http://intentblog.com/10-things-i-wish-the-church-knew-about-homosexuality/
10 Things I Wish the Church Knew About Homosexuality Apparently I hit a nerve. Yesterday (on my personal blog<http://www.jimrigby.org/ten-things-i-wish-the-church-knew-about-homosexuality/>) there were over 17,000 hits on an article I wrote entitled, “What I Wish the Church Knew About Homosexuality.” Here are the ten points I listed: 1. If Jesus did not mention a subject, it cannot be essential to his teachings. 2. You are not being persecuted when prevented from persecuting others. 3. Truth isn’t like wine that gets better with age. It’s more like manna you must recognize wherever you are and whoever you are with. 4. You cannot call it “special rights” when someone asks for the same rights you have. 5. It is no longer your personal religious view if you’re bothering someone else. 6. Marriage is a civil ceremony, which means it’s a civil right. 7. If how someone stimulates the pubic nerve has become the needle to your moral compass, you are the one who is lost. 8. To condemn homosexuality, you must use parts of the Bible you don’t yourself obey. Anyone who obeyed every part of Leviticus would rightly be put in prison. 9. If we do not do the right thing in our day, our grandchildren will look at us with same embarrassment we look at racist grandparents. 10. When Jesus forbade judging, that included you. <http://intentblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/jesus.jpg>Having weathered this storm before, I knew there are certain patterns to the assaults one can expect after making a Christian defense of homosexuality<http://www.jimrigby.org/what-part-of-thou-shall-not-judge-do-you-not-understand/>. The first waves of negative responders assume I am a gay atheist defending my “lifestyle.” These are usually kind but frightened people who are just repeating what they have been heard. Many of these people stay surrounded by other people of like mind and have never really heard how hateful and shallow their arguments sound out of that context. In this first wave, people often repeat the barely understood Bible verses they have been taught, assuming that I just haven’t noticed those places in scripture. When it becomes obvious that I am straight, and a Christian, and ordained, and that I know scripture much better than they do, there is usually a panicked attack which brings the second wave of assaults. At this point, people quit being nice and say things like I am a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” not noticing that they are the ones with fangs bared. Now it gets interesting. Some of the people go back to their pastors for reinforcement. At this point, the heavy weights start showing up in the third wave one might call “the Bible Bullies.” “Bible Bullies” are people who, at some point in their lives, realized that scripture can be used as a power tool. In other parts of their life they may be timid and unremarkable, but if they master the obscurities of scripture they can use that knowledge to rise to leadership positions. The problem, of course, is that the only fuels that can drive this kind of power are fear and anger. So they must constantly point out one threat after another, or lose power. This is why they can’t leave other people alone. Without threats and scapegoats the theologies of fear and anger do not work. So their worldview resembles that of an abusive family. God is presented as a kind of cosmic drunk daddy with a major anger problem, but is the only protection we have from mean ol’ Uncle Satan. One cannot understand the teachings of Jesus and see the world this way. If one begins with the Sermon on the Mount, one is called to trust, not hyper vigilance. If one begins with the Sermon on the Mount, one is called to a life of forgiveness, not constant judgment. If one begins with the Sermon on the Mount, it is quite clear that the only “fuel” that can drive this theology is love. When a Christian (or someone from any other path of love) is confronted by a Bible Bully it is essential not to respond in kind. If you become angry or afraid you are using the fuel that works in their religion, not yours. It helps to remember that we can all be bullies when we are frustrated or afraid, and that what we are really seeing is not a powerful giant, but a frightened little heart. *<http://intentblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/167910_104380789636737_100001944497845_33254_5838861_n1.jpeg> * *Jim Rigby is a Presbyterian Minister at St. Andrews Church<http://staopen.com/> in Austin Texas. In 2007, Jim was named “Texas Public Citizen of the Year” by National Association of Social Workers for his work on gender, economic, and racial issues. Jim has written for Huffington Post, Common Dreams, and many other sites, and his focus is on creating a deeper discussion of the relationship between religion and politics. Is it possible to affirm our different religious (and nonreligious) worldviews in ways that do not lead to intolerance and oppression, or does religion lead inevitably to superstition and sectarian violence? Can we affirm the core values of our own group, and yet, still be good citizens of the world? It is an open question. Jim argues that it is possible, if all religions are willing to go through radical reformations to allign themselves to the best science available, to learn to honor artistic expression however different, and to serve universal human rights.*
