You REALLY need to drop your HATE and homophobia, and get some real help, ya poor thing. I wish you the best, sad as your condition maybe. God bless, and good luck. On Friday, April 20, 2012 1:51:17 PM UTC-4, Tommy News wrote:
> Was Jesus gay? ProbablyI preached on Good Friday that Jesus's intimacy > with John suggested he was gay as I felt deeply it had to be addressed > > Preaching on Good Friday on the last words of Jesus as he was being > executed makes great spiritual demands on the preacher. The Jesuits > began this tradition. Many Anglican churches adopted it. Faced with > this privilege in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, my second > home, I was painfully aware of the context, a church deeply divided > worldwide over issues of gender and sexuality. Suffering was my theme. > I felt I could not escape the suffering of gay and lesbian people at > the hands of the church, over many centuries. > > > Was that divisive issue a subject for Good Friday? For the first time > in my ministry I felt it had to be. Those last words of Jesus would > not let me escape. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he > loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman behold your son!' > Then he said to the disciple. 'Behold your mother!' And from that hour > the disciple took her to his own home." > > > That disciple was John whom Jesus, the gospels affirm, loved in a > special way. All the other disciples had fled in fear. Three women but > only one man had the courage to go with Jesus to his execution. That > man clearly had a unique place in the affection of Jesus. In all > classic depictions of the Last Supper, a favourite subject of > Christian art, John is next to Jesus, very often his head resting on > Jesus's breast. Dying, Jesus asks John to look after his mother and > asks his mother to accept John as her son. John takes Mary home. John > becomes unmistakably part of Jesus's family. > > > Jesus was a Hebrew rabbi. Unusually, he was unmarried. The idea that > he had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene is the stuff of > fiction, based on no biblical evidence. The evidence, on the other > hand, that he may have been what we today call gay is very strong. But > even gay rights campaigners in the church have been reluctant to > suggest it. A significant exception was Hugh Montefiore, bishop of > Birmingham and a convert from a prominent Jewish family. He dared to > suggest that possibility