Post by minnesota on Nov 21, 2015 12:41:22 GMT -5
I grew up in a professing home but stopped going to meetings a long time ago. I wrote the following for a college class and would like anybody who is interested to please give your opinion. Thank you!
Why has religion and our church condemned homosexuals? The Bible tells us so, right? I have believed the same thing all my life too, believing what my church (The Truth), the workers and the Bible had told me. Growing up in rural Minnesota to good parents, trying to do the right thing and knowing since my earliest memory that I was gay, I have struggled to reconcile my gayness with God’s word. Among the many reasons the Christian Church, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has condemned their gay and lesbian members are 6 passages in the Bible that traditionally have been quoted as the Bible’s, thus God’s, view on homosexuality.
In Genesis 19, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is all about God’s abhorrence of homosexuality. Or is it? Angels were sent by God in the form of men to see if 10 righteous people could be found in the whole city of Sodom and God would spare the city if they were found. Lot received the angels with warm hospitality but it angered the men of Sodom because he had, as John Boswell describes it in Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, “violated the custom of Sodom (where he was himself not a citizen but only a “sojourner”) by entertaining unknown guests within the city walls at night without obtaining the permission of the elders of the city” (Boswell 93-94). The men demanded to be let in so they might “know” these two men, which is, of course, the popular line of thinking: that it means to “sexually know them.” But “to know” in the sense of “to know sexually” is only used 10 out of 943 times this phrase is used in the Bible, according to Boswell (94). The citizens of Sodom could not have been exclusively homosexual otherwise there would have been no continuance of the population so it must be gathered they were primarily heterosexual. When Lot offered his daughter instead, the men of Sodom got violent and stormed the door whereupon they were blinded. In that light, this story lends to the argument that sexual desires were not the issue but it was the lack of hospitality and the previously mentioned undertaking of the angels to find 10 righteous men, which obviously they did not, that angered the Lord.
No biblical references to Sodom mention sexual sins nor did any Jewish scholars before the first Christian century teach that the sins of Sodom were sexual in nature. Further study reveals that “[…] this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness (sic) of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). Deuteronomy 29:26 states that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was idolatry. In the first chapter of Isaiah, the nation of Judah is rebuked through a comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah. The specific sins, say Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Mollenkott, who wrote the book, Is The Homosexual my Neighbor? , that are mentioned are greed, rebellion against God, empty religious rituals without true devotion to God, failure to plead the cause of orphans and widows, failure to pursue justice and failure to champion the oppressed. There is no mention of homosexuality (Scanzoni 60). Jesus himself didn’t say that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality but rather inhospitality: “Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:14-15).
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 warn of lying “with mankind, as with womankind,” calling it an abomination and that they should be put to death. But reading the entire chapter sheds a different light as other offenses are also listed as punishable by death such as cursing your parents (Leviticus 20:9), committing adultery (20:11-17), and working on the Sabbath (22:30). Other abominations include gossiping (Leviticus 19:16), trimming your beard (19:27), mixing seeds of different plants or wearing clothes made of half linen and wool (19:19). As you can plainly see, the “abominations” of the Old Testament don’t quite apply to today’s world. Yet those who continue to proclaim God’s hatred of gays, that the Word of God doesn’t ever change, will quote these verses to prove their point.
It must be mentioned that the New Testament of the Bible was written in a what many people thought was a “spirit-inspired” language that was mysterious and reserved only for those inspired by God who would write what we now know as the New Testament. It wasn’t until after the discovery of manuscripts containing articles such as bills of sale, etc., that were written in the same Koine Greek dialect that the original manuscripts of the books of the Bible were written in, were historians and bible scholars able to directly translate from the original texts. However some unique problems still existed because as often is the case in translations, especially with a span of nearly 2000 years, words don’t translate “word for word.” For example, the Greeks had no word for homosexuality, or heterosexuality for that matter, because in that male dominated society, sexual relations were based on domination and submission, not romantic attraction as we think of it today. Marriages were usually arranged for benefits and procreation only and men were assumed to have sexual attractions for both sexes. More importantly, we need to understand, there was no understanding at all of sexual “orientation” in the ancient world. The idea that some people are born that way only became general knowledge in the last hundred years or so, although some people today that believe it to be caused by environmental conditioning or personal choice still are challenging that. The world was a very different place then and what seems normal now wasn’t then and vice versa. Francis Mondimore, in A Natural History of Homosexuality, explains that is wasn’t until the early Middle Ages that sexual behaviors became to be regarded as something that needed to be named and defined as sins and/or crimes. He says “condemnation of homosexuality developed as part of a shift in moral thinking about sexuality which occurred several hundred years after the birth of Jesus” (Mondimore 22). with a group of Greek philosophers called the Stoics. Their philosophy, which greatly influenced St. Paul, the Pauline Epistles, and Thomas Aquinas whose Summa theologica became the basis of doctrine for the Catholic Church, included the belief that all things sensual were sinful. Any sex outside of the purpose of procreation was considered unnatural including masturbation, coitus interruptus (an early form of birth control whereas the penis is withdrawn from the vagina before orgasm), oral or anal sex (it didn’t matter if it was homosexual or heterosexual) and these were lumped together with bestiality under what came to be known collectively as “sodomy.”
