Christian Gays Articles & Resources
Articles, Information & Resources – All Things GAY!
Most of you will know that many people use the Old Testament laws to discriminate against gays, specifically Leviticus 18:22.
"It is disgusting for a man to have sex with another man." Lev 18:22
That seems pretty straight forward doesn't it. But let's put it into context here. What are some of the verses surrounding this verse?
All ancient religions and cultures developed creation stories including the Amorites, Canannites and Babylonians, all which predate the creation story found in Genesis 1-2. These ancient stories tell of how the world came into being, who their deities were and how their deities played a part in the forming of the world and in relating to humanity. The Israelites needed their own story to answer the basic questions of how did we get here and why are we here. Even more they needed to not only explain how the world came into being and their God's relationship with humanity but to explain God's unique and exclusive covenant with them, the people of Israel.
The creation story is used in opposition to gays and lesbians in several ways. According to the creation story (and we would be more accurate to say stories since there are two separate accounts given in these chapters) God created them Eve from Adam's side to be his helpmate, the woman being a complimentary to the man. Thus the argument goes that God made woman for man and man for woman and therefore same-sex relationships are in violation of this divine order.
The second argument is that God gave Adam and Eve clear direction that they were to "go forth and multiply" and because same-sex couples aren't able to procreate they are again unable to fulfill this divine directive.
Many of us are painfully aware that two of the most-used Bible verses against gays are Romans 1:26,27.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
It's important to know the truth of these verses, first for self-acceptance, and then to educate those who would use them against us.
Thank you for coming to this page. I commend you for investigating further, and I believe that you have come here with an open mind. I pray that these articles may inspire in you, a deeper desire to inquire into the truth of God's Holy Word.
Struggle against homosexual desire may have inspired Paul the Apostle to write sublime Biblical teachings on unconditional love and inclusivity — and also a few "clobber passages" used by anti-LGBTQ bigots.
Both Paul's sense of unworthiness and his appreciation for God's grace may have the same unexpected cause: Some scholars believe that Paul was a celibate homosexual man trying to reconcile faith and same-sex attraction. This may have been the "thorn in the flesh" that God refused to remove despite his prayers.
Such Pauline paradoxes have long fascinated people of faith while alienating progressives. He wrote magnificent meditations on inclusivity and petty rules that have divided people by fueling sexism, racism and antisemitism.
"I'm glad you did as Jesus instructed us to do and came to me directly. I think that you and I simply disagree on one doctrine. I don't mind sharing my understanding of that with you, but I don't think it's likely that you and I are going to agree on this one issue. That's too bad, because I'll bet that there is a whole lot we DO agree on.
Try reading Acts 10. When God came to Peter on the rooftop with a vision to eat unclean food, Peter had Scripture to stand on when he said No. (Actually he said, "No, Lord." Now there's an oxymoron for you!) He also had Scripture to stand on to decline the Holy Spirit's vision for him, which was to preach to the Gentiles.
If the word homosexual appears in your Bible in either passage then you have a version that was written after 1946. Prior to the 1946 Edition of the Revised Standard Version, the words that homosexual had begun to replace in many modern versions included boy prostitutes, effeminate, those who make women of themselves, sissies, the self-indulgent, sodomites, lewd persons, male prostitutes, and the unchaste. Daniel Helminiak writes that "until the Reformation in the 16th Century and in Roman Catholicism until the 20th Century, the word malakoi was thought to mean masturbators" (What the Bible Really Says About homosexuality). Among the early Greek-speaking Christian theologians who condemned homosexuality the words malakoi and arsenokoitai were never used. When John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.) and other contemporaries preached against homosexuality, they're not recorded as referring to these two passages, and likewise, when Clement of Alexandra preached on these passages, homosexuality was never mentioned (Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, pages 335-353.)
"I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.' The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
"I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.' The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
We all know about Sodom. People who've never picked up a Bible have used the story of Sodom and its fiery demise as condemnation against homosexuality and here's just one example from an email I received from someone who had a less than favorable view of homosexuality:
"There is a story in the bible, i would find it if i had the time, but it talks about this really sinful city. I believe it was around Abraham's time. God talks about how he turned his back on these people because of their wicked sins. One of the sins He talks about is homosexuality."
