Date: Thu, 21 Apr 94 08:26 GMT
From: gwyn@thunder.indstate.edu (Thomas W. Holt Jr.)

Christians opposed to political and social equality for homosexuals nearly
always appeal to the moral injunctions of the Bible, claiming that Scripture
is very clear on the matter and citing verses that support their opinions.

[First must believe that Scriptures are not the generations-removed
recollections written by the devout followers  without allowing for
dissenting positions. The Gospels were written anywhere from 30 to 120 years
after the death of Jesus and none were actually written by first hand, eye
witness followers.]

Nine citations are customarily invoked as relating to homosexuality. Four
(Deuteronomy 23:17, I Kings 14:24, I Kings 22:46 and II Kings 23:7) simply
forbid prostitution by men and women.

Two others (Leviticus 18:19-23 and Leviticus 20:10-16) are part of what
Biblical scholars call the Holiness Code. The code explicitly bans homosexual
ACTS [not BEING homosexual]. But it also prohibits eating raw meat, planting
two different kinds of seed in the same field and wearing garments with two
different kinds of yarn. [How many have violated that law with cotton/wool or
cotton/polyester blends?]  Tattoos, adultery and sexual intercourse during a
woman's menstrual period are similarly outlawed.

There is NO mention of homosexuality in the four Gospels of the New
Testament.  The moral teachings of Jesus are not concerned with the subject.
[His teachings are concerned, however, with acceptance, inclusion, loving and
being non-judgemental.  He did not condemn the woman accused of adultery and,
if we live by his example, we should condemn homosexuals for being the way
that they are.]

Three references from St. Paul are frequently cited (Romans 1:26-2:1, I
Corinthians 6:9-11 and Timothy 1:10). But St. Paul was concerned with
homosexuality only because in Greco-Roman culture it represented a "secular"
sensuality that was contrary to his Jewish-Christian "spiritual" idealism.
He was against lust and sensuality in anyone, including heterosexuals.  To
say that homosexuality is bad because homosexuals are tempted to do morally
doubtful things is to say that heterosexuality is bad because heterosexuals
are likewise tempted.  For St. Paul, anyone who put his or her interest ahead
of God's is condemned, a verdict that falls on everyone.

And lest I forget Sodom and Gomorrah, recall that the story is NOT about
sexual perversion and homosexual practice.  It is about inhospitality,
according to Luke 10:10-13, and failure to care for the poor, according to
Ezekiel 16:49-50. [How many of us are guilty of these same sins? Ironically,
by being inhospitable to our homosexual brothers and sisters, we are
committing the real sins of Sodom - we are the Sodomites. Sodomy is not, in
fact, a sexual sin, but a sin of greed and unloving.]  To suggest that Sodom
and Gomorrah is about homosexual sex is an analysis of about as much worth as
suggesting that the story of Jonah and the whale is a treatise on fishing.

Part of the problem is a question of interpretation. Fundamentalists and
literalists are terrified that Scripture, when "wrongly interpreted" may
separate them from their values. That fear stems from their own recognition
that their "values" are not derived from Scripture, as they claim, but that
are interpreting Scripture to support the values.

For Christians, the principle by which Scripture is read is nothing less than
an appreciation of the work and will of God revealed in that of Jesus.  To
recover a liberating and inclusive Christ is to be freed from the semantic
bondage that makes us curators of a dead culture rather than creations of a
new creation.

Source: Homophobic? Re-Read Your Bible by Peter J. Gomes, New York Times,
8/17/93. Peter Gomes is an American Baptist minister and a professor of
Christian morals at Harvard.