I have concluded that there is nothing sinful about homosexual relationships that are either marriages, civil unions or simply living together in a committed and monogamous way until marriage becomes available.
I was questioning the whole "Christian" attitude toward homosexuals and decided to do a study.
My goal was to read every Biblical scripture that seemed to relate to homosexuality........
The one thing I would do differently was that I would read it strictly and steadfastly from the point of view of......
1. A gay man in a committed and monogamous lifetime union with another gay man.
and
2. A lesbian in the same type of relationship with another lesbian.
The revelation that came from this was startling in its power.
One can find NO condemnation in any of the Bible mentions of homosexuality.
All references are to promiscuous behavior, including prostitution and rape.
Now, of course, there is the single Leviticus reference that may or may not refer to sex with the young boys who were used as temple prostitutes.
That ref (which comes in two places in Leviticus, listing offense and penalty) if it were to be used as a condemnation of ALL homosexuality......would have two problems....
1. It stands alone.
and
2. It does not mention lesbians.
So I do not find it compelling as a blanket condemnation.
Now, there is one remaining argument. One could (and many do) also argue that there is a grand pattern of only male/female sexual relationships that is present throughout the Bible and from this alone we should come to the conclusion that homosexuality is wrong.
I acknowledge that argument.......I just see it as FAR from conclusive, because chaste, monogamous homosexual relationships probably were simply NOT MENTIONED because they were rare and also........similar to today......people shy away from discussing them at all.......out of weakness and fear.
In addition, some argue that logic and common sense show us that men's and women's bodies were physically constructed to have sex with each other and make babies.....so a man with a man or a woman with a woman is wrong from a purely functional standpoint.
An argument that becomes problematic when those who use it engage in heterosexual oral sex or other forms of pleasure that do not follow that strict "physically appropriate and functional" pattern and, as a side note, do not produce babies.
And, last of all, Ezekiel (Chapter 16) is quite clear in announcing that the sin of Sodom was gluttony, love of wealth and neglect of the poor........why announce such a thing unless the homosexual rape and promiscuity mentioned elsewhere were minor things compared to the horrible offenses of gluttony, love of wealth and neglect of the poor?
Most people still think of a Sodomite as a homosexual.
How unjust.
According to Ezekiel, a Sodomite would be someone who lived well while neglecting and oppressing the poor.
So do most conservative Americans qualify?
I was questioning the whole "Christian" attitude toward homosexuals and decided to do a study.
My goal was to read every Biblical scripture that seemed to relate to homosexuality........
The one thing I would do differently was that I would read it strictly and steadfastly from the point of view of......
1. A gay man in a committed and monogamous lifetime union with another gay man.
and
2. A lesbian in the same type of relationship with another lesbian.
The revelation that came from this was startling in its power.
One can find NO condemnation in any of the Bible mentions of homosexuality.
All references are to promiscuous behavior, including prostitution and rape.
Now, of course, there is the single Leviticus reference that may or may not refer to sex with the young boys who were used as temple prostitutes.
That ref (which comes in two places in Leviticus, listing offense and penalty) if it were to be used as a condemnation of ALL homosexuality......would have two problems....
1. It stands alone.
and
2. It does not mention lesbians.
So I do not find it compelling as a blanket condemnation.
Now, there is one remaining argument. One could (and many do) also argue that there is a grand pattern of only male/female sexual relationships that is present throughout the Bible and from this alone we should come to the conclusion that homosexuality is wrong.
I acknowledge that argument.......I just see it as FAR from conclusive, because chaste, monogamous homosexual relationships probably were simply NOT MENTIONED because they were rare and also........similar to today......people shy away from discussing them at all.......out of weakness and fear.
In addition, some argue that logic and common sense show us that men's and women's bodies were physically constructed to have sex with each other and make babies.....so a man with a man or a woman with a woman is wrong from a purely functional standpoint.
An argument that becomes problematic when those who use it engage in heterosexual oral sex or other forms of pleasure that do not follow that strict "physically appropriate and functional" pattern and, as a side note, do not produce babies.
And, last of all, Ezekiel (Chapter 16) is quite clear in announcing that the sin of Sodom was gluttony, love of wealth and neglect of the poor........why announce such a thing unless the homosexual rape and promiscuity mentioned elsewhere were minor things compared to the horrible offenses of gluttony, love of wealth and neglect of the poor?
Most people still think of a Sodomite as a homosexual.
How unjust.
According to Ezekiel, a Sodomite would be someone who lived well while neglecting and oppressing the poor.
So do most conservative Americans qualify?