"One of the sins He (God) talks about is homosexuality."
"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." ~ Leviticus 18:22
"If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them." ~ Leviticus 20:13
Within the very nature of any group of individuals is the necessity to define itself in a way that describes those who belong while separating itself from those who don't belong. Boundaries of distinction are used to separate the "us" from "them" and more often than not this boundary language describes the other in negative terms, negative terms that are most often exaggerated or completely false to the actual reality of the other. In ancient Israel, to be a Jew meant to belong to a particular people and while the same could be said of other nations at the time Israel stood out among them in the degree to which it separated itself from other nations through it's distinctive traditions and avoidance of the traditions and behaviors of foreign nations.
Gay And Chosen
by Rev. J. Terrero Rivera
This is a 39 page downloadable book by a Pentecostal Minister and mother of a born again lesbian daughter who came out when she was 18, and is now 35.
Her daughter inspired her through her testimony and walk with God that anyone can be GLBTIQ and also a chosen child of God.
Please download the ebook here.
by Rev. Kellie Rupard-Shorr (used with permission and much gratitude!)
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~ John 16:33
"But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." ~ Genesis 2:8-10
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
~ Genesis 1:27
The Story of Adam and Eve is an explanation, not a prescription. Leading Jewish Scholar Rabbi Joseph Telushkin maintains:
"Genesis central assertion is that all humankind descended from one couple to simply show the basis of the biblical view that all people of all races and religions are brothers and sisters."
Notice that nowhere does Jewish understanding make Genesis a reference to being a heterosexual mandate.
by Rick Brentlinger
The sin that Jude condemns is humans having sex with angels. He does not mention or condemn homosexuals and lesbians, yet many anti-gay Christians take the following verses out of context to condemn gays and lesbians. They assert (falsely) that verse 7 is a negative attack on gay men and lesbian women.
The fact that scripture uses the Greek word, heteros, from which we get our English word, heterosexual, and does not use the Greek word, homoios, from which we get our English word, homosexual, indicates that the point at issue with God is not homosexuality. The sin that Jude condemns is humans having sex with angels.
In August of 1984, my youngest brother, who had been my childhood playmate, died with AIDS. Just two weeks earlier, while visiting him in the hospital, he told my husband and I his lifelong secret. He was gay and had always been gay.
I have wished many times since that brief encounter with the person he really was that we could have been granted more time so that he could help me understand this complex reality. But for some reason (possibly my own pious and judgmental attitude that kept him from sharing this secret with me), our time of unmasked openness with each other was limited to a few short hours. Yet it was freeing for both of us to realize that when the secret was out in the open, we loved each other more deeply than ever before.
If I had a dollar for every time I've heard the line "love the sinner, hate the sin" when the topic of homosexuality comes up I'd be a rich man (or at least have enough to pay my bills). It seems to be an 'easy' response to the situation but one that irks me considerably. I recently came upon this quote from another blog that I found hits the target:
'I don't think they could begin to understand how "love the sinner, hate the sin" doesn't cut it with this community. It's like saying, sure, we don't mind dogs, we love dogs - but leave that mongrel outside. All anyone hears is "hate the sinner with this sin." It's getting pretty old. I'm not saying that they have to change their theological stance, but... don't they have to at least be gracious?'
This statement is so intrinsically flawed, particularly in its application to homosexuality that it deserves some treatment. So in good 'sermon' mode here are three simple points to get us thinking.
1. Even though current research indicates that sexual orientation is fixed and unchangeable, some still insist that homosexuals could change if they wanted to. - Could you change your sexual orientation on demand? - Would you want to? - Why or why not? 2. Many people assume that homosexuality is a choice, and that gay people have made the decision to be gay. - If you assume that homosexuality is a matter of choice, do you assume that heterosexuality is a matter
of choice also? - When did you choose your sexual orientation?