The first chapter of Romans in The New Testament is used probably most often in denouncing gays, and to be honest, gave me the most trouble as a person trying to find an answer to a seemingly impossible question. But when read in its entirety, in historical and contextual significance, certain things stand out and become much more important. Remember that Paul lived in the time and under the influence of the philosophy of the Greek Stoics whose belief that all sex that was not procreative was sinful and unnatural (Boswell 129). Paul also argued that marriage was a last resort for those who could not control their sexual desires with celibacy. Paul is writing to both Jews and Gentiles his belief that sin has alienated all people from God. “The Gentile world had turned from God to idols; the Jews had turned to smug self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and harsh judgments on others […]”(Scanzoni 66). In the first part of the chapter Paul admonishes the Christian people in Rome of idolatry, to which Boswell agrees, but as he points out “the point of the passage is not to stigmatize sexual behavior or any sort but to condemn the Gentiles for their general infidelity (108). The last part of the passage that seemingly condemns homosexuals by saying “And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly […]” (Romans 1:27). Part of the argument that people who believed homosexuality was a sin was the term “natural.” They believed that if something was not found in nature it was unnatural, therefore sinful. The problem with this thinking is that homosexuality is found in nature; they just hadn’t the scientific knowledge or perhaps weren’t observant enough to see it. In his book, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity,” Bruce Bagemihl shows that homosexuality is found in over 450 different kinds of animals and in virtually every corner of the earth. Bagemihl writes that not only do animals (like humans) interact sexually with members of their own sex but that a full range of homosexual components is also observed. They include courtship, affection, sex, pair bonding, and parenting (12). Another argument might go something like this: Plastic is unnatural so then plastic is sinful? The reasoning that if it wasn’t found in nature makes it sinful has been proven to be false.
Other New Testament verses that have been used to indicate that homosexuals would be excluded from entering the kingdom of heaven are I. Corinthians 6:9 and I. Timothy 1:1-10. In the Corinthians’ verse, the first Greek word that later was translated into the King James Version of the Bible as “effeminate” is ambiguous at best. It was an extremely common word in the Koine Greek language and has many meanings, ranging from “soft,” “delicate,” and “gentle” to “loose” or “wanting in self-control” in a purely moral context says Boswell (106-107). He continues with “The word is never used in Greek to designate gay people as a group or even in reference to homosexual acts generically, and it often occurs in writings […] in reference to heterosexual persons of activity”(107). He goes on to say that this word was also used to describe masturbation by native Greek speakers in the early middle Ages and in St.Thomas Aquinas’s Summa theologiae (Boswell 107) which is, of course, no longer thought of by most religious entities as sinful, deviant or a preclusion to entering heaven. The second word in I. Corinthians 6:9 which became “abusers of themselves with mankind” in the King James Bible originally meant “male prostitute” which by the fourth century became confused with a number of words that disapproved sexual activities (Boswell 107).
The most important thing to remember in all of this, I believe, is what Jesus himself said about the subject: Nothing. He was silent on the matter. I adamantly believe that if homosexuality was so awful; so wrong in the sight of the Lord, an abomination, wouldn’t Jesus have said something about it? He does speak of love, forgiveness and not being judgmental of others.
