By Aerik Vondenburg
On Wednesday, December 22, 2010, President Obama will sign the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law, ending a 17-year policy of banning gay and lesbian service members from serving openly in the military.
Republicans explain that their opposition to the bill has nothing to do with homophobia; although, the conservative members of their party have demonstrated a long history of intolerance toward homosexual people.
Right-wing Christians have been using the Old Testament book of Leviticus to justify their position, which has culminated in the "God Hates Fags" movement of the Kansas Westboro Baptist Church. The reference is found in Leviticus 18.22, in which we are told that Jehovah considers homosexuality to be an “abomination.”
Although Jesus himself never directly commented on this issue, we know from the record that is provided in the New Testament itself, that it is unlikely that he would have outright condemned consenting same-sex adults who engage in intimate relationships. For instance, in the very same book of the Old Testament where Jehovah is reportedly condemning homosexuality, a blasphemer is ordered to be stoned to death (Leviticus 24.23), and the law “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is decreed (Leviticus 24.19)—both of which are practices that Jesus directly overturned! Also, in this very same book of the Old Testament, Jehovah decrees that pigs—which would include bacon and ham—and seafood that do not have “fins and scales”—such as crab and lobster—are “detestable” and must never be eaten (Leviticus 11.7-10). One must wonder how many right-wing fundamentalist Christian zealots who are condemning and discriminating against homosexual people are guilty of this ancient infraction?
The New Testament clearly indicates that it was the Heavenly Father's intention to manifest a new and more compassionate era upon the Earth when he sent the Christ into the world of man. Based on the teachings of Jesus himself, it can be concluded that he would have said that it is not those who love who do not make it into the kingdom of the Heavenly Father, but those who hate.
NOTE: An updated and more detailed examination of this topic is posted on my website (under the title: HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE MISINTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE . Please click the following link: www.aerikvondenburg.com/essays
Regardless of how you personally feel about it, the New Testament *does* speak about homosexuality:
ReplyDeleteRomans 1:26-27
New International Version (NIV)
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
New International Version (NIV)
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Footnotes:
(The words men who have sex with men translate two Greek words that refer to the passive and active participants in homosexual acts.)
Also, theres:
ReplyDelete1 Timothy 1:8-11
New International Version (NIV)
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
In an attempt to be just and fair, let's not ignore what is written in the Bible.
Chi chi O: Paul (the writer of the epistles of the new testament) was not one of the original disciples of the Christ. In fact, many of the members of the original church parted ways with him after they saw that he had diverged from the original message. (Many went on to form the Gnostic church )There are plenty of books that have been written about this schism. I urge you to check them out.
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