I do try, when I sit
down to write, to ask myself if I will say something that hasn’t been said a
thousand times before either by me or someone who has said it better than
me. So let’s go with the new information
transmitted by Facebook this week.
It’s been an exciting week for Facebook, with two
ground-breaking decisions by the Supreme Court and the proposed removal of the
Confederate flag following the horrific massacre in Charleston, SC.
Fortunately, everyone agrees that the massacre was horrific. Less agreement about the Confederate
symbolism. The new information on this
topic is the growing belief in certain circles that the way to deal with
shootings of black people by white people is to arm the black people (to keep
the body count equal, I assume).
There is even less agreement with the Supreme Court
decisions. I learned nothing new about
the health care decision and am just glad it is still with us. The other historic decision, of course, is
about marriage.
I am also gleeful about that decision and mostly found
support from my Facebook friends who are my Facebook friends because they do
understand what is right and just (I can say that, it’s my blog). There has been a lot of Bible quoting and
referencing, some more accurate than others.
I have heard that homosexuality is an abomination, it is the worst sin
there is, but also that in the Old Testament it’s not that bad overall. The Old Testament offers that the worst sin
is lack of charity. I tend to agree with
that one as much as I agree with anything biblical. I even did my own research and noted that
there is a homosexual reference in Leviticus, but most of the other citing are
from the New Testament. There is a lot of posting to the tune of “Love the
sinner, hate the sin”. Some postings
have been very eloquent and detailed even when arriving at the same
conclusion. Also one posting from a
“used to be gay” guy who found the Lord and thereby stopped sinning.
I try to be open to new ideas, I really do. I can’t say that I read these things without
bias—but I did so without prejudice. I
can say that because my opinion is informed, both by what I have read and what
I have learned from my almost 70 years of life experience. I believe my length
of living gives me the right to advise, counsel, guide and teach. It does not give me the right to moralize.
I have known more than a few gay people over the years. I can’t say I’ve loved them all, but I have
loved some and got to know them. To me
and one Episcopal Priest I knew years ago, a sin is knowingly causing harm to
another (person or animal). Therefore,
the other Christian/Biblical sins, greed, adultery, lying, cheating, murder,
etc. meet that qualification.
Homosexuality does not. A
homosexual can certainly be guilty of all those other sins, but not because of
his sexuality. No one has ever informed
me in a logical manner how two men having sex causes harm to another human
being.
Molesting children is a sin; being gay does not make one a
child molester. Cheating on your spouse
is a sin for heterosexual and homosexual individuals. Being homosexual isn’t a sin just because you
are heterosexual. The gay people I know have
known are kind, caring, funny and creative.
Not a child molester in the bunch.
Some have been guilty of adultery by living a lie in a marriage before
becoming who they are. The door is still
open to someone explaining to me (NOT by quoting the Bible) how I am misguided. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I am not
now nor have I ever been a Christian.
I still would be interested in the story of the “used to be
gay” guy and exactly how that works. Is
he automatically aroused by women now?
Does he avoid sex entirely? Does
he just close his eyes and use his imagination when he has sex with a
woman? Seriously, I would read be rational discourse on the subject.
In the meantime, I cannot agree to disagree or love the
sinner but not the sin. If you love
someone because they are who they are then that love includes them being
lesbian, bi-sexual, gay or transgendered.*
*Transgender is whole ‘nother topic for a whole ‘nother day.
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