In his two part post entitled, "One Bad Apple," my good friend, Don Charles, on his excellent blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr, featured my December 8th post entitled,"Some Myths Held By Religious And Other Homophobes."
In his two part post, he adds many of his typical trenchant insights to the issue of the perversion of Christianity regarding LGBT people and Gay identity, and I wanted to strongly suggest you read his comments that are beautifully and graciously embedded in the post I wrote.
It is very important to underscore the fact that one can be a homophobe, a White Supremacist, an anti-Semite, or a misogynist, for example, and appeal to his/her prejudices as his/her "justification" for discrimination against LGBT people and/or other minority groups. However, he or she cannot use Jesus' teachings or the message of the New Testament to justify those prejudices!
Moreover, to resort to selecting out from Old Testament laws and ancient cultural practices attempted justification for such discrimination, not only violates spiritual and intellectual honesty and rationality by seeking to proselytize and impose those laws and practices on contemporary society, but shows that the person who does such biased selecting neglects the full context of Scripture; shows him/herself to be both intellectually and spiritually dishonest; shows lack of understanding of the Christian life and the Gospel of grace upon which Christianity is based.
The very fact that Christianity is all too often used to demean and discriminate against others; used to "justify" depriving LGBT people of full and equal civil rights; used to defame and lie about the lives of LGBT people; used in the cause and facilitation of untold emotional, social, political, physical, and spiritual damage done to LGBT people and their families, shows how those professing Christians who act in this manner might be church-goers, but they are certainly not Christians!
Hear the Apostle Paul in his definition of the out-working of the Christian life and judge for yourself: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Does that operational definition of the Christian life sound consistent with a homophobic Christian to you?
Jesus Himself told us all to: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:15-21)
And what is God's will for all those who follow Him? Jesus says: "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 23:37-40)
The Christian life can't be explained any better or plainer than that!
So, where does professing Christian homophobia come from? Clearly, it is nothing but a perversion, an expression of a twisted mind, a mind deluded into thinking and presenting oneself as a "Christian" when, in fact, professing Christian homophobes show themselves to be deluding themselves and deluding others, all the while seeking to justify the hate in their hearts by carefully selecting Bible verses that are consistent with that hate and that prejudice.
I think you'll find Don Charles' insights in all of his posts, and his most recent two part post, "One Bad Apple," very refreshing and instructive.
Here's just one example of his many insights:
Donny Osmond should ask himself why he finds Gay people and their loving relationships so threatening. He should ask himself how Mormons can welcome Gay converts into their fellowship only to treat them as inferior to other members (loving one child more than you love another? That sounds distinctly un-Mormon to me). He should ask himself which body imposes judgment most fairly: The church, whose knowledge suffers from human limitations, or the Lord, whose knowledge has no limit? He should also determine what’s most important to him: Being a good Mormon according to church doctrine, or being a good Christian according to the Savior’s teachings? The question would be just as valid if he were Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, etc. There was a difference between orthodox law and Divine Law in New Testament times, and there’s still a difference! What blocks the door to a church can pave a path to salvation. Conversely, what shuts the door to salvation can gain you access to a church; but tell me, what good is access to any church if you become cut off from God? Isn't divine salvation the whole point of being a Christian?
I think you'll enjoy reading his insights in his two part post, "One Bad Apple. And I also strongly encourage you to read as many of his posts on his blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr, as you can, as he has courageously added so much rationality and clarity regarding the psychological, social, political, and religious dynamics needed to move the cause of full and equal civil and sacramental rights for LGBT people forward.
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