Home > Rayne > So here’s my thing re: Christianity and homosexuality.

So here’s my thing re: Christianity and homosexuality.

June 7th, 2012

Surely, someone smarter and much better at appealing to the masses than I am has brought these points up before. I’m not presenting them as some grand epiphany that will fix the rift between the LGBT community and the part of the Christian community that stands so firmly against them.

I bring them up more because I’m marveling at the fact that I haven’t really thought about it this way before. I mean, I spent a good portion of my life making an attempt to be the best Christian I could be, refraining from swearing or “taking the lord’s name in vain” at all times, and loving even the assholes I knew. You’d think this would have been the very first argument someone like me would make against the reasons Christians give for being against same-sex relationships.  

When it became clear to me that some Christians explain their opposition to same-sex relationships with their religious beliefs, I didn’t get it. The last time I made an attempt at reading the Bible, I was 23. The last time I got as far as Sodom and Gomorrah, I was probably ten, and I had no idea what sodomy was. Hell, my version of the Bible said nothing about sex at all. It was all about this man laying with that woman, and that woman laying with that man, and until I was old enough to understand they weren’t just laying there, it made no sense to me that God thought that was bad. Surely, people were mistaken.

The other day, I was listening to the radio, and yet another evangelical pastor was being flamed for talking about how the Bible says people who have sex with people of the same gender should be put to death. And they will burn in the fires of hell for an eternity. Hallelujah. Amen.

Sunday school lectures about Sodom and Gomorrah came back in a rush, and I remembered some wide-eyed blond woman talking about how men (always the men) who lay with other men as they do their wives (which was confusing enough to my 6-year-old brain) were evil. From that memory, my mind flitted to another moment in my life when a Jewish friend explained that “mostly Jews just don’t believe in the New Testament” and Jesus, if he existed at all, was “no more than a B.C. David Blaine.” And then the wheels started turning, and I, once again, wondered if any of these people so dead set on cleansing the rest of us of our sins even know the first thing about the religion they use to damn us all to hell.

If they did, they’d know that even if God does hate gay people, he’s painted himself into a corner, and there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it short of hoping Lucifer wins and we all go to Hell. In fact, he told them to mind their own business and love everyone. So God and his followers are all fucked. How do you like them apples?

Wait. I can prove it.

May it please the court, I present exhibit A:

The Bible is the Word of God. The Word of God is law. You will have faith in and obey the Word of God, no matter what.

I’m paraphrasing here, but this is what the group I’m speaking about claims to believe. Against all evidence otherwise, they must trust in their god and the tools he has given them to understand how to worship him – churches, preachers, true prophets (not to be confused with false prophets) and the Bible.

It is not theirs to question. If they begin to question, they must pray for guidance and repent, and always understand our Heavenly Father knows the Devil made us do it.

Which brings me to exhibit B:

You can’t be Christian and not believe that Jesus was born, lived, died and rose from the dead. It says it right there in the book of John. “For God so loved the world, he gave his only son…”

But why? Why’d God give his son? What did giving his son achieve?

“…that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Well, that is pretty snazzy. Perishing doesn’t sound very fun. When perishables perish, they go all fuzzy and smell bad. Who wants to go fuzzy and smell bad? Not I, that’s for sure.

Obviously, we do die. God didn’t mean we’d live forever. He’d already taken that away from us when Adam and Eve decided knowledge was more important than God’s respect. He couldn’t very well give it back to us when he was already making one person who was (some believe) pristinely innocent withstand all of the punishment we were owed.

Some believe that what God meant there was that if we just believe in him – truly believe – we wouldn’t spend an eternity in Hell. Others believe it means you only have to believe in God to bi-pass Hell and Purgatory altogether and go straight to Heaven.

That Jesus. Hell of a guy. Feeds a village with one fish and one loaf of bread. Turns water into wine. Raises people from the dead. But this! This is going above and beyond, by God. (Sorry, Lord.) He’s going through torture and death so that God can forgive us all for our sins and we don’t have to sacrifice lambs anymore. (I don’t really get the logistics of that, but whatever makes God happy, I guess.)

Jesus is the rock and he rolls my sins away! Bop-shoo-bop shoo-bop wooo! So that means no more killing sinners and nonbelievers. Their souls are clean, all thanks to Jesus.

Thanks, Jesus!

Exhibit C:

“He who is without sin cast the first stone.”

“Pluck the rod from your own eye before the speck from your brother’s.”

If you’re perfect, then pass judgment. If you’re not, STFU and mind your own business.

Being heterosexual and Christian does not make you perfect. Even God tells us that in his Good Book when he reminds us to repent if we want to be forgiven. But if you follow his word to the letter, it doesn’t matter. You’re saved for believing in him and God loves all his children. He’ll just never look at you the same again.

Exhibit D:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God for God is love.”

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Some say since these are quotes from humans, and not God, and thus the men had free will (even Jesus – he, too, chose to follow God), they could have said/written whatever they wanted to, and no one – not even God – could have done anything about it. Others say they are God speaking to us through them.