Science has started to answer the question, “Are gays born that way or is it a choice?” Ask any gay person you know that question and you will overwhelmingly get a response like this: “Who would choose to be gay, with all the baggage that comes with it: the discrimination, the harassment, abuse and violence that’s directed at gays?” A good example of established religious doctrine that was challenged and changed by discoveries in science was in the 1600’s when Galileo proved that the earth revolved around the sun rather that the other way around. Science continues to support the theory that homosexuality is normal and natural. Sigmund Freud writes, “[…] homosexuality is assuredly no advantage but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation, it cannot be classified as an illness […]” (Freud 786). The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of psychiatric disorders in 1973. (Gibson 33).
There is evidence that biology does play a part. Simon Levay, a neuroscientist, who in 1991, discovered differences of a part of the brain called the hypothalamic nuclei that was markedly different and varied between straight and gay men. He believes that “[…] homosexuality, like heterosexuality, results at least in part from specific interactions between androgenic sex hormones and the brain during development […]” (LeVay 14).
I believe that, based on what the Bible says about homosexuality in the context of the whole chapter or message, the historical considerations, the mistranslated words, the “unnatural” argument, and the backing of the scientific community, homosexual orientation is a normal part of the human condition. Certainly it is not sinful and won’t, in itself, keep a person out of heaven.
Now this, it doesn’t matter whether I’m right or not or if you believe me or not. It doesn’t matter because there is not one person who has ever lived who can point their finger at another and cry “sinner!” We are all sinful in the eyes of God and the person who condemns another person condemns himself.
Do you remember the old hymn that sings “coming just as we are before God?” We all fall short of the finish line. None of us is without sin. There is no hope without grace. That is the message of the New Testament—The Good News! —The Old Testament and the law have fallen by the wayside. That is why Jesus is our Christ and our Salvation. The Law is no longer and only by Grace are we saved. Paul writes “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way” (Romans14:13).
Works Cited
American Psychiatric Association. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (3rd edition). Washington DC: Author. 33
Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Bagemihl, Bruce. Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 1999.
Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Faulkner, Anne H. and Kevin Cranston. “Correlates of same-sex behavior in a random sample of Massachusetts high school students.” American Journal of Public Health. 88.2 (1998): 262-266. Abstract. 2 July 2004 <http: www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide/gbsuicide3.htm#24b>
Freud, Sigmund. “Letter to an American Mother.” (1935), published in American Journal of Psychiatry.107 (1951): 786.
General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Resolution “Prevention of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth Suicide.” 1999. <http://www.ucccoalition.org/programs/suicide.html>
Gibson, Paul. “Gay Male and Lesbian Youth Suicide.” Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide: Volume 3 Prevention and interventions in youth suicide. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Public Health Service; Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration. 1989. [[Remafedi, Gary, editor. Death by Denial. Boston: Alyson Press. 1994.]]
Knepper, Jeanne. Speech. “Let My People In.” Pre-General Conference Briefing. United Methodist Church, Cleveland, 15 January 2000. <http://www.umaffirm.org/gcnews1.html>
Levay, Simon. The Sexual Brain. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993.
Mondimore, Francis Mark. A Natural History of Homosexuality. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996.
National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume 2: Mortality, Part A. Hyattsville, MD. 1986.
Remafedi [1], M.D., M.P.H., Editor, Gary. “The state of knowledge on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth Suicide.” Death by Denial: Studies of Suicide in Gay and Lesbian Teenagers. Boston: Alyson Publications, Inc. 1994.
Remafedi [II], M.D., M.P.H., Gary and James A. Farrow, M.D., and Robert W. Deisher, M.D. “Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth.” Pediatrics. 87 (1991): 869-875. 2 July 2004 <http:www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide/gbsuicide1htm#22>
Remafedi, [III], Gary and Simone French. “The relationship between suicide risk and sexual orientation: Results of a population-based study.” American Journal of Public Health. 88.1 (1998): 57-60. Abstract. 28 June 2004 http:www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/1/57htm>
Remafedi, [IV] Gary. “New Research: Gay Youth at Higher Risk for Suicide.” Minneapolis Star and Tribune. 28 August 1997. <http://www.jeramyt.org/gay/gaysuic.htm>
Russell, Steven T. and Kara Joyner. “Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Suicide Risk: Evidence from a National Study.” American Journal of Public Health. 91.8 (2001) 1276-1281 Abstract. 28 June 2004 <http:www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/8/1276htm>
Scanzoni, Letha Dawson and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. Is The Homosexual My Neighbor? A Positive Christian Approach. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1978.
