, or did chosen sexual behaviors cause a change in the hypothalamus? Or neither? Studies of twins aren't any better. If homosexuality were truly genetic, you would expect to find an absolute, one-to-one correlation of sexual orientation for identical twins. In other words, any time one twin was homosexual, the other sibling would be, too.
Yet, that is definitely not the case - findings of 40% to 50% correlation don't match up to the 100% standard needed to "prove" genetic causation. Seeing that research findings do not prove their case, some gay-affirmative researchers and others attempt to bypass this barrier by saying that even a 40% to 50% correlation shows that genes are "at least one component" in a homosexual orientation.
If homosexuality is genetic, then that doesn't explain why we see such a similarity in personal backgrounds among the men and women who seek our help. There is a pretty uniform picture of poor family dynamics in general, a rift in the father-son or mother-daughter relationship growing up, feelings of being an outsider among one's peers during childhood and adolescence, and instances of sexual abuse/incest. These are root issues that men and women can address.
And even if homosexuality were partially or completely genetic in origin, that does not change the moral question involved."
Conclusions
1 Corinthians 6:8-10 says, "Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
Leviticus 18:22 says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." A couple chapters later in Leviticus 20:13 says, "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
Romans 1:26-27 talks about humans not being born gay. "Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either--women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men--all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it--emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches."
In terms of being homosexual - it is wrong. In terms of accepting homosexuals into society, regardless of their sin - we must. Do we condone it? No. (Do we condone adulterers by making the divorce process easy?) If the homosexuals want a civil union, I say give it to them. A civil union (partnership) is no more than two people starting a business together. Let them see each other in a hospital, let them save on taxes. If they want to be seen as married, than they have an absolute contradiction in their hands! Marriage is a spiritual (Christian) concept, not a civil concept. The more they beg to be married, the more they need to realize that marriage is a God thing, and if you want a God thing, you do it God's way.
Martin Luther may have had good intentions by separating marriage from the church and giving it to the "State," but man did he make things a challenge for us today!
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