There are selected passages in the Bible that lean toward a negative and prohibitive stance on homo-erotic behavior as it was understood within the social context of antiquity, but these passages reflect nothing on the lives of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people today. The word homosexual doesn't appear anywhere in ancient Greek or Hebrew biblical manuscripts as the word and concept were non-existent in antiquity. The same is true for the words sodomy and Sodomite (unless in direct reference to a resident of the city). There is no passage that condemns gays and lesbians, none that argue for the prohibition of GLBTQ from membership in the body of Christ, none that prevents GLBTQ people from being ordained into Christian ministry and none that negates the validity, worth and right of GLBTQ relationships.
misunderstood and alienated people
~ Rembert Truluck
The Bible has long been used by society to discriminate against, and persecute gays and lesbians. Careful study, however, reveals that while the Bible does condemn homosexual and heterosexual cult prostitution, it says nothing about loving committed homosexual relationships.
Jesus himself said nothing about homosexuality, which leads many to believe it was not one of his main concerns.
Unfortunately, many passages from the Bible are often taken out of context, or interpreted without consideration for the cultural aspects associated with the time period in which they were written. To emphasize this point, consider the following sentence: "He was such a neat man." In order to understand the writers meaning, you must consider the time period in which it was written. If this sentence were written in the 1900's it would be assumed that the word "neat", was a reference to the man's tidiness. If it were written in 1996, however, the word "neat" could be interpreted to mean both tidy, or the presence of admirable qualities.
Last August, we had a special Sunday in church called "Burning Questions," in which I responded, on an impromptu basis, to written questions from the congregation. At that time, I also promised to preach a series of sermons later in the year that would specifically address the top three, or most-asked questions submitted on that day. I have to admit, I could not have predicted the 'top three' questions that would come my way! They were: (1) Is homosexuality a sin? (2) Is there a hell? And (3) How can we forgive? This morning we begin by looking at the first of these: Is homosexuality a sin?
The condemnation of gay men and lesbian women by the church, is destroying - literally - the worth of millions - again literally - of homosexuals by robbing them of all self-esteem, forcing them to live in closets in constant fear that will be found out, driving them out of churches they have grown up loving, keeping them out of our churches where they might hear the gospel, and driving them to suicide.
I don't believe the church wants to do these things. The church condemns homosexuals because a common interpretation of the Bible is that the Bible condemns them.
The truth that this is not so can be found, I believe, in laying all interpretation aside and examining facts that can be accepted by anyone as truth.
Note from Mary: Rev Bruce Lowe was the first person to "believe" in ChristianGays.com. In 2000, he sent me a cheque for $300, and encouraged me to put a Donations page on the website. I was reluctant, but he convinced me that others would want to help support a ministry such as this. He continued to support us spiritually and financially until his passing at the age of 99 in 2014, shortly after the death of his dear wife Anna. I miss him very much!
This article is reprinted with Bruce's permission.
Louise has been a dear friend for fifty years. The last time my wife, Anna Marie, and I visited her she shocked us with a statement, repeated in the first sentence of this Letter, about her brother's being gay. At that time I knew almost nothing about gay people or homosexuality. I did have some suppositions - quite negative - and had never thought I needed to study the subject. But her words made me want to know as much as I could learn about it.
When I began reading I soon realized things about myself I now deplore: I was ignorant of the many facts about homosexuality (and harbored some myths about it) although the matter had been very important to mainline denominations for several decades. Without facts I had pre-judged it; I was prejudiced. Carelessly, I had read into the Bible what I presumed it ought to say instead of reading out of it what it does say. My idea of not needing to study the subject was pure anti-intellectualism. I am now most grateful that God led me to study.
As the debate rages over the legality and morality of same sex marriages, many Christians rely on the Bible as their guide. Many believe that the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, and they provide specific passages to back up their claim. We decided to give the other side of the debate a chance to answer. So, we interviewed Dr Reverend Cheri DiNovo, a United Church Minister who has performed a dozen same-sex marriages in Canada. She has also written a Ph.D. thesis on the subject of how Christianity deals with the outcasts of society.