Why has religion and our church condemned homosexuals? The Bible tells us so, right? I have believed the same thing all my life too, believing what my church (The Truth), the workers and the Bible had told me. Growing up in rural Minnesota to good parents, trying to do the right thing and knowing since my earliest memory that I was gay, I have struggled to reconcile my gayness with God’s word. Among the many reasons the Christian Church, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has condemned their gay and lesbian members are 6 passages in the Bible that traditionally have been quoted as the Bible’s, thus God’s, view on homosexuality.
In Genesis 19, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is all about God’s abhorrence of homosexuality. Or is it? Angels were sent by God in the form of men to see if 10 righteous people could be found in the whole city of Sodom and God would spare the city if they were found. Lot received the angels with warm hospitality but it angered the men of Sodom because he had, as John Boswell describes it in Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, “violated the custom of Sodom (where he was himself not a citizen but only a “sojourner”) by entertaining unknown guests within the city walls at night without obtaining the permission of the elders of the city” (Boswell 93-94). The men demanded to be let in so they might “know” these two men, which is, of course, the popular line of thinking: that it means to “sexually know them.” But “to know” in the sense of “to know sexually” is only used 10 out of 943 times this phrase is used in the Bible, according to Boswell (94). The citizens of Sodom could not have been exclusively homosexual otherwise there would have been no continuance of the population so it must be gathered they were primarily heterosexual. When Lot offered his daughter instead, the men of Sodom got violent and stormed the door whereupon they were blinded. In that light, this story lends to the argument that sexual desires were not the issue but it was the lack of hospitality and the previously mentioned undertaking of the angels to find 10 righteous men, which obviously they did not, that angered the Lord.
No biblical references to Sodom mention sexual sins nor did any Jewish scholars before the first Christian century teach that the sins of Sodom were sexual in nature. Further study reveals that “[…] this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness (sic) of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). Deuteronomy 29:26 states that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was idolatry. In the first chapter of Isaiah, the nation of Judah is rebuked through a comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah. The specific sins, say Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Mollenkott, who wrote the book, Is The Homosexual my Neighbor? , that are mentioned are greed, rebellion against God, empty religious rituals without true devotion to God, failure to plead the cause of orphans and widows, failure to pursue justice and failure to champion the oppressed. There is no mention of homosexuality (Scanzoni 60). Jesus himself didn’t say that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality but rather inhospitality: “Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:14-15).
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 warn of lying “with mankind, as with womankind,” calling it an abomination and that they should be put to death. But reading the entire chapter sheds a different light as other offenses are also listed as punishable by death such as cursing your parents (Leviticus 20:9), committing adultery (20:11-17), and working on the Sabbath (22:30). Other abominations include gossiping (Leviticus 19:16), trimming your beard (19:27), mixing seeds of different plants or wearing clothes made of half linen and wool (19:19). As you can plainly see, the “abominations” of the Old Testament don’t quite apply to today’s world. Yet those who continue to proclaim God’s hatred of gays, that the Word of God doesn’t ever change, will quote these verses to prove their point.
It must be mentioned that the New Testament of the Bible was written in a what many people thought was a “spirit-inspired” language that was mysterious and reserved only for those inspired by God who would write what we now know as the New Testament. It wasn’t until after the discovery of manuscripts containing articles such as bills of sale, etc., that were written in the same Koine Greek dialect that the original manuscripts of the books of the Bible were written in, were historians and bible scholars able to directly translate from the original texts. However some unique problems still existed because as often is the case in translations, especially with a span of nearly 2000 years, words don’t translate “word for word.” For example, the Greeks had no word for homosexuality, or heterosexuality for that matter, because in that male dominated society, sexual relations were based on domination and submission, not romantic attraction as we think of it today. Marriages were usually arranged for benefits and procreation only and men were assumed to have sexual attractions for both sexes. More importantly, we need to understand, there was no understanding at all of sexual “orientation” in the ancient world. The idea that some people are born that way only became general knowledge in the last hundred years or so, although some people today that believe it to be caused by environmental conditioning or personal choice still are challenging that. The world was a very different place then and what seems normal now wasn’t then and vice versa. Francis Mondimore, in A Natural History of Homosexuality, explains that is wasn’t until the early Middle Ages that sexual behaviors became to be regarded as something that needed to be named and defined as sins and/or crimes. He says “condemnation of homosexuality developed as part of a shift in moral thinking about sexuality which occurred several hundred years after the birth of Jesus” (Mondimore 22). with a group of Greek philosophers called the Stoics. Their philosophy, which greatly influenced St. Paul, the Pauline Epistles, and Thomas Aquinas whose Summa theologica became the basis of doctrine for the Catholic Church, included the belief that all things sensual were sinful. Any sex outside of the purpose of procreation was considered unnatural including masturbation, coitus interruptus (an early form of birth control whereas the penis is withdrawn from the vagina before orgasm), oral or anal sex (it didn’t matter if it was homosexual or heterosexual) and these were lumped together with bestiality under what came to be known collectively as “sodomy.”
