Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyingDonutz
My stand is, I believe it is immoral to take those rights away from homosexuals. Every man deserves equal rights. The entire biblical premise here contradicts itself. It's blows itself up. Being married to another man is, of course, not accepted under biblical principle. However, putting down another non-religious man for being gay is not accepted under biblical principle. It's hard to make sense of.
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I agree with you, insofar as it is absolutely "unChristian" to persecute others for their refusal to endorse the same moral principles as we do. You are absolutely correct that the Bible "contradicts itself"—as you say—on the issue of homosexuality and acceptance, but this is because of a deeper, two-fold problem that I believe all Christians need to address: 1) The historical nature of the biblical text, and 2) the practical function of "biblical authority" in the post-modern, Western world. You will often see me taking a hardline against fellow Christians, but this is because of my own frustration with how poorly so many of us have thought through some of these issues for so long, and how our own conception of biblical authority has failed us. If it is not working, then it needs to change, and my goal is to discover how to do that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyingDonutz
It's not right to get married to another guy, however it's not right to stop them from doing so.
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The problem with so many modern conceptions of biblical authority is that it has become arbitrary. The statement here is a perfect example of this: "It is not right to get married to another guy"
because the Bible says so. In my own model of biblical authority that I am developing and refining, I am much more interested in
why the Bible says the things that it does, and
how these can then be applied positively and beneficially in the modern world.
Without going into a lot of detail, I have become convinced that the injunctions against homosexuality are primarily cultural, and were formed from a primitive worldview that is no longer relevant or useful in today's day and age. It makes perfect sense in its own context, but with how much our world has changed, the plain application of these rules is now wholly impractical. There comes a point—even under the umbrella of biblical authority—when we are obligated to recognize the failures of our institutions, and to change them. I maintain my own commitment to biblical authority, but I am also convinced that we must reject the Bible's fairly universal intolerance of homosexuality—we do so because this intolerance was borne from a mindset that is now irrelevant and completely impractical.
I challenge you with this:
· Think carefully about
why you believe homosexuality is wrong.
· Think carefully about
why the Bible consistently legislates against homosexuality, and whether or not this rationale still works in the modern world.
· If you are a Christian, then form your opinion about homosexuality on the basis of Jesus's own vision for the Kingdom of God—the perfectly just and idyllic rule in which all the best things about humanity are finally and fully realized for the benefit of everyone and everything.