Question I'm religious, but I'm also gay. My church teaches that homosexual relationships are immoral. They say that this is what God has told us and they back it up with scriptures and revelation from God given to my current church leaders. I have a hard time accepting that homosexuality is immoral. I don't see why people should be denied consenting, intimate, long-term relationships. So, here's the question that I need to find a solution to: Should I deny believing what I think is right to comply with what my church leaders say God thinks is moral?

Accepted:
July 28, 2008

Comments

What is it with the obsession of (much) contemporary organized religions with matters of sexuality? It really is pretty bizarre. And for sure, if some of the energy wasted on pruriently fussing about who gets to do what with whom and where were spent campaigning on issues of social justice, say, then the world would be a better place. But I digress ...

You say that the proscription of homosexual acts is "backed it up with scriptures and revelation from God given to mycurrent church leaders". But the import of the few relevant scriptural passages is the subject of hot debate. And even if you think that the relevant passages should be taken seriously (Why? I'm sure you don't buy the more whacky or offensive proscriptions of Leviticus. Any grown-up believer picks and chooses), why accept your church leaders' interpretation as opposed to the readings of e.g. more liberal Christian sects? They may claim "special revelation from God", but then they would, wouldn't they? -- and no doubt so do some others with different views!

Over the centuries leaders of one sect or another have claimed special revelation to sanction all kinds of nasty and oppressive views. It sounds as if your church leaders are more of the same. They'll probably get over it in time. Meanwhile, enjoy those consenting, intimate, long-term relationships (and heck, why not the consenting, fun, short-term ones too?).

I don't have a lot to add to what Peter had to say, except that I'd like to emphasize that, while I don't know to what sort of Church you belong, it is absolutely central to the entire Protestant reformation that each of us is entitled, and indeed required, to come to our own decisions on these sorts of questions, in a reverential and prayerful fashion, to be sure, but to our own decisions, nonetheless.

And it is an understatement indeed to say that there is "hot debate" about the significance of the Biblical passages that seem to condemn homosexuality. But perhaps the larger and much more important question is how we read and respond to the Bible. The obsession with sexuality in conservative churches is nearly as puzzling as their obsession with "literal" interpretations of the Bible---interpretations that are hardly literal---and with regarding those few hundred pages as representing everything God might have cared to say to us. Well, as we like to say at my church, God is still speaking, and we'd all be a lot better off if we were still listening.

For one discussion of this issue of which I'm particularly fond, I'd heartily recommend this sermon, which was preached at my church, by my pastor, Mary Luti. It was a moving occasion, indeed, as Mary roused us to the defense of the then-new decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirming the right of same-sex couples to marry. And but a few short months afterwards, I was privileged to be present when she was, finally, able legally to marry her partner, Anne Minton, who is an Episcopal priest. And yes, they are two of the finest human beings I know.

Following up on Heck: The church I attend (Episcopal) is quite welcoming to gays. The associate pastor (and for many years my confessor) is a Lesbian priest. There are substantial support groups for homosexual Christians in different denominations. While Richard Swinburne is a Christian philosopher who has serious reservations on the merits of homosexuality, his book Revelation provides a goof philosophical framework within which to take Dr. Heck's advice and see the meaning of the Bible / revelation as something that is on-going and progressive.