February 7, 2006

Does God hate er… Homosexuals?

Posted by Andrea Graham in : Christianity

I’ve been working on what looks like a trilogy with Adam, and in it, the female protagonist uses a bible verse to excuse a psychological problem caused by her attempts to hold onto pain and bitterness towards the male protagonist instead of really forgiving him. The verse she abused was 1 Cor. 5:17, “Any man who be in Christ, he is a new creation.”

I can’t help but wonder how many of us are doing about the same with Leviticus 18:22, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Some on the left often wonder why we “pick and choose” old testament verses, why we hold this part of the law is valid and not stuff like don’t eat shellfish and if you’re going to be walking around on your roof, put a wall on it, dummy, so you don’t fall off.

Besides the old “is it in the new testament?” argument (all scripture is god-breathed…), the answer to that comes down to this:

Because we’re gentiles by birth and the new testament church decided not to make us keep the whole law.

Specifically, the apostles wrote:

“We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said…. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

(Acts 15:24, 28,29, NIV)

By Sexual immorality (fornication for the kjv-only crowd) the apostles meant everything but what we like to call traditional marriage, including, among sins mentioned more often, homosexual relations. The meat in the butcher shop nowadays wasn’t killed as part of a pagan ceremony, so that part is no longer a concern, and the princple of it and whether we keep that is a thought for another article. The point is they singled out all the sexual mores laid out in Leviticus 18 to be adhered to. Paul yelled at the Corninthians, in fact, for not doing anything about a man who broke Lev. 18:8 and took his father’s wife.

But he also wrote:

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; or then must ye needs go out of the world. But, now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner;

1 Corinthians 5:9-11

(emphasis mine)

So why do we get all worked up in a huff over a homosexual actor in a christian movie, when we have no problem hiring adulters, when neither is a believer? Why do we (some, not all) have an urge to boycott or cross the street when we see a homosexual coming?

Homosexual *behavior* is a sin, but why do so many of us squirm in our seats when we find out that guy sitting in the pews next to us, doing his best to please God, is recovering from the orientation? Are we using the bible to excuse our own homophobia?

Yes I said it.

God meant it when he said homosexual behavior makes him want to barf. But, so does divorce, and many of the people crossing the street to get away from the homosexual have no problems with divorcees. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I must admit they make me as uneasy as homosexuals do, but at least I’m equal opportunity in my sinner phobia.

Thank God Jesus wasn’t sinner-phobic, or we’d all be hell-bound. The truth is God doesn’t hate homosexuals. He loved them so much, he gave up his only begotten son to take the penalty the law prescribed upon himself–and by his stripes, we were, are, and can be healed of all our infirmities. Including Homosexuality.

And that’s the truth the devil is desperate to hide. The problem for conservative believers is we get so caught up in fighting the devil on the left side of the political sphere, we forget he plays on both sides. Put both sides together, and the message homosexuals (and other sexual offenders for that matter) are hearing is: “You’re stuck this way and can’t change. God hates you and wants you to burn in Hell forever.”

That’s not true. God loves you even when the church falls flat on her face. God loves you even when you do things that make him want to barf. God loves you and wants you to live forever with him in glory and has made the way through the death of Jesus Christ. God wants to heal you of your infimirties so you can marry and love according to His plan.

4 Comments

  1. Comment by "Radical" Russ [Visitor]

    That’s a really nice post, Andrea, and I’m not being sarcastic. Of course, I utterly disagree that homosexuality is some terrible disease from which one needs salvation (for that matter, I don’t believe human life in general is something requiring salvation, either).

    But it is refreshing to read someone actually being Christlike in their treatment and perception of lepers… oops, I mean “homosexuals”… and calling out the Religious Right for hiding homophobia and hate behind Biblical verse.

    Now, if y’all could only keep your “gays are sinners who need to be saved” attitudes to your church and stop trying to force us unbelievers to buy into it as well, we’d all get along better.

