Gay People Can Find a Home in Christianity


It's taken a while for women to gain a foothold behind the pulpit. They are still not welcomed in the largest denominations. As gay people gain acceptance across the broader society, they will find Christianity easier to navigate. My favorite new saying is: Religion is downhill from culture. Religion will change faster and faster as it gets to the bottom of the hill.

I enjoyed reading about a young gay man who grew up in a Bible thumping family but discovered he is gay. Religion is such a part of his make up he could not leave. Instead he kept searching for ways to find a place in it. Today he is a religion major and an Episcopalian. 

There seems no doubt that homosexuality will eventually not be an issue in any part of Christianity. It is an issue now only because of a cultural bias. The cultural bias against gays is no different than that of black people and a host of others. In every case, parts of Christianity used that to justify the cultural bias. As we all know, the bias eventually was mostly put aside.

The part of Christianity that remains prejudiced against gays has this peculiar strategy of claiming the Bible condemns it. The six "clobber verses" used to clobber gays are all isolated references to something, but whether it is about homosexuality is doubtful. And if one or two was about same sex attraction, so what? The Bible was written at a time when all kinds of superstition was rampant. It was a time when dreams and visions were not separated clearly in importance from real time events. Gods, spirits and ghosts were all around. Anyone who thinks the Bible condemns same sex attraction needs to get over it.

It is hopeful that some branches of Christianity accept homosexuality as part of the variety of human characteristics and does not condemn it. I wish there were more. That time is coming.    

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