Homosexuals - Plain Truth Ministries

The worldwideAnglicanCommunion ofchurches is rockingand reeling as the prospect ofdivision looms closer andcloser. Over 70 million Christiansin 164 countriesare now affectedas their Anglicanand Episcopalianchurches arefacing the possibility of beingripped apart by the issue of gaysexuality.This past fall a commissionconvened by the Archbishop ofCanterbury, senior Archbishopof the Anglican Communion,asked the Episcopal Church inthe United States to apologize for ordaining a gaybishop. The “Windsor Report” called on Americanbishops who ordained Bishop V. Gene Robinson toapologize. The commission authorized by theArchbishop did not call on Robinson to resign, but it didcriticize conservative Episcopalians in the United Stateswho reacted toRobinson’s ordinationby breaking away fromthe church.The vast majority ofAmericans believe intraditional marriage. This pastfall’s generalelectionfeaturedeleven statesapprovingconstitutionalamendments prohibitingsame-sex marriage. Whilebiblically-based Christianityclearly defines the practice ofhomosexuality as a sin, howshould we as Christiansrespond to homosexuals?Few issues in our generation have polarizedChristians as does homosexuality. This topic hasbecome a battlefield, with Christians from twoextreme positions lobbing theological grenadesand demeaning, judgmental insults at each otherfrom opposing perspectives:EXTREME LIBERAL VIEW1 Homosexuals are born as homosexuals. Godmade them, and therefore any biblicalreferences that seem to prohibit lovinghomosexual practiceare archaic andculturally biased.Why would Godcreate a homosexualand then accusehim/her of sinning ifthey express theirlove with anotherhomosexual in amonogamousrelationship? Homosexualsin loving and faithfulrelationships are simplydemonstrating theirlove. Those who takeany other positionare homophobic,bigots andhatemongers. ❑EXTREME CONSERVATIVE VIEW2 The practice of homosexuality is condemnedin the Bible. Homosexuals arenot born—they areThere is a third alternative increasingly favored by many evangelicalChristians. These Christians reject both extremes and advocate a balancedand biblical, Christ-centered viewpoint that doesn’t answer all thequestions or solve every ambiguity, but comes closer to authenticChristianity than the two extremes.This third, balanced perspective acknowledges that no one definitivelyknows whether homosexuals are born or whether they become that way.The jury is still out, with conflicting studies and research, much of whichunfortunately seems to be self-serving and subjectively skewed.TOWARD A BALANCED, CHRIST-CENTERED PERSPECTIVE3 The Bible condemns homosexual practice,along with many other sins, including hatred,pride and self-righteousness. On the one hand, nohuman has the capability of declaring some of the Bibleto be true and accurate, with other portions being mythand opinion. Such “scholarship” attempting to justifyhomosexual practice is self-serving abuse of the Bible. On theother hand, the Bible does not indicate that homosexuality is theworst of all sins, nor does it give such a ranking to any sin.The gospelmade. Nature doesnot producehomosexuals—they are producedby dysfunctionalrelationships and acorrupt world.Homosexuals aredeviates andperverts—theyare skilled at usingpolitics and the media,attempting to movehomosexuality into themainstream ofsociety. The truth isthat homosexualityis absolutely theworst kindof sin. ❑MARCH/APRIL 2005 19Continued on next page

of Jesus Christ makes it clear that we are all sinners, and thatwe all need Jesus Christ.Above all, the Bible clearly defines Christians as thosewho have love. Christians are identified by this love—God’slove. This love is not a word or concept that humans cansubjectively use to justify their behavior. Love is not expressedthrough lying, stealing, hating, pride, envy, drunkenness,gluttony or homosexuality. Love is not expressed by condemningothers, shouting insults at them from picket lines orostracizing them. God’s love is not our love, it is his love, and itis by that love Christians are known.Unfortunately, many have taken unbiblical views thatare either self-serving and self-justifying on one hand, orjudgmental and hateful on the other. Sadly, many Christianshave become known as bigots who have no time forhomosexuals. All Christians are sinners; Christians haveproclivities and weaknesses of all kinds, including homosexuality.However, Christians