    Speaking of getting along better, I found this clip for Adam, figuring he would be all over it before I had a chance to post it:

    San Jose Mercury News

    At least three churches and a Christian bookstore in Santa Cruz were vandalized during the weekend, each defaced with a painted cross and an equal sign followed by a swastika, police said Monday.

    “This was a shocker,” said Pastor Don Ferris of the High Street Community Church.

    Police officers believe the vandalism occurred Saturday night. Also hit were the Mission Santa Cruz chapel, 130 Emmett St.; the Messiah Lutheran Church, 801 High St.; and the Agnus Dei Christian Book Shop, 138 Walnut St., police said. High Street Community Church is at 850 High St.

    No arrests have been made. But anyone who is arrested for the crimes could face a hate crime enhancement in addition to the vandalism charges, said Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee. The enhancement could add up to three years to a sentence.

    “It is something we would clearly look into,” Lee said. “On their face, they appear to be of a motivation that is typically illegal under the hate crime statute.”

    High Street Community Church and Messiah Lutheran are within steps of each other, and less than a mile from Mission Santa Cruz. The bookshop is located downtown.

    Ferris said he discovered the vandalism at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. On the front door of the office complex were the cross, an equal sign and a swastika, all in black paint, and all accomplished with stencils. Another door was stenciled with a fist, the word “Christ” and the word “thief.”

    Obscenities were sprayed in freehand on an exterior wooden wall panel.

    Similar messages were discovered Sunday on the side of the Mission Santa Cruz chapel, said Rev. Mark Stetz.

    It was the second time in a little more than three months that the chapel had been defaced in the same manner, Stetz said. Similar graffiti was found on the church at Halloween.

    “It’s very rare that churches are tagged,” he said. “People have a sense of reverence. However, these people are not only lacking reverence but tolerance.”

    Over at the Angus Dei Christian Bookstore, the front entrance had been vandalized, said Wayne Shaffer, a part-owner. After police officers took photographs for evidence Sunday, Shaffer blotted out the offensive message with a coat of paint.

    The bookstore was also burglarized last week by a thief who broke into a cash box and took about $100, Shaffer said. However, he did not believe that burglary was linked to the vandalism because the bookstore’s merchandise had not been damaged during the theft.

    Shaffer, Stetz and Ferris said they had not received or heard of any threats before the paint attacks. Officials with Messiah Lutheran could not be reached for comment.

    After recovering from the shock of discovering the graffiti, Ferris reflected on what would have driven a person, or several people, to vandalize churches.

    “Here are individuals who are deeply hurt and wounded and deeply angry at the church and God,” he said.

    “I have a sense they need some compassion. Something that has happened deeply, deeply wounded them and they are lashing out. I hope they find whatever it is that can help heal that wound.”

    You think that maybe some gay teens have gotten tired of being told they are sinful abominations bound for hell simply because they’re wired for sex differently than you are?

  2. Comment by Michael [Visitor]

    You spent several days blaming the right for inflaming people like Jacob Robida. If you had an ounce of consistency you would take the blame for inflaming people who commit crimes against people on the right. But you excuse one while excoriating the other.

    You also contribute to a blog which orften calls for violent reaction or condones it . Shame on you .

  3. Comment by Adam Graham [Member]

    Wasn’t on my plate and didn’t sound like much of a story. I try not to specialize in speculation. Though, Michael has a valid point that its a double standard to say:

    “Dirty Rotten Christians” when there’s an act against homosexuals and also “Those Poor Homosexuals” when there’s act against Christians.

  4. Comment by Andrea Graham [Member]

    we’re all sinners in need of a savior. God is not a respecter of persons, all are welcome to come. That was the point. Some of us are just too proud (or naive one) to admit their need. When your philosophy actually invokes peace on earth that doesn’t involve slaughtering or otherwise punishing those who don’t agree with you, call me.

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