Homosexuality
Olives, Wineskins, White Bread, & Jesus
I ate a whole can of olives the other day. Is that bad? It doesn't seem bad. Olives are fruit, right? I've never heard anyone refer to olives as fruit, but they're plants and plants are generally good for you. They are very salty, which I think might not be good. Salt is one of those things they used to say was good for you and they even handed out salt tablets to athletes. But then I think they said it was bad for you and everyone was trying to cut down on salt. But now I don't hear so much about salt anymore. I think it's maybe bad but not as bad as, say, eating nothing but fast-food all the time. Compared to that, eating a can of olives might even be kind of good for you.
One would think so anyway.
I can't keep up with this stuff, to tell you the truth. When I eat I have to look over at my wife and say, "Is this bad for me?" She seems to know about these things. Take bread for example. Years ago bread was fattening and a thing you had to watch out for. But then everyone said it was red meat you had to avoid. Red meat would clog up your arteries. So bread wasn't that bad. But then suddenly they said meat was okay as long as you avoided bread completely. And there were those diets where you ate no bread at all or anything even remotely resembling bread.
So bread has been sometimes good and sometimes bad for us. I don't mean white bread, of course. I think white bread became bad for us sometime back in the 70s and has remained bad ever since. I think it has stayed bad the whole time. That's okay because Jeanene got me used to wheat bread years ago, and now white bread gives me the creeps. The way you can roll it into little balls and it turns kind of gray if your hands weren't all that clean. I never liked that about white bread, even when I was a kid, even before it was bad for us.
This Is How It Happened
Theology can only ever be simple thoughts from simple minds that are forever trapped in moments of time.
You want to know how it happened? I’ll tell you how it happened. I got tired. I couldn’t do it anymore. I fought an inward battle with orthodoxy for years and tried to figure out what the Bible has to say about this. I took six years of Greek, hoping the original language of the New Testament might shed some light. I got a Bachelor’s degree in religious studies and a Master of Divinity. I read everything I could find and talked to everyone I respected. But in the end, it all came down to this – I could not be orthodox in this matter. I could not. So I gave up and gave in. And the minute I did I felt a flood of cool relief, like water after forty days in the desert.
The moment of choice came, and I chose to stand with my friends. That’s the deal. That’s the way it happened. I wish I could tell you that my rigorous study finally unlocked the secrets of the New Testament’s scant witness on this matter, but it never did. For twenty years I asked this question of the Bible and never got a clear answer. Finally, I realized that I could wait on the Bible no longer.
I had to choose my place in the middle of uncertainty, ambiguity, and doubt. I had to make a choice. I had to stand on one side or the other. The bottom line is, I don’t give a damn what you think the Bible says. I’m not going to stand against my friends on this. I can’t. I cannot. I am unable to stand against them and not collapse from sorrow and despair.
Fractured Family of Men
I saw two gay men sitting at the bar of a nice restaurant in Austin. They were drinking a matched set of martinis and completely engrossed in their conversation. Something about their posture and the way they were interacting made me think that they truly cared for each other.
I thought to myself, “I bet they can talk about anything.”
In that moment I found myself wishing that I could sit at the bar with a gay man and talk. We would sip martinis, and I could tell him whatever I wanted. I would cry, I think, and I would talk about how I feel in my worst and best moments. And he would care for me in that soft and vulnerable way that I have only known with women. I would be weak, but he would count my weakness as an endearment. I would be as a child, and he would love that glimpse into my soul.
I would let my feminine side step out of the deep darkness. I would give her a name and pull up a bar stool for her. And he would hand her a martini. She would join us in conversation and be so wise, and so ancient, and so happy to see the light of day.
“Look at me!” I would say. “I feel like a whole person.”
“Good for you,” he would say, wisely, and make a subtle gesture to the bartender for another drink.
When the time was right I would confess my sins and the sins of Christian people. “Bless me, brother, for I have sinned against you, I and the people of my faith. I am a Baptist preacher, and I have been broken for such a long time.”
Our heads would bend close to each other because I would be sobbing and talking in such a quiet whisper. And he would forgive me. I know he would because he would care about me. He would pronounce absolution with mock seriousness, making the sign of the cross like the pope. And absolution would be like the olive at the bottom of the glass. It would have a flavor all its own, a sigh of relief, a marking of the end, a signal that it is time for another round.
A Look at the Bible and Homosexuality
After my passionate post on the subject of homosexuality, I've received numerous emails asking me to clearly state my interpretation of the parts of the Bible that are thought to speak to the issue of homosexuality. Initially I thought I would respond by email to those wanting to discuss the Bible, but the number of emails was overwhelming so I thought I would post my thoughts here.
I'd like to speak to this issue in 4 parts.
Part One - Hypocrisy:
If we Christians were honest, we would admit that we do not abide by all the commandments of scripture ourselves. I don't mean that we try and fail. I mean we deliberately choose to ignore scriptures that are not convenient for our lifestyles. As I pointed out in my post yesterday, the amount of scripture that is ignored, scorned, and abused by modern Christians is incredible. This blatant disregard for scripture never seems to bother church people when the issues at hand have to do with their own sins. But suddenly, when the subject of homosexuality comes up, everyone becomes a biblical literalist. The hypocrisy of this is appalling.
I think we should afford our homosexual brothers and sisters the same luxury we claim for ourselves. If we plan to ignore whatever scriptures threaten our lifestyles, perhaps we should offer them space at our bonfire to burn their little handful of scriptures as we burn the Bible chapter and verse.
We should all agree that none of us are able or willing to follow all the teachings of scripture. Let the one who is obeying God's word ask for detailed scriptural explanations from others.
In my book, that settles the argument, and there is no reason to go further. However, if you are determined to hold homosexuals to a higher standard, demanding detailed explanations for why they do not obey minor parts of the Bible while all of Christendom tramples on the very heart of scripture, move on to part two:
Part Two - The Bible and homosexuality:
I Have No Title For This
Note: After I wrote this piece, I had an overwhelming flood of emails asking for specific
information about what the bible says about homosexuality. I posted a follow-up
piece where I analyzed the scriptures that speak to this issue.
Click here to read that follow-up piece.
Sit down Christian. You cannot wave your unread Bible and scare me because I know the larger story that runs through it beginning to end. I'm trying to resist the temptation to snatch it from your hands and beat you with it. I am your worst nightmare, a Texas preacher who knows the good book better than you do. Show me your scriptures. Show me how you justify condemning homosexual people.
Show me what you got, Christian. The Sodom story? That story is about people who wanted to commit a brutal rape. Let's all say it together, “God doesn't like rape”. You could have listened to your heart and learned that, Christian. Move on. What else you got?
A passage from Leviticus? Are you kidding me? Are you prepared to adhere to the whole Levitical code of behavior? No? Then why would you expect others to? Move on. What else?
Two passages - two verses from Romans and one from I Corinthians. There you stand, your justification for a worldwide campaign of hatred written on two limp pieces of paper. Have you looked closely at these passages? Do you understand their context and original language? I could show you why you don't have much, but there is something more important you need to see.
Come with me to the church cellar. Come now and don't delay. I am shaking with anger and fighting the urge to grab you by the collar and drag you down these steps.
You didn't know the church had a cellar? Oh yes, every church does. Down, down we go into the darkness. Don't slip on the flagstone and never mind the heat.
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