who are homosexuals, whohave homosexual desires, including those who have oncebeen practicing homosexuals will not,Oscar was the first gay manI knew well. It was 1973and I’d just migratedto San Francisco fromVirginia—a hippie chick wanderingin for a haircut, immediatelycharmed by all the things thatmade him different from any manI’d met before.It stands to reason I’d be attracted.The gay scene was another cuttingedge of the counterculture, and Iloved hanging out on cutting edges.Over the next few years, Oscar andI became good friends, at first justtrading gossip and giggles, buteventually allowing our lives to becomedeeply entwined.In 1976, when I left my husband,Oscar was there for me—from decoratingmy new flat to staging mydaughter Jasmine’s two-year-oldbirthday party. When my decadentlifestyle landed me in the hospital,Oscar moved in and took over,then stayed when I came home toa long recovery—cooking, cleaningand taking care of Jasmine.Eventually I came to spend mostof my time hanging out with gaymen. I even had a couple of gayroommates as my life spiraleddownhill through a series of drugdependencies. Romance was neveran issue, as the gays I knew werenot experimenting, not bi, but onlyinto men. Many had come to SanRETHINKINGMYVIEWSABOUTHOMOSEXUALITYBY B ARBARA C URTISFrancisco from the Midwest orpoints east to get away from theirfamilies and to live someplacewhere they felt they could be whothey were. As I listened to theirbragging and boasting, I couldhardly believe the way they livedtheir lives, with numbers of partnersthat staggered the imagination.Some claimed to have had 500 ormore a year.My theory was that their sexualityrepresented the complete dominationof masculine sexuality. Just asin their natural state men tend tobe more interested in sex than relationship,and women put a greatervalue on relationship than sex, inSan Francisco in the 70s the homosexualsI knew had virtually strippedsex of human attachment. Theywanted sex without limits. Andsince women represented limits,they didn’t want women.by definition, practice homosexuality. They will not paradetheir pride in the practice of homosexuality and insist that thechurch or society at large accept them in same sex marriage.Marriage is one man and one woman according to the Bible.Therefore, a Christian homosexual will be a celibate homosexual,much as a recovering alcoholic will not drink anyalcohol, and they will avoid situations where they may betempted.Other Christians who happen to have differing weaknessesand sins will reach out to celibate homosexual Christiansrather than condemn them. Christians are known by God’slove that lives in us through Jesus Christ.Christ lives his life within us and reforms us in God’s image,transforming us from all human culture, including the cultureof religion that often opposes Christ. Plain Truth askedBarbara Curtis and Madison Trammel to share their thoughtsabout homosexuals, and homosexuality. Each expresses amove to a Christ-centered perspective on this potentiallydivisive issue. ❑—The EditorsIn 1980, I left the gay scene inSan Francisco, moved to Marin,California, then—realizing thechange I really needed to make wasin me— joined Alcoholics Anonymousto learn how to live withoutdrugs and alcohol. Seven years ofspiritual seeking followed before I,along with my husband Tripp, becameChristian in 1987.The next twelve years, consumedwith learning and teaching mychildren what it meant to be a believer,I paid little attention towhat was going on in the worldoutside Christianity. When I cameup for air, it was a different culturallandscape. The cutting edge of thecounterculture had become mainstream.Movies and TV shows withsympathetic portrayals of gay charactershad made a choice onceconsidered taboo just anotherlifestyle.And often, they were the nicestcharacters in the show. Take the recent“Queer Eye For the StraightGuy”—you couldn’t meet five nicer,more helpful, witty and fun-to-bewithguys. It was as though they’dtaken Oscar and highlighted eachwonderful part about him.But the political landscape wasbad news, with aggression andhostility coming from both sides:homosexuals aggressively seekingchange and acceptance, and Chris-20 THE PLAIN TRUTH