In this interview, we asked Dr Reverend DiNovo to explain her perspective on three often-quoted biblical passages that seem to condemn homosexuality.
"Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so . . . " unless you are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Intersex or Queer, in which case you are told that Jesus loves everyone EXCEPT me. Well it's time to set the record straight - if you'll pardon the expression. Jesus loves ESPECIALLY His GLBTIQ children - for the Bible tells me so!
The Protestant Bible is like a library consisting of 66 books, written by about 40 authors over a period from about 2000 BC to about 70 AD. It is divided into the Old Testament (before Christ) and the New Testament (after Christ). In these 66 books, there are 1,189 chapters containing about 31,273 verses. The final divisions into chapters and verses occurred only about 500 years ago for ease of referencing. They are not part of the original texts.
As cities and communities around the United States celebrate Pride Month this June, LGBTQ and straight Christians alike look to their faith for answers about how to engage in our increasingly pro-LGBTQ culture.
The long history between the church and LGBTQ people is one fraught with tension, pain, and, sometimes, violence. Those who believe that homosexuality is a sin often point to several well-known Scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments. Most of the Christian debate about human sexuality has centered on interpretation and emphasis of these passages.
Why Churches Should Welcome and Fully Affirm Christian GLBTs
"It terrified me to think that God made me just to hate me and send me to hell." This was the response of a teenager to hearing his pastor tell the congregation that the Bible says God hates homosexuals and will send them to hell. He knew he was gay; he didn't want to be, but that was the way God had made him. But God hates me? God will send me to hell for something I have no control over? Is this the kind of God we worship? Or was the pastor exhibiting very faulty Bible interpretation? The Bible says or implies so many times that "whosoever" believes will have eternal life that we cannot discard that assurance. So whatever the Bible says or doesn't say about homosexuals, they may not necessarily be going to hell. But sadly isn't this pastor's belief accepted by many without any thought toward responsible interpretation?
If you wish to read the longer, original version, please Click Here.
Note from Mary: There are now over 400 English Versions of the Bible!
"Proud as a peacock" - The phrase comes from the glorious fan-shaped, multi-coloured (not quite rainbow-coloured) plumage of the male peafowl when he is courting his mate.
Thus, just as the peacock, someone who is "proud as a peacock" is similarly "strutting his or her stuff".
As gays and lesbians, for years we have hidden our "tail feathers" in closets, hidden the beauty of God's creation in us, afraid to "strut our stuff" because "the church" said that we were an abomination to God. That mindset infiltrated society in general, and many of us adopted that belief for ourselves.
This is the original longer version.
If you wish to read the shorter version, which is suitable for publication, and is actually quite different than this version, please Click Here.
On May 5, 2001, when Pope John Paul II begged God's forgiveness for sins committed by Roman Catholics against Jews, heretics and women, he acknowledged that the "Church" has been wrong in the past. It also took the Catholic Church 359 years to admit that they were wrong when they accused Galileo of heresy, condemning him to death, unless he recanted that the earth rotates around the sun. It was considered heresy to challenge the belief that the Earth was the centre of the universe. (Read Galileo's Story.)
"Nothing in regard to controversial matters ha(s) ever been settled by the Bible." ~ William Lloyd Garrison
Gays and lesbians will never "win" the argument over what the Bible says or does not say about homosexuality. The good news is: we don't have to.
It will not be arguments over the Bible that will ultimately secure the civil rights of gays and lesbians. Sure, those arguments are being made and they can be loud and raucous, but the Bible is not the "other side" of the issue of homosexuality. Just like in the days of slavery, it has been made out to be the "other side" of the issue because those who oppose homosexuality can seem to find a vast ammunition dump of verses to use in the battle over gay and lesbian rights. They load their Bibles and use them to shoot down any arguments against biblical authority on this subject.
This 23 page eBook explains why we should study Christianity and Homosexuality with chapters on:
Please Click Here to download.
Used with Permission and Gratitude.
Please also visit Bob's website, Mercy To All. It has excellent articles.
Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled is a 184 page downloadable book offered free by the author, Dr. Joseph Pearson. It also comes with a PowerPoint Presentation and as an audio series.
