I recently posted a link on my Facebook page to an article I found really fascinating, Biblical Marriage: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means. I disagree with a lot of things on HuffPost, but I thought this was a really well-written article.
A person I had "friended" on Facebook for reasons I can't really recall now -- but someone I have never actually met -- immediately responded in a very ugly way, telling me that the bible clearly states that homosexuality is "a sin and an abomination."
I countered her arguments with my own, but I couldn't change her mind.
It floors me that someone who is otherwise reasonable, rational, and intelligent, would classify every gay person as someone steeped in sin. In her warped view, Homosexuality = Sin
That's not a biblical belief. It's a widespread demonization of people who simply have a different way of loving.
I love this article Clobbering "Biblical" Gay Bashing because it's written by a Christian clergyman and he says so many wise things.
Oh sure, this time around we have “softened” our approach, saying things like “hate the sin, love the sinner,” but we fail to recognize that what we are calling a “sin” and the person we are calling a “sinner” are one and the same. A person whose sexual orientation is homosexual, or bi-sexual, or queer can no more separate themselves from their sexuality than a heterosexual person can.
That old-fashioned, intolerant homophobia is exactly why Englishman Alan Turing -- a man who broke the Nazi enigma code in World War II and who is the father of modern computer science -- was criminally prosecuted for being gay, and ultimately comitted suicide.
Alan Turing was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. He laid the theoretical foundations for computer science, and his code-breaking efforts during World War II greatly aided the Allies's effort to defeat Adolf Hitler.
But Turing, a gay man, had the misfortune to live in an intolerant era. In 1952, he was prosecuted for "gross indecency" for having a sexual relationship with another man. He lost his security clearance and was forced to take hormone treatments. Two years later, he was found dead of cyanide poisoning. His death was ruled a suicide.
What a loss, to know that Turing, a brilliant man, ended his life because of the terrible atmosphere for gay men in that time. Think what amazing contributions he could've made to computer science and mathematics if he had been free to love as he chose.
I have a friend who is gay, and we have been close friends for more than 30 years. We have had many discussions about his sexual orientation. He told me once "Nobody chooses to be gay. Why would I CHOOSE to be ostracized and discriminated against, and villified?!? I spent the first 20 years of my life trying to NOT be gay, because I couldn't deal with it."
What I find so sad is that there are so many gay men and women who are estranged from members of their family simply because they are gay. Oftentimes families have utterly rejected their gay children, and what a sad and terrible thing.
It puzzles and horrifies me.
I am not a great fan of our current president, and I've made no big secret of that. However, I do applaud him for making strides in the acceptance of gays in America, and for promoting the cause of gay marriage.
Whether or not you like or approve of gay people, to deny them the basic right to marry is just wrong. It recalls, to me, the Jim Crow South, when black people were denied basic rights simply because of their skin tone.
Nobody gets to choose their sexual orientation, just as nobody gets to choose their race.
When my ancestors came here, they were fleeing from governments that told their citizens how to live and how to worship. We have to strive to keep religion and government utterly separate, and to do the right things for human beings -- ALL human beings. If we give any one particular religion the upper hand, we are dishonoring our ancestors and what they fought for when they formed this country.
[Yes, I know most of the founding fathers were Christians and used the word "God" but I still don't think that justifies saying laws should favor Christians because we could argue endlessly over what is "Christian" and what is not.]
I hope and pray that one day my grandchildren will live in a world where their gay brothers and sisters are fully and completely accepted, and gay-hating "Christians" are no longer around. (I put that word in quotes because truly following the teachings of Christ means not being homophobic.)
The version of Christianity I believe in is based on LOVE. Pure and simple. Judging others is never condoned. We are charged with loving them. I hope that message is actually LIVED one day, by everyone.
photo by Lisa Amos
