i was invited to blog my “attitude toward homosexuals”, so here i go and much of this is responding to his questions and expanding on answers i had already given, so, other readers please forgive what seems improperly segued :P
yes, the bible clearly says that homosexuality is a sin… the bible also lists adultery, fornication, and christ went as far as to say that if you look upon a woman with lust, you have already committed adultery with her in your mind… overeating is also listed as a sin, as is disrespect to parents… the bible makes it clear that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of god” and that no sin is worse than any other but that sin is that which keeps us from a relationship with god…
while the bible clearly says that sin is not to be taken lightly, it also says that we cannot outright avoid everyone who sins because, again, all have sinned and continue to… nor do i see the bible commanding me to feel or think a certain way about sinners (except myself, to whom it gives much instruction and wisdom) and certainly not to condemn them… the bible records that jesus had occasion to eat with prostitutes, tax collectors, and other people whom much of society shunned and, if he had openly condemned them, i don’t think he would have been welcome at their table for long…
and i said i have had many gay friends and that my best friend in albuquerque was gay… she and i spent a lot of time together… and, if it had been a ploy to get her to convert, she would have known it… and she was not my only gay friend in albuquerque and they were friends - people i valued and shared much with and they with me - not people i was subtly trying to make converts of… i said that i am firm and outspoken in my faith - well, she knew that i believe what the bible says and that the bible says she commits sin and that i do, too… i believe the bible and am compelled to live my life according to it… she does not… there were times she asked me questions about what the bible says, but, mostly it didn’t come up… we were both film snobs and art snobs and music snobs and most of our time was spent persuing those things… i was in leadership in the church back home and i would talk about things going on in my life and she would ask questions about why things were done a certain way and sometimes she might think it was a bit silly to feel compelled to do what the bible said, but, i thought some things she did were silly and we could both talk about it light-heartedly…
i have never been a “manly man” (i have no interest in football or cars and, right this very moment, my toenails are painted) and rarely fit in well with my peers and spent my youth with those that also didn’t quite fit in with the “normal” people of the world… so, i may be the wrong christian to address this issue… i don’t see gay people as a separate category of human… i have biases and prejudices that i endeavor to work out in my life, like anyone else, this just isn’t one of mine…
now, i said that no sin affects my relationship with people and i made a caveat and i just want to clarify… there are people who take part in activities the bible calls sin that i am tempted by… as a former drug addict, it would probably be a mistake for me to hang out with drug users, as i may very well get weak…
so, the last question you asked me was if i thought being gay was a sin…
you already know i will say what i think doesn’t matter, it is what scripture says that matters… so, do i think it is sin? i KNOW it is sin, according to the bible, as is many things i have done/do/will do… and, as i said, the bible doesn’t tell me i have to treat anyone any different because of their sin… i had no opinion on the gay marriage issue… when i heard the ruling, i neither smiled nor frowned… i think christians waste a lot of time and make a bad name for themselves when they get involved in certain issues…
so, perhaps you meant to ask if i am at all repulsed by gays and i use a religious dogma to justify it and i think i have answered that…
my view on gays does ruffle some feathers in christian circles… i am used to “them” while most others still see them as some distorted kind of person that they cannot relate to and are even disgusted by… i think that is a prejudice or perhaps a distorted attempt at morality… and i take some ribbing or even complete disapproval of my relationships with “them”… even this post will get me some comments, i’m sure… i bring this up because you certainly are not getting a fair sample of the popular christian consensus on this issue when asking me… but, no one has yet to show me scripture that clearly proves me to be in the wrong in my view and scripture is the final court of arbitration…
i also want to point out that, in another sense, i do represent the current christian worldview… i pastored the addiction recovery ministry back home for several months, hosted a devotion in my apartment every weekday morning at 6am for a year or so, taught bible studies, did work with the homeless - all under the leadership of and accountability to calvary chapel rio rancho, and the worldwide calvary chapel movement is one that most christians would agree is a solid bible-believing church, and has been since its start in the 1960s… they believe what c.s. lewis called “mere christianity” - the essentials of which have been believed by most christians, most of the time, since the time of christ and, as he puts it “is what it is and was what it was long before i was born and whether i like it or not”… there are secondary issues i disagree with them about and they with me, but, my point is they are not renegade or radical and they did not consider me to be…
so, anyway, there you have it… there are many kinds of “christianity” and the wild ones make the news and there is an unfortunate prevalence of what i can only see as unbiblical christianty and that is where the problem is… my friend did not want me to know she was gay because i was christian and she expected me to judge her… it gave her a whole new view of christ and the bible and those who follow him and it to know me…
and perhaps i have similarly put you at some ease that not all christians are the same…