Proviso
The PowerPoint Presentation slides for Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled by Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson are intended to accompany his book by the same name and to facilitate group discussion for those who are reading and studying his book. These PowerPoint slides cannot be altered or modified in any way. Certainly, alternative views relative to his work may be considered during group discussion, but alternative views or changes cannot be embedded in the copyrighted PowerPoint presentation itself.
Download the Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled book here.
Download the Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled PowerPoint Presentation here.
Listen to and/or download the Christianity and Homosexuality Reconciled Audio Series here.
Listen to Seven One-Hour mp3 Audio Messages
by Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson
Sept 6, 2010
Click on the Audio links to hear these excellent teaching messages.
Click on the Text Download links if you wish to read them.
| Audio | Title | Text Download |
|---|---|---|
| Part One | Five Major Human Rights Issues in the History of the Christian Church | Part One |
| Part Two | Organized Religion and the Seeming Dilemma that Exists for Homosexuals within the Christian Church | Part Two |
| Part Three | The Story of Sodom | Part Three |
| Part Four | Fertility Cult Gods and Goddesses in the Bible | Part Four |
| Part Five | Levitical Law and Grace | Part Five |
| Part Six | The Holy Bible in Relationship to Genital Identity and Gender Identity | Part Six |
| Part Seven | (a) The Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans (b) Christian Ethics and the Homosexual | Part Seven |
©2010 Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson. All rights reserved. Used with Permission
These broadcasts are for you to listen to on Christian Gays, or you can save them to your mp3 players, or you can copy them onto a CD to share with those who might benefit. Dr. Pearson asks only that if you download and copy, each file must be copied, saved and sent intact and whole, as they are now. They may not be segmented.
Please click here to get a download of Dr. Pearson's 184 page book, along with an accompanying PowerPoint Presentation.
by Anita
When I wrote that phrase some time ago and as I write this post today I'm thinking of you who believe there's no such thing as a "Christian lesbian." You consider the term to be a contradiction of terms but more than that, you regard it an offense to the Gospel. You believe if someone identifies as a Christian they would seek repentance from homosexuality and would do all they could to change and short of change they would at least commit to not "practicing" homosexuality.
I also have those of you in mind who, even while doubting such a thing as a "Christian lesbian" exists have haltingly admitted to yourself that while you love Christ and are committed to the Christian life, your desire for an intimate and loving relationship is with another woman. Because of this apparent conflict you feel as though there's a choice you'll have to eventually make, to either walk away from your faith in God or deny, reject, or attempt to change your attraction to other women.
About a year ago, after my giving a talk on how the Bible doesn't condemn, but actually affirms, same-sex love, a woman with a gay brother, raised in a Christian family, asked me to write out "talking points" on the subject of the consistency between Christianity and homosexuality, so that she could share that information with her brother. This article is the result of my answering her request.
Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbles, stated what is, unfortunately, a profound truth. He said that no matter how big the lie, if it's repeated often enough, people will come to believe it. Just as that axiom proved true in Nazi Germany, it certainly proves itself to be true regarding the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality. For centuries, we have been repeatedly told from assorted pulpits throughout the world that homosexuality is a "sin," so that so many professing Christians and others come to think that it's a no-brainer, that it is, in fact, a "sin."
by Jeramy Townsley
The purpose of this page is to show the difficulty in translating the words arsenokoitai and malakos - two words used (incorrectly) to condemn gays.
Throughout the history of English translations, there has been little agreement on the meanings of these two Greek words. Most of the English translations describe malakos as "weak" or "effeminate" - neither of which mean gay.
While effeminate could be applied to a stereotyped gay personna, effeminate could be applied equally to a heterosexual, as the word malakos was often used with this meaning in the original Greek.
by Rev John W Brown
How was Adam created? Could it be that the original Adam was both male and female, that there was no separation between them? What does it mean to be created in the image of God? First let's establish the fact that humans are created in the image of God. Genesis 1:26-27 says:
"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them..."
This tells us then that humans were created in the image of God, regardless of whether they are male or female. The name for God used in this passage is Elohim meaning gods and is also the plural name of God.