tian groups organized to defendfoundational truths.Like other Christians, at first Iwas angered and confused by thenew labels we had to bear: Antigay,homophobe, bigot. Yes, homosexualitywas undoubtedly a sin,but only a few fringe fanatics wererunning around with signs saying,“God Hates Fags.”Most of us knew God doesn’t hatefags, that he loves them, that if Jesuswere here today he’d probably eatdinner with them, challenging allof our prejudices. We knew wewere supposed to hate the sin andlove the sinner, but with regards tohomosexuals, what exactly wouldthat look like?Around the time these questionswere nagging at my soul, I had anepiphany about my attitude towardshomosexuality and homosexuals.Here’s what I wrote:NIMBY: Now In My Back YardI wasn’t ready for this so close to home.After all, I live in a rural, relativelyunsophisticated town, boasting not asingle shopping mall or pet psychiatrist,where people shop at Kmart andare thankful to have one. I thought wemight remain backward yet a whilelonger—at least until my childrenwere all grown.Still, we’re only an hour north ofthe Golden Gate Bridge, and on weekendsthe freeway that slices throughour town hosts an ever-growingstream of upscale cars carrying twomen apiece to the funky river resorttowns another hour north. Noticeablydistinct from local types sportingFord pickups and hunting rifles, thesepassers-through are more inclined todrive BMWs and fancy bikes. Withno women or children to provide for,they can afford it.Sometimes on the freeway perchedhigh in my own BMW—Big MamaWagon—I see them holding hands,looking a lot like two left shoes. At65 miles per hour it’s not so hard toshrug off.But, I wasn’t flying down the freewaylast week, I was just making abank deposit. My teller was new, andbreaking new ground at our bank—four earrings, no less. As he typed inmy transaction, my eyes grazed hisname tag, then thewalls of his cubby—browsing for pictures ofwife, girlfriend, kids orpets.Sure enough, therewas a wedding picture,a couple underan arbor abloom withpink. “Doug,” smaller,younger, and clearlyquite smitten, heldhands with his newpartner. Two tuxedos,no bouquet.So nowit’s in myown backyard,once so far fromSan Francisco’s CastroDistrict, my formerstomping ground as a“fag hag” (affectionately,a straight womanwho hangs out with gaymen—or in mycase even livedwith them).But how did ithappen? I canonly say thatwhen I walkedin darkness, Iwalked fartherthan most. Ithought it was“hip.”...I paid little attention to what was going on in the world outside Christianity. When I came upfor air, it was a different cultural landscape. The cutting edge of the counterculture hadbecome mainstream. Movies and TV shows with sympathetic portrayals of gaycharacters had made a choice once considered taboo just another lifestyle.It wasn’t,really. ThesePC “wedding”pictures nowgracing magazines(and whoknows, maybelots of cubbies likeDoug’s) are differentthan the debaucheryI saw in the late 70s. My guess isthat among young gay men they arestill the exception, rather than therule.The dominating force in the homosexualcommunity I knew wasunbridled, unfettered male lust.Bathhouses and places even moreunspeakable offered access to hundredsof anonymous partners a year.Gays boasted of their records, outdoingeach other and themselves in sheernumbers and types of perversion.PHOTO COURTESY OF NBC, INC © 2004And often, they were thenicest characters in the show. Takethe recent “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy”—you couldn’t meet five nicer, more helpful,witty and fun-to-be-with guys.That was pre-AIDS, of course. Andthough AIDS may have put a temporarydamper on the party, it seemsonce again to be in full swing. Foryears gays have been demanding acure which will allow them to continuetheir reckless behavior. Now in SanFrancisco they clamor for the reopeningof the bathhouses, which wereclosed in the 80s to prevent the spreadof disease. The Annual Gay PrideParade continues to look like adescent into the torments of hell. NotMARCH/APRIL 2005 21

