Homosexuality Debate
The hot topic lately, here at APU, has been homosexuality. It’s come up so much lately that I am sick of it. I’m sick of this question of weather or not homosexuality is a sin. There’s so much to the discussion and I think that’s what makes it so frustrating. The responsible thinker must say that the discussion is far too complex to simply throw out an answer and expect people to buy into it. I think that’s what bothers me the most; people try to simplify it too much. They approach it like it’s such an easy, black and white, topic. But it’s so much more complicated than that. We’re not just talking about an action, a “sin,” we’re talking about people. We’re talking about identity. If you say homosexuality is a sin you are not just referring to their actions but you are referring to what they believe is essentially who they are. You are speaking to a people who believe that God created them that way and so it is not only good but it is essential to who they are, to them it is their identity. And we can’t just throw out some bible verses. The Bible may not have anything to say about the homosexuality we are seeing. No matter how specific you may think the bible is it’s not that hard to disagree on what it has to say about homosexuality. There are God fearing dedicated Christian Scholars and bible geniuses who say that homosexuality is not a sin (there are also those who say that it’s wrong). It’s just not as black and white as we want it to be.
Neither side of the argument is comfortable. I cannot sit on the one side which says “being gay is ok” because to do so would be to abandon some things I think still need to be addressed about the subject. Nor can I sit myself on the side that says that homosexuality is a simple sin (you know like stealing or murder) because that sends a condemning message, it’s disagreeing with people about what they believe God made them. Who am I to say your very being is sinful? I just can’t be comfortable either way. I have nothing to say, the Church has nothing to say to the gay community until we mend our broken relationship. Both sides need to worry less about pushing their agenda and worry more about mending our broken relationship.
I think we, Church in America, have put so much of our energy into this homosexuality debate that we may have forgotten some of the more important things going on in the world. As we bicker and argue over right and wrong here in America (the richest nation on the planet) there are undeniably WRONG things going on in the world. As we sit here in debate, thinking that we are saving the world by arguing our point, we are allowing people to die in poverty and genocide. When did gay marriage become more worth fighting for or against than the lives of innocent people? When we place this issue, sin or not, in the big picture we should see that there are so many other thing that demand our attention, if we call ourselves Christ followers, which we have neglected for far too long. If you want to know which issue is closer to God’s heart, you should try counting. Count how many verses in scripture address poverty, hunger, oppression, marginalization, etc. then count how many verses talk about homosexuality. When God judges, which sin do you think He’ll have more anger towards, homosexuality or oppression? Homosexuality or murder? Homosexuality or hoarding of possessions? Homosexuality or apathy? What do you think is a bigger deal to God? Shouldn’t His concerns be our concerns?
What if we, the rich and privileged ones, gathered all that energy and money we spend on worrying about gay marriage and used it on freeing people from slavery, poverty, and repression? What might we be able to do?
Neither side of the argument is comfortable. I cannot sit on the one side which says “being gay is ok” because to do so would be to abandon some things I think still need to be addressed about the subject. Nor can I sit myself on the side that says that homosexuality is a simple sin (you know like stealing or murder) because that sends a condemning message, it’s disagreeing with people about what they believe God made them. Who am I to say your very being is sinful? I just can’t be comfortable either way. I have nothing to say, the Church has nothing to say to the gay community until we mend our broken relationship. Both sides need to worry less about pushing their agenda and worry more about mending our broken relationship.
I think we, Church in America, have put so much of our energy into this homosexuality debate that we may have forgotten some of the more important things going on in the world. As we bicker and argue over right and wrong here in America (the richest nation on the planet) there are undeniably WRONG things going on in the world. As we sit here in debate, thinking that we are saving the world by arguing our point, we are allowing people to die in poverty and genocide. When did gay marriage become more worth fighting for or against than the lives of innocent people? When we place this issue, sin or not, in the big picture we should see that there are so many other thing that demand our attention, if we call ourselves Christ followers, which we have neglected for far too long. If you want to know which issue is closer to God’s heart, you should try counting. Count how many verses in scripture address poverty, hunger, oppression, marginalization, etc. then count how many verses talk about homosexuality. When God judges, which sin do you think He’ll have more anger towards, homosexuality or oppression? Homosexuality or murder? Homosexuality or hoarding of possessions? Homosexuality or apathy? What do you think is a bigger deal to God? Shouldn’t His concerns be our concerns?
What if we, the rich and privileged ones, gathered all that energy and money we spend on worrying about gay marriage and used it on freeing people from slavery, poverty, and repression? What might we be able to do?