The first chapter of Romans in The New Testament is used probably most often in denouncing gays, and to be honest, gave me the most trouble as a person trying to find an answer to a seemingly impossible question. But when read in its entirety, in historical and contextual significance, certain things stand out and become much more important. Remember that Paul lived in the time and under the influence of the philosophy of the Greek Stoics whose belief that all sex that was not procreative was sinful and unnatural (Boswell 129). Paul also argued that marriage was a last resort for those who could not control their sexual desires with celibacy. Paul is writing to both Jews and Gentiles his belief that sin has alienated all people from God. “The Gentile world had turned from God to idols; the Jews had turned to smug self-righteousness, hypocrisy, and harsh judgments on others […]”(Scanzoni 66). In the first part of the chapter Paul admonishes the Christian people in Rome of idolatry, to which Boswell agrees, but as he points out “the point of the passage is not to stigmatize sexual behavior or any sort but to condemn the Gentiles for their general infidelity (108). The last part of the passage that seemingly condemns homosexuals by saying “And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly […]” (Romans 1:27). Part of the argument that people who believed homosexuality was a sin was the term “natural.” They believed that if something was not found in nature it was unnatural, therefore sinful. The problem with this thinking is that homosexuality is found in nature; they just hadn’t the scientific knowledge or perhaps weren’t observant enough to see it. In his book, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity,” Bruce Bagemihl shows that homosexuality is found in over 450 different kinds of animals and in virtually every corner of the earth. Bagemihl writes that not only do animals (like humans) interact sexually with members of their own sex but that a full range of homosexual components is also observed. They include courtship, affection, sex, pair bonding, and parenting (12). Another argument might go something like this: Plastic is unnatural so then plastic is sinful? The reasoning that if it wasn’t found in nature makes it sinful has been proven to be false.
Other New Testament verses that have been used to indicate that homosexuals would be excluded from entering the kingdom of heaven are I. Corinthians 6:9 and I. Timothy 1:1-10. In the Corinthians’ verse, the first Greek word that later was translated into the King James Version of the Bible as “effeminate” is ambiguous at best. It was an extremely common word in the Koine Greek language and has many meanings, ranging from “soft,” “delicate,” and “gentle” to “loose” or “wanting in self-control” in a purely moral context says Boswell (106-107). He continues with “The word is never used in Greek to designate gay people as a group or even in reference to homosexual acts generically, and it often occurs in writings […] in reference to heterosexual persons of activity”(107). He goes on to say that this word was also used to describe masturbation by native Greek speakers in the early middle Ages and in St.Thomas Aquinas’s Summa theologiae (Boswell 107) which is, of course, no longer thought of by most religious entities as sinful, deviant or a preclusion to entering heaven. The second word in I. Corinthians 6:9 which became “abusers of themselves with mankind” in the King James Bible originally meant “male prostitute” which by the fourth century became confused with a number of words that disapproved sexual activities (Boswell 107).
The most important thing to remember in all of this, I believe, is what Jesus himself said about the subject: Nothing. He was silent on the matter. I adamantly believe that if homosexuality was so awful; so wrong in the sight of the Lord, an abomination, wouldn’t Jesus have said something about it? He does speak of love, forgiveness and not being judgmental of others.