I have written this for those whose guilt has been etched deeply by the official positions of various Christian denominations as well as for those whose pain has been exacerbated by the unkindnesses shown to them through the actions and reactions of church-goers. It is my hope and prayer that the seeming dilemma between homosexuality and Christianity be resolved and a higher spiritual understanding of sexuality be settled within their minds once and for all, both now and throughout the rest of their earthly days.
The overwhelming majority of people believe that homosexuality is immoral. I do not. I believe that homosexuality is amoral and that homosexuals individually are either moral or immoral.
In contemporary Christianity, there is probably no single issue more contentious and no debate more acrimonious than that which surrounds the discussion of homosexuality and the church.
Questions of justice are often contrasted with questions of biblical faithfulness; even those new to the discussion quickly become familiar with such terms as “hermeneutic” (studying the process of Biblical interpretation) and the necessity of putting Bible passages into their proper context. Perhaps understandingly, much has been made of the six[1] infamous “clobber” passages - those few biblical passages that are purported to be proscriptions against homosexual behavior.
This is done by theologians and lobbyists on both sides of the interpretive fence: either anti-gay positions will quote them and counter context-particular arguments, or those holding gay-positive positions feel the need to take a defensive stance with these texts and try to explain them.
VATICAN CITY -- It's official: The Earth revolves around the sun, even for the Vatican.
The Roman Catholic Church has admitted erring these past 359 years in formally condemning Galileo Galilei for entertaining scientific truths it long denounced as anti-scriptural heresy.
Pope John Paul II himself turned up Saturday for a meeting of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to help set the record straight on behalf of the 17th century Italian mathematician, astronomer and physicist who was the first man to use a telescope and who is remembered as one of history's greatest scientists.
Question: How do you define Christianity?
Answer: The Gospel means: Good News! The good news is that we are God's children by God's grace alone (unmerited favor) and we appropriate that grace through our abiding faith (implacable trust) in God (i.e. trusting God over and above seen circumstances), love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness! That's the only Gospel to be found in Christianity.
Unfortunately, we are primarily exposed to the false gospel of legalism, perfectionism, and exclusion, a false gospel that is diametrically opposed to the good news, to Christianity itself. Far too many propound the gospel of genital placement, rather than the Gospel of Christ; ignore such egregious sins as unjust war, poverty, and disease.
PRIDE in being gay is not something that comes naturally when we live in a world that tells us we are “evil” and “immoral”. For most of us, it is first a road of self-awareness, and then of self-acceptance. We then need to take a further step to determine the consequences of our “Coming Out” to family, friends and co-workers. For many, the losses are not worth revealing the truth and so they remain closeted. This is understandable.
For those who are able to accept themselves for who they are, and have risked the consequences of being “Out”, there is deserved PRIDE in acknowledging the truth.
I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, as if that point of view still has any credibility.
I will no longer discuss with them or listen to them tell me how homosexuality is "an abomination to God," about how homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle," or about how through prayer and "spiritual counseling" homosexual persons can be "cured." Those arguments are no longer worthy of my time or energy.
I will no longer dignify by listening to the thoughts of those who advocate "reparative therapy," as if homosexual persons are somehow broken and need to be repaired.
I will no longer talk to those who believe that the unity of the church can or should be achieved by rejecting the presence of, or at least at the expense of, gay and lesbian people.
We gays often hear that God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Well if God didn't create Steve, who did? Many gays believe that we were created by God, with the same love that God created Adam and Eve.
It is my contention that it is very possible that God did indeed create Adam and Steve, and Louise and Sue, at the same time or after He created Adam and Eve. The reasons that I hold this belief are many.
First, Cain was the son of Adam and Eve, but where did Cain's wife come from if God did not create her? If God did not create her, then she would have to have been his sister or his mother (Eve) if Adam and Eve were the only ones "begetting" - i.e. an incestuous relationship no matter how you look at it. It only stands to reason that God created more than just Adam and Eve. Just because his other "created" children aren't mentioned doesn't mean that it didn't happen.
