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CAN A HOMOSEXUAL BECOME AND REMAIN A CHRISTIAN?
Many people have been taught during childhood that homosexual behavior is condemned both by God and by their religion as unnatural and morally degenerate. If they discover later in life that they are lesbian, gay, or bisexual they often go through a spiritual crisis. Too many realize that their sexual orientation is unchangeable, and that they cannot go through life as someone that they have been taught to hate; they commit suicide. (About 30% of teen suicides are due to this cause; one of the costs of homophobia). Survivors experience a conflict between what they are and what they believe. They sometimes abandon their religion. Some become enthusiastically anti-religious.
The purpose of this essay is to explore the possibility of a gay or lesbian restoring their faith by overcoming the apparent conflict between their religion and their sexual orientation. We will select what might be the most difficult example: that of a homosexual, ex-Fundamentalist Christian who believes that the Bible is inerrant; (i.e. is without error in its original form) and whose denomination condemns homosexual behavior. Step 1: What Did Jesus Christ Say about Homosexuality?
He is recorded as having given hundreds of instructions covering behavior and thought; but none of these dealt with homosexuality. Jesus concentrated on a person's interactions with God and his fellow humans. He did tell the woman who committed adultery to go and sin no more. But that was the only time he is known to have commented on sexual morality. Jesus may have felt that homosexuality was not a matter worth commenting upon.
Step 2: Understanding the Hebrew scriptures
There are many places in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) that have been traditionally interpreted as condemning homosexuality. It is important that we go past modern day translations. like the King James Version, and determine what the original authors wrote. In their eagerness to condemn gays and lesbians, the translators and interpreters of the Bible often introduced an anti-homosexual slant. A careful analysis of the original texts reveals a different story:
♥ Genesis 19 describes the destruction of Sodom, which has been attributed to the homosexuality of its citizens; the men may have wanted to rape the (male) angels. Actually, the text at this point is ambiguous; the original Hebrew word sometimes referred to sexual activity although it usually meant "to know" in a literal sense. But a careful reading of Genesis and Ezekiel reveals that inhospitality, pride, idol worship, and lack of consideration for the poor were their prime sins. If homosexuality was involved, it was obviously not consensual sexual activity; it was rape. So we can safely conclude that Sodom was destroyed because of the sins of its citizens which included their habit of raping visitors. Judges 19 seems to be a duplicate of the Genesis story.
♥ Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13 appears to condemn male homosexual behavior, but in fact only refers to temple prostitution. Even if it did refer to lesbian and gay relationships, it would not be applicable to Christians today, any more than are the other 613 laws which make up the Jewish Holiness Code. It is less than genuine for a Christian teleminister or theologian to imply that these verses are still valid for the beliefs and conduct of Christians, while stating that the remaining laws of the Holiness Code are not applicable.
♥ Deuteronomy 23:17, I Kings 14:24 and 15:12 are mistranslated in some versions of the Bible as referring to homosexual behavior. "Temple prostitute" would be an accurate translation.
♥ Ruth 1:16 and 2:10-11 describe a deeply intimate relationship between Ruth and Naomi which may or may not have had a sexual component.
♥ 1 Samuel 18:1-4 and 20:41-42 and 2 Samuel 1:25-26 describe a deeply intimate relationship between David and Jonathan which may or may not have had a sexual component.
We conclude that the Hebrew scriptures condemn homosexual rape and temple prostitution, but do not disapprove of gay and lesbian relationships. One can be confident that centuries of fire and brimstone sermons on homosexuality based on verses from the Old Testament are misinterpretations of the Bible. Step 3: Understanding the Christian scriptures
There are many places in the Christian scriptures (New Testament) that have been traditionally interpreted as condemning homosexuality.
♥ Romans 1:26 and 27 has St. Paul criticizing sexual activity which is against a person's nature or disposition. This passage has been variously interpreted to refer to all homosexual behavior, to orgiastic activity, to temple prostitution, or to heterosexuals who were engaging in same-sex exchanges. The meaning is unclear.
♥ I Corinthians 6:9 contains a lists of activities that will prevent people from inheriting the Kingdom of God. One was translated as referring to masturbation, and is now sometimes translated as "homosexual". The true meaning is lost.
♥ 1 Tim 1:9 is similar to I Corinthians.
