In my last post, I expressed my opposition to the Catholic Church's stance on homosexuality, particularly the pressure it places on gay Christians to forsake romantic companionship. If they want to follow Christ, so Church doctrine claims, they need to live the rest of their lives celibate, barred from experiencing the physical and emotional intimacy that is sanctioned only through marriage. Regardless of whether a gay Christian's orientation is a result of genetics, celibacy is a cross that they must bear. None of the alternatives that involve accepting one's same-sex attractions, including seeking a loving and monogamous relationship, are considered acceptable by the Church. The Catholic catechism claims that its position on homosexuality is based on scripture, millennia of Church tradition, and the anatomical and emotional complementarity of male-female relationships as established by God.
Of course, these are not the only arguments used against homosexuality, nor are all arguments explicitly religious in nature. So, for example, you will hear the following comments being bandied about: homosexuality is against the public good, “gay culture” will corrupt society, homosexual practice is pointless in terms of procreation, gay couples cannot provide adopted children with a well-balanced home life. (Unfortunately, space will not allow me to address any of these statements at this point.) Then, there are the people who simply resort to labeling gays as immoral, disgusting, and sexually deviant.
Arguments affirming the morality of committed same-sex relationships, particularly in reference to the Bible and the Judaeo-Christian tradition, can be equally polyvalent. As I see it, there are three main ways in which gay advocates interact with the idea that the Bible, and therefore God, stand firmly against homosexuality:
First, the view taken by many atheists and agnostics is that the Bible is a collection of texts that reflects the primitive cultures of the ancient Near East. Sure, some of the ethical teachings of Jesus are nice, but much of the Bible is violent, antiquated, and sexist. We've progressed morally, culturally, and scientifically since it was written. We've become enlightened. The Bible is therefore unhelpful (harmful, even) as a guide for modern life, and there is no better indication of this fact than the condemnation of homosexual practice found within its pages.
Second, liberal Jews and Christians might present the idea that, while the Bible was written by godly men attempting to describe God and His interactions with mankind, it is nonetheless the creation of fallible human beings living in particular historical and cultural settings. Any passages against homosexuality in the Old and New Testaments must be seen in context, as a product of the ingrained prejudices of the writers' worldviews rather than inerrant expressions of God's will. For example, while they may appreciate Paul's theology and love for Christ, proponents of this view will chalk up his anti-gay statements to the ancient Jewish context in which he lived.
Note that both of these views agree with anti-gay Christians in accepting that the Bible roundly condemns all homosexual practice, even when applied to a loving and monogamous relationship. For a long time, I found myself firmly in the realm of the second argument. I didn't think I had any other choice. I believed that the biblical stance on same-sex relationships was clear, right there in the book for anyone to plainly read. But as I began to take the Bible more and more seriously as the Word of God, the less I was satisfied with the concept of looking at it primarily as a work of historical or theological fiction, written by men grappling for God's truth and, more often than not, failing. I came to believe that God was more active in guiding the content of the Bible than the second view would permit. (Though I still struggle with this idea at times, especially when reading Old Testament books like Leviticus and Joshua.)
I know in my heart that God can and does approve of healthy same-sex relationships. And if God was in some way the “author” behind the Bible, there was only one conclusion for me to come to: Tradition has misinterpreted the verses used to condemn homosexuality. For a few months, I scoured the Internet for any blogs, articles, or books that offered sound ways of interpreting the anti-gay passages (called the “clobber” verses) in a way that excludes loving same-sex relationships from God's condemnation.
In the next post, I will outline some of the major issues involved and seek to defend homosexuality biblically. This third view, in my opinion, is the best way for believing Jews and Christians to take the Bible seriously while affirming what we know in our hearts to be true: God does not hate homosexuality.