Science has started to answer the question, “Are gays born that way or is it a choice?” Ask any gay person you know that question and you will overwhelmingly get a response like this: “Who would choose to be gay, with all the baggage that comes with it: the discrimination, the harassment, abuse and violence that’s directed at gays?” A good example of established religious doctrine that was challenged and changed by discoveries in science was in the 1600’s when Galileo proved that the earth revolved around the sun rather that the other way around. Science continues to support the theory that homosexuality is normal and natural. Sigmund Freud writes, “[…] homosexuality is assuredly no advantage but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation, it cannot be classified as an illness […]” (Freud 786). The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the list of psychiatric disorders in 1973. (Gibson 33).
There is evidence that biology does play a part. Simon Levay, a neuroscientist, who in 1991, discovered differences of a part of the brain called the hypothalamic nuclei that was markedly different and varied between straight and gay men. He believes that “[…] homosexuality, like heterosexuality, results at least in part from specific interactions between androgenic sex hormones and the brain during development […]” (LeVay 14).
I believe that, based on what the Bible says about homosexuality in the context of the whole chapter or message, the historical considerations, the mistranslated words, the “unnatural” argument, and the backing of the scientific community, homosexual orientation is a normal part of the human condition. Certainly it is not sinful and won’t, in itself, keep a person out of heaven.
Now this, it doesn’t matter whether I’m right or not or if you believe me or not. It doesn’t matter because there is not one person who has ever lived who can point their finger at another and cry “sinner!” We are all sinful in the eyes of God and the person who condemns another person condemns himself.
Do you remember the old hymn that sings “coming just as we are before God?” We all fall short of the finish line. None of us is without sin. There is no hope without grace. That is the message of the New Testament—The Good News! —The Old Testament and the law have fallen by the wayside. That is why Jesus is our Christ and our Salvation. The Law is no longer and only by Grace are we saved. Paul writes “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way” (Romans14:13).
Works Cited
American Psychiatric Association. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (3rd edition). Washington DC: Author. 33
Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Bagemihl, Bruce. Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 1999.
Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Faulkner, Anne H. and Kevin Cranston. “Correlates of same-sex behavior in a random sample of Massachusetts high school students.” American Journal of Public Health. 88.2 (1998): 262-266. Abstract. 2 July 2004 <http: www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide/gbsuicide3.htm#24b>
Freud, Sigmund. “Letter to an American Mother.” (1935), published in American Journal of Psychiatry.107 (1951): 786.
General Synod of the United Church of Christ. Resolution “Prevention of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth Suicide.” 1999. <http://www.ucccoalition.org/programs/suicide.html>
Gibson, Paul. “Gay Male and Lesbian Youth Suicide.” Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide: Volume 3 Prevention and interventions in youth suicide. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Public Health Service; Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration. 1989. [[Remafedi, Gary, editor. Death by Denial. Boston: Alyson Press. 1994.]]
Knepper, Jeanne. Speech. “Let My People In.” Pre-General Conference Briefing. United Methodist Church, Cleveland, 15 January 2000. <http://www.umaffirm.org/gcnews1.html>
Levay, Simon. The Sexual Brain. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993.
Mondimore, Francis Mark. A Natural History of Homosexuality. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996.
National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume 2: Mortality, Part A. Hyattsville, MD. 1986.
Remafedi [1], M.D., M.P.H., Editor, Gary. “The state of knowledge on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youth Suicide.” Death by Denial: Studies of Suicide in Gay and Lesbian Teenagers. Boston: Alyson Publications, Inc. 1994.
Remafedi [II], M.D., M.P.H., Gary and James A. Farrow, M.D., and Robert W. Deisher, M.D. “Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth.” Pediatrics. 87 (1991): 869-875. 2 July 2004 <http:www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide/gbsuicide1htm#22>
Remafedi, [III], Gary and Simone French. “The relationship between suicide risk and sexual orientation: Results of a population-based study.” American Journal of Public Health. 88.1 (1998): 57-60. Abstract. 28 June 2004 http:www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/1/57htm>
Remafedi, [IV] Gary. “New Research: Gay Youth at Higher Risk for Suicide.” Minneapolis Star and Tribune. 28 August 1997. <http://www.jeramyt.org/gay/gaysuic.htm>
Russell, Steven T. and Kara Joyner. “Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Suicide Risk: Evidence from a National Study.” American Journal of Public Health. 91.8 (2001) 1276-1281 Abstract. 28 June 2004 <http:www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/8/1276htm>
Scanzoni, Letha Dawson and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. Is The Homosexual My Neighbor? A Positive Christian Approach. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1978.