at all the image conveyed in Doug’swedding picture.Monogamy—that was for dumbheterosexuals, or “breeders.”Now Breeder Supreme, I wonderwhat Doug is thinking as he siftsthrough my bundle of checks—articlepayments from places like Focus onthe Family, Southern Baptists, the SalvationArmy. Will he pigeonhole meas his enemy? I’m not. I want to askhim how he got here, where he’sgoing. I’d really like him to know howmuch I care.“You’re new here, aren’t you?” Ibegin. “Are you from Petaluma?” Ismile a lot, maybe too much. I hopenot.As a Conservative-Christian-Come-Lately I’ve had to reconcile what Iknow firsthand to be wrong with the“other” side with what I observe to bewrong with my own. Here is what I see:We claim to love the sinner andhate the sin, but the problem of homosexualityand its destructive effectswithin our society has surely made ita challenge. Still, it can’t be right forChristianity to be pitted againsthomosexuality as though it were theworst sin on parade. I recently heardof a pastor who resigned his positionand filed for divorce to marry thealso-inconveniently-already-marriedchurch secretary. His main complaint:his wife was too fat. Is his sin lessthan Doug’s? Such hypocrisy makes ourvery specific outrage over homosexualitydifficult for those in darkness tounderstand.As though it were planned, I seemto wind up with Doug as my tellermore often than not these days.He sorts through my collection of“enemy” checks while we talk of theweather, the weekend, whatever.It’s not that hard. I know more thanmost that a life can be turned 180degrees. In the meantime I choose tobe friends with Doug. Someday thatmay make a difference.Rethinking my position on homosexuality—focusingon how Godmight like to see me behave—madeBY MADISON TRAMMELWhile listening to the debate swirling aroundthe failed Federal Marriage Amendment Act,it occurred to me that Americans alreadyknow that most Christians oppose gay marriage.What they don’t know, and may find impossibleto believe, is that we have anything but our own narrowinterests at heart.We must confess, the fault lies partly with us. Toooften the gay community has heard only condemnationfrom our lips. We have broadcast our beliefs,denounced sin, petitioned legislators—and frequentlyforgotten to love homosexuals.I attended a Sunday service several years ago that illustratedthis point. My wife, Regina, and I had justmoved to Florida and decided to visit one of the mostwell-respected churches in the area. Dynamic andgrowing, the church owed much of its success to itssenior pastor. On that morning, however, the pastorchose to dedicate a large chunk of his sermon to beratingthen-president Clinton for supporting a nationalGay and Lesbian Appreciation Day. His face flushed,his voice rising, the pastor slowly and deliberately readClinton’s words of appreciation for homosexuals’ contributionsto the United States.“Let me make this clear,” the pastor concluded,jabbing his finger angrily. “No homosexual hasever contributed anything to our country.”Homosexual Contributions?I’m sure the pastor intended to speak out stronglyagainst sin, nothing more. Yet his words weresimply untrue. I have a gay uncle who hasbrought his long-term partner to nearly every ThanksgivingI can remember. His partner cooks the turkeyeach year, spending most of the day in the kitchen sothat we can all enjoy his culinary specialty. Has hecontributed nothing to our family’s holidays? My wife’sfavorite cousin, who spent hours teaching her to set avolleyball and frequently brought her along on skitrips, recently came out of the closet. Did that decisionundo all of the kindness she’d shown my wife growingup? Besides my own personal experience, we see peoplelike Billie Jean King, Elton John and numerousother notable names who have made significant contributionsto society beyond their limelight.More importantly, the pastor’s words were also damaging,especially to those in the congregation who weresecretly struggling with homosexuality. Were they encouragedto believe that victory was possible for them?Did they learn that Jesus could forgive their sins too? Ordid they simply hear once again from a Christian thattheir temptation was more heinous than anyone else’s?The truth is, we are all vulnerable to sexual sin, andno sin is more despicable to God than another. A coupleof years after hearing this sermon, Regina and Ilearned that the pastor had been battling his own secretsin for many years, an addiction to pornography. Thechurch finally had to let him go because of his unwillingnessto follow a prescribed restoration program.22 THE PLAIN TRUTH

