GOOD NEWS FOR GOD’S HOMOSEXUAL CHILDR

but very bad news for some Christians

by adam harbinson

First off, let me state categorically that God does not hate homosexuals; he doesn’t hate anyone, how could he, he is love. It’s probably also worth saying that to claim to hate homosexuality but love the homosexual is hypocritical in the extreme? Can you separate what the person is from who the person is?

The arrogance and self righteousness of some people who call themselves Christian is breathtaking. They single out people who are not like them, they marginalise them, they label them as pariahs, they thoughtlessly use words like ‘abomination,’ and the nauseating thing is that they seek to legitimate their narrow views by misinterpreting the Bible. And to make matters worse, when those marginalised people are beaten up on the street or when their homes are attacked or when despair drives them to suicide, they wring their hands in horror and say, ‘How could it have anything to do what I said?’ – now they’re being disingenuous as well as arrogant and self righteous.

We have long known that certain brands of Christian fundamentalism have convinced themselves that homosexual people can and must be ‘healed’, but in a television documentary the other night I heard a minister say something that can only have been incubated in some dark corner of a very dubious theological college.

I can see where his belief that homosexuals are an ‘abomination’ comes from, although some serious intellectual contortions and blind spots are called for to reach that conclusion. But this man went totally beyond the pale, claiming than unless they are ‘healed’ they cannot be Christians and are bound for eternal damnation. What he was really saying was, ‘If you want God to love you, you have to be like me.’

Now I know I risk making a few more enemies just now, but if you share this minister’s view, can I ask that you suspend your convictions for just a minute, can you allow for the possibility that they might be built on a misunderstanding of Scripture.

Let me ask a couple of questions. We all believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world, don’t we? So who says some sins are so loathsome that he wouldn’t or couldn’t forgive them? And who decides which sins are loathsome and which aren’t?

Paul and Silas told the prison governor; ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.’ Jesus told the thief of the cross, ‘Today you will be with me…’ but this minister added his own homophobic condition – ‘You have to believe and be straight!’ Where did that come from if not a mind full of fear, prejudice and hatred?

I acknowledge the Scripture in Leviticus that says; 'You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination,’ but did you know that word abomination appears 117 times in the Bible and only once does it refer to same sex relationships? And did you know that the ‘A’ word also applies to eating rabbit meat and shellfish? So why ignore the other 116 abominations? And of course Jesus was silent on the subject? Could there be a reason for that?

The news is good folks, the Golden Thread that runs through the true Christian faith is this; God created us all, all in his image, all loved equally, and all died for by Jesus. And the bad news? Well, the bad news for that particular minister and thousands like him is that like it or lump it, he will have to spend eternity with millions of God’s Gay children – on the assumption of course that he makes it past the Pearly Gates.