♥ Jude 7 refers to the people of Sodom as "giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh". The latter has been variously translated as women engaging in sexual intercourse with angels and as homosexuality. The exact meaning is lost.
We conclude that St. Paul in the Christian scriptures seems to have condemned some homosexual activity, but it is unclear which ones. There is no mention of loving, committed gay and lesbian relations in the Christian scriptures. Step 4: Understanding the Beliefs and Policies of Religious Institutions
Some Christian denominations appear to be give great emphasis to what people do in bed with each other, rather than concentrating on drugs, hatred, homophobia, poverty, racism, religious intolerance, sexism, violence, etc.
Over the past few centuries, many sexual debates have emerged between established religious organizations and other groups in society. These have included:
♥ abortion
♥ birth control
♥ female clergy
♥ homosexual behavior
♥ inter-faith marriage
♥ inter-racial marriage
♥ pre-marital sexual experience
♥ roles of men and women in marriage and society
♥ same-sex marriages
As a general rule, liberal faith groups resolve these conflicts first. These are followed by the mainline religious organizations, and finally by the Fundamentalists. As one example, consider birth control. At the turn of the century, all or essentially all religious groups condemned family planning; some were active in promoting laws to ban the sale of contraceptives. Today, almost all groups consider birth control to be a non-issue. One major exception is the Roman Catholic Church. But even here, the "People of God" (the membership of the church) has almost fully adopted birth control in their own lives.
Consider most intractable conflict: abortion. A few decades ago, there was a unified front among religious groups keep the procedure criminalized; legislation reflected this. Currently, the most liberal religious groups (Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Canada, United Church of Christ, etc.) support a woman's right to choose. Mainline religious groups (Anglican, Congregationalists, Methodists, etc) have a variety of policies. The most conservative (Fundamentalists and other Evangelicals) are unalterably opposed. But even in the latter case, there is some movement in a liberal direction: more groups now support a woman's access to abortion if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if it is to save the life of the woman. Here we clearly see a debate in progress in which the most liberal groups change first, followed by the mainline, with the conservative wing lagging far behind.
Inter-faith and inter-racial marriages were once hot religious topics. They have mostly become non-issues. Female ordination, feminism, and other sexually related topics are currently being hotly debated.
With the possible exception of the most conservative, faith groups are discussing whether:
♥ celibate gay and lesbian adults are eligible for membership and/or ordination
♥ sexually active gay and lesbian persons are eligible for membership and/or ordination
♥ homosexuals involved in loving committed relationships should have their unions recognized in some form of religious ritual
♥ same-sex marriages should be allowed
♥ there should be some form of educational process of the general membership about homosexuality, in order to compensate for the hatred taught by most religious groups for centuries
A survey of Christian churches and other religions reveals that many groups are agonizing over changes to their policies. Many decide to take either no action or to take the next step towards liberalization. To our knowledge, no faith group has gone in the opposite direction. As more lesbians and gays come out of the closet, more scientific research reveals the causes of sexual orientation, and the next generation takes over positions of power, the relaxation of policies against homosexuals are expected to continue. We expect that early in the next century, most religious groups will accept that homosexual feelings are not chosen and are unchangeable in adulthood. Those still opposed to homosexual behavior will probably concentrate on convincing lesbians and gays to be celibate.
We feel that the trend towards accepting homosexual orientation as natural, and normal is unstoppable, and that all religious groups will abandon their restrictions on gay and lesbian participation. It will take many decades for the most conservative groups to complete this process. Step 5: Where to Go for Spiritual Support
There are several options:
♥ Ask your local Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual support agency whether they have an affiliated spiritual group. If not, consider forming one.
♥ Determine if your denomination or faith group has a office for homosexual concerns of if members have formed their own organization. We have a partial list of such groups.
♥ Consider moving to a more liberal religious group
♥ Consider moving to the Metropolitan Community Church which is made up of about 85% gays, lesbians and bisexuals. They follow a conservative theology
♥ Consider becoming a "solitary practitioner", and follow your faith by yourself
♥ Read a book that describes the life experience of a devout Christian who is also gay. The best one that we have found so far is Mel White, "Strangers at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America", Simon & Schuster, New York NY (1994) You can order it through an on-line bookstore, such as: You can read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
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