I always find it interesting that if Christians know any verse of the Torah, they know those few verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. If they can quote the New Testament, they most assuradly quote the first chapter of Romans…but they also have no problem forgetting any other Levitical prohibition and they never continue after Romans 1:32 on to 2:1 and beyond…there were no chapter breaks in the original.
If homosexuality is a sin, then God will judge it. BUT if it is not, and every scriptural verse which seems to address it really addresses issues more cultural than moral. True, older men should not corrupt young boys…in that respect those older men take away a childs innocence.
If it was so cut and dry, there wouldn’t be this discussion. Fact is, it is not cut and dry. Those few 5-6 passages of scripture which on the surface appear to condemn gay people, in reality do not. The NIV translation that uses the word “homosexual offender” does so more for the translators religious beliefs than the literal translation. Fact, we don’t know exactly what word Paul was trying to convey…he made up a new word in this passage.
I would rather err on the side of love and compassion, than on the side of condemnation and fear…and hate…which we find so prevelant in the church when gay people are concerned…
In my Meeting we have decided as a body to accept those gay people who have come to us requesting we take their relationships under our care…we have offered to those who wish to make a lifetime commitment before God and the Meeting “after the manner of Friends” a place to do so…a community to live out the diverse love of God in our midst.
God created male and female…two extremes…two being so totally different from one another to show the infinite diversity of humanity…“In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek (race is of no distinction), male nor female (sexual expression, sexual differences are no difference), bond nor free (economic and societal status), but we are one in Christ Jesus.”…God’s call us to diverse community…to live out His life in our world…and He blesses His creation…His new Creation in Christ…male, female, gay, straight, Arab, Jew, Irish, Dutch…“red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight…Jesus love the little children of the world…”
Each of us will one day stand before the One who knows us best, and loves us most…He calls us to “love one another”…all too often we forget that the gay person is the “stranger in our midst”…