Who knows, really? And who cares? It’s in the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God. You must have faith in the accuracy of the Word of God. So, love your neighbor.

I win.

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  1. dweaver999
    June 7th, 2012 at 04:02 | #1

    Rayne,

    While a bit over the top, sarcastically, I really can’t argue with your sentiments. Yes, we Christians are supposed to A) take the Bible seriously, B) believe in Jesus, including that his sacrifice is available to anyone, C) act as if we live in a glass house, and D) love everyone.

    What’s really curious to me is that I just put the finishing touches to a guest blog about the issue of the Bible and sex. I think you’ll like it; it’s certainly different take than you’re probably used to hearing.

    The reason the Conservative Christian community seems to be so anti-homosexual is the need for leaders more interested in their own success than the word of God to focus their followers on a fixed cause. Leaders have been doing this for centuries; Hitler and the Jews, McCarthy and communists, etc. The leader convinces his pack that some group poses a danger to society in some way and prods them to hate that group. That’s what these so called Christian leaders are doing. Honestly, the scariest ones are the leaders who believe their spiel themselves.

    Dave

  2. June 7th, 2012 at 04:57 | #2

    Rayne: So here’s my thing re: Christianity and homosexuality.: Surely, someone smarter and much better at… http://t.co/5j0DkNO7 #slave

  3. June 7th, 2012 at 06:32 | #3

    Since you brought up Sodom and Gomorrah and its relevance to the whole “gays are bad” thing, I thought you might be interested to know that many biblical scholars and historians don’t believe the story has anything to do with homosexuality. Basically, Sodom and Gomorrah was a rude city and two angels came to town, Lot let them in and was being hospitable when the people in the town beat on his door and demanded he send the visitors out. They intended to rape them, not in a gay way, but in a power hungry and humiliating way (like soldiers did in wars). God punished the cities for not being hospitable, not for having gay sex. (or at least that’s what I understand of the interpretation, you should look it up. =)

  4. June 8th, 2012 at 13:41 | #4

    I’m a Christian, but I agree with what you’ve said here. I think that Sarah is right about the interpretation and I believe that even if it were a sin, and that’s a big if, it wouldn’t matter because “no one is without sin.” God’s grace is extended to anyone who believes in him.

    You presented this very well 🙂 Thanks for the post!

  5. June 8th, 2012 at 14:04 | #5

    dweaver999 :

    Rayne,

    While a bit over the top, sarcastically,

    I’ll cop to that.

    What’s really curious to me is that I just put the finishing touches to a guest blog about the issue of the Bible and sex. I think you’ll like it; it’s certainly different take than you’re probably used to hearing.

    Excellent! I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for letting me know!

    The reason the Conservative Christian community seems to be so anti-homosexual is the need for leaders more interested in their own success than the word of God to focus their followers on a fixed cause. … Honestly, the scariest ones are the leaders who believe their spiel themselves.

    I couldn’t agree with you more. How’ve you been?

  6. June 8th, 2012 at 14:06 | #6

    @Sarah Ah ha! I only remember bits and pieces of that story, and the blond lady I mentioned told us men were laying with other men. I’ve been meaning to read the Bible again, I just can’t get into it. I’ll definitely check this out though. Thanks! 🙂

  7. June 8th, 2012 at 14:24 | #7

    @Danielle @Sarah dweaver999 And anyone else who reads this post and the subsequent comments…

    Something I feel the need to mention is I don’t have a problem with Christianity beyond not really believing in it, and I know that not all Christians just blindly follow the word without knowing what they’re following. But the ones I’m talking about? They’ve gotta. Or just conveniently ignore shit to suit their agenda. Whatever the case, it’s damn annoying.

  8. dweaver999
    June 8th, 2012 at 19:19 | #8

    @rayne

    I totally understand where you’re coming from. I was raised Catholic and had serious issues with the religion that had told my mom that being beaten by her husband was not grounds for leaving him. It took me quite a long time to accept Christianity as an adult.

    AS for those Christians, they push the bounds of my Christian charity. It does get tiring to repeatedly explain that they aren’t indicative of the rest of us. Oddly (or maybe not so oddly) I’ve had to do that a whole lot less with the kinky crowd. Makes you wonder just which group is showing more tolerance and Christian charity.

    Dave

  9. June 20th, 2012 at 12:51 | #9

    Late to the party, but had to comment on this.
    i *love* Christians like you. i am a happily former Christian, and Master could be described as a spiritual agnostic.
    Our theological discussions about the Bible and homosexuality have led Master and i to agree, essentially, that circumcision and sex with other men (and it seems to me that all the references to homosexuality in the Bible are directed solely at men) were cleanliness issues. It was a whole lot harder back then to keep sand out of places it shouldn’t be, and so to preserve the people and keep them healthy, men were told “Hey, don’t ruin your health out here in the desert. Trim your foreskin and don’t go sticking it in places you can pick up germs you can’t get rid of, okay? I’m serious – if you don’t listen you’ll die.”
    While the Bible is an excellent guide for morality, and way of living, we have to consider that some of it was written directly for the not-modern era of living.
    i really appreciate that you took time to share this on your blog!

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