I am a Christian, more importantly I am a Christian brought up in the Southern African American tradition. Which, for those of you who don’t know, there is only one “sin” worse than homosexuality… an educated black man marrying a white woman. HA! Lord I remember the grief I got taking my bff to PROM who just happened to be white, it was so bad I asked another girl with pigment in her skin to go just for the pictures… yeah guys… I’m 30 I can admit it now… on the bright side my mother and father never cared. If you doubt the homophobia that runs through the African American Culture look at Prop 8… it would not have passed without the record turnout of older black voters to vote for the first black president. Mormon Money… Black Voters. However, I digress. I state that to let you know I am familiar with every biblical passage about homosexual “acts of indecency” Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, and 1 Corinthians 6:9 but I know the following to be true.
The Bible must be wrestled with. The Bible is a living breathing document; it is a storyteller, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a comforter in our time of need. The Bible is the bank of our collective history. To use it without an understanding of historical context as a method of fear and confusion is beyond sinful… it’s blasphemous. When the aforementioned passages are placed in context they are both at the genesis of a nation and culture; it is critical for them to reproduce to keep the fledgling society populated. (sidenote: this is the same reason why its sinful to masturbate, I don’t see any laws against that. Jesus if there was… there goes GT, MIT, Cal Tech, and every other school that is male dominated). Needless to say… society has changed over the last 5000 years.
Wrestling with the Divine, has biblical precedence… in Hosea Jacob wrestled with an angel for his blessing. Moses, the writer of our first five books, wrestled with God to defend his people. When we want a blessing we wrestle with the divine being: its why God gave us choice. It is no different, in the issue of Gay marriage.
We find ourselves at a change in generations; a generation willing to follow their biblical heritage to wrestle with the Bible, and those that are afraid. It makes them uncomfortable. To them I ask the question: What Would Jesus Do? Not, what would Paul do, but Jesus… He who came that we might have life and have it abundantly, he who preached the gospel of love, He that changed the moral majority. He who included even the leapers. Jesus wrestled with Bible… and he won.
There maybe many reasons people don’t want to see the union of same sex people… but please for the LOVE of GOD… don’t use the Bible.
I've often heard the story of Onan in Genesis used as justification for why masturbation is sinful, and I don't really follow. I always interpreted that as God being pissed that Onan didn't obey His orders, not that He was angry because there was some spanky wanky going on, ya know?
ReplyDeleteDoodlebug... the story of Onan is the one used to justify the sinful nature of masterbation... but look at the text... Onan was sent by God to do what... to lay with his brothers wife to do what? Produce an heir, and raise it as his brothers child. It is still a story about populating. Fledgeling society. But Onan wasn't killed because of the "wasted seed" he was killed because of his deciet. He lied to God! and IF at this point in history sex was used for reproduction... taken to the logical conlusion... he raped his brothers wife!!! WHO WAS ALREADY IN MOURNING!! I would strike him dead too! LOL
ReplyDelete"Ooooohhh, you're going to hell!" "Didn't you know that the "bibuh" say dat Gawd made Adam and Eve, and not Adam and Steve." These are just a couple of the responses I've heard when I've argued this very same point. As a former seminarian and current clergy person, I often challenge people to look at the bible in this very same manor, and to think about the beauty and figurative nature of the language, particularly when we're using it to marginalize, and then ultimately demonize people. The bible, unfortunately, because of its openness to interpretation, has traditionally been used to justify unjust actions against humanity, i.e. repression of women, enslavement of entire groups of people, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that we forget that literature, in any form, is influenced by the time period in which it was written, and for as much as some might want to pull my clergy card for saying this, the bible is a piece of literature. So, while it remains relevant today (like much literature), we must still recognize that these divinely inspired writers were still influenced by the culture in which they lived.
I must also mention, that I am saddened when so many faith-talking, bible-carrying, hymn-singing Christians completely throw away Christ's love ethic, and inclusion of all people to focus on minute items that continue to cause contentious debate. The fact is Jesus came, and when he did, he taught us how to love and treat each other with respect, yet this very notion seems to evade us, when them "HOMO-sectionals" try to force their demonic beliefs on all the good God-fearing Christians of this country.
I wish you would expand more on this idea. My best friend is gay and I'm a Christian. Sonetimes my Christian friend ask me how I can be affiliated with him and I respond with the philosophy of love. What's a better way to witness than with God's love?-- not that I intend to make my best friend straight. I just want him to experience the love and peace that comes from a relationship with Christ. Could you expand more on how these bible verses were written because of past culture? I feel like you have a great point to the argument that I'm missing.
ReplyDeleteHey Anon,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, there is no other way to show the greatness of God than his love, his all inclusive love. If your friend needs help on his Christian journey, I would suggest helping him find a church that accepts him for him. I would recommend the Episcopal Church. They have a LGBT group called Integrity. It is amazing organization that shows the love of Christ… but to your original question.
Leviticus is written right after God sent a plague to kill those who worshiped the Golden Calf. Major population decrease, he needed a strategy ( Moses was trained by Ramses II…or so its generally thought) keep in mind they still had battles to fight , they were still out in the wilderness, and needed to ensure a survival of a people. He took a note from Genesis… No wasted seed. It was also an hierarchy, dominance issue (Sodom) you didn’t need any problems among the ranks. How do you solve that make it a sin. If you take into account that the BIG THREE in world religion is Abrahamic I think Moses did a good job.
On the Paul issue: We need to remember a few things about Paul: he is not a disciple, he was a persecutor of Christians, and he was never a witness to the gospel of love. He is on a Road…Jesus appears …and he changes his life. He only had his background as a Pharisee to fall back on. Like Moses in Leviticus he was in a “wilderness” with battles to fight a little to no army. You take a page out of Moses’playbook. We go back to no wasted seed, the end of the world is nigh and we are out numbered against the big ole Romans. We need more solders and they have to survive to an age where they can spread the gospel. It is strategy. Simply stated these rules do not apply today. We can worship freely, without fear of the establishment or government.
It is worth a note: that out of the Disciples that we have stories or letters from in the canonized bible Matt, Mark Luke, John, and JC’s lil bro James not once is it mentioned. It is the gospel of love.