a difference for me and my family.It helped us see that no matter howpassionately we oppose homosexualpolitical gains—particularly nowwith same-sex marriage—we needto treat every person we meet withrespect and kindness. With childreninvolved in musicand theater, we’vemet and have ongoingrelationshipswith many individualswho happen tobe homosexual.Two years ago, Isaw Doug for thelast time. Our familymoved to Virginia,back to the old-fashioned valuesand traditions that I’d scorned inmy younger, unbelieving years.On our tree-lined dirt road,graced with brick houses on threeacre lots, the house two lots downwas recently bought by a couple intheir 80s whowent to townfixing it up,with contractorsswarming theproperty like locusts.When thedust settled, Ibrought over awelcome basketto the two menwho’d seen the same beauty in ourneighborhood I had. It turns outthey’ve been involved in theaterall their lives and love to come tosee my kids perform.Where will our friendship go? Idon’t know. But I thank God for it,thank God for teaching me to lovethem, and—acknowledging mycomplete helplessness—I placeall the unresolved issues in hiscare. ❑Barbara Curtis and her family livein Virginia. In addition to appearingregularly in the Plain Truth, Barbara’swork is published in a widevariety of Christian magazines.Divorce, spousal abuse andextramarital affairs all dishonor marriage, as doeshomosexuality. All fall short of God’s best. Yet as restrictiveand unpopular as this message is for many people, it canonly be heard if it is accompanied by love.I cannot feel superior to the pastor, because pornographyposes a powerful temptation for me as well. Imust admit that I have not always resisted it, as Ishould. Yet neither can I feel superior to those whowrestle with homosexual longings. So I can’t help butwonder: What would have happened if the pastor hadshared his own failings with the congregation thatmorning? What if he had spoken of the forgivenessand hope that Jesus offers to everyone who feelstrapped in sexual sin? His ministry might have beensaved by open confession and greater accountability,and the congregation would have heard a sermon thatdid more than condemn sin—it also would havepointed the way to life.A Paradox of the GospelWhen a group of religious leaders brought an adulterouswoman to Jesus, intending to stone her, he saidthat whoever was perfect should cast the first stone.Soon everyone left. “Has no one condemned you?”Jesus said. “Then neither do I condemn you. Go nowand leave your life of sin” (John 8:10-11). Jesus neverfailed to accept people, affirm their worth and callthem to something better. That was the paradox of hisgospel. It remains counter-cultural today.A gay uncle raised one of Regina’s former boyfriends,Marcos. After his parents had dropped out of his life,this uncle stepped in and provided him with love anda secure home. The environment was not perfect;the uncle smoked pot and had at least one live-inboyfriend during the years that Marcos was growingFor Christians, the real issuesurrounding homosexuality isn’t genetics orreligious freedom or even a constitutionalamendment. We’ve focused on these enough. Thereal issue is the call of Jesus.up. Yet the uncle also encouragedMarcos in sports andschoolwork and even allowedhim to attend church. In theend, Marcos, a young Hispanicwhom many in society wouldhave written off, earned ascholarship to Yale. He nowteaches at a minority high school in Los Angeles.Rebuilding BridgesI firmly believe that Christians have a timely and essentialmessage for homosexuals in our country—menand women like Marcos’ uncle. The question is: Havewe earned the right to be heard? Before we say anotherword, we must first apologize to the gay communityfor our unkind spirit. We must seek to rebuild bridgesof communication and understanding. According tothe Bible, God intended marriage to be a lifelong,committed relationship between a man and a woman.Divorce, spousal abuse and extramarital affairs all dishonormarriage, as does homosexuality. Yet as restrictiveand unpopular as this message is for many people,it can only be heard if it is accompanied by love.When Christians shun homosexuals, we communicatethat Jesus doesn’t care about them. Nothing could be fartherfrom the truth. While watching The Passion of theChrist, I was reminded of Jesus’ words in the Gospel ofJohn: “Love each other as I have loved you. Greater lovehas no one than this, that he lay down his life for hisfriends” (John 15:12-13.). For Christians, the real issuesurrounding homosexuality isn’t genetics or religiousfreedom or even a constitutional amendment. We’ve focusedon these enough. The real issue is the call of Jesus.Let us be the first to heed it. We may be surprised tosee who follows. ❑With this issue we welcome Madison Trammel to thePlain Truth. Madison writes from Wheaton, Illinois.MARCH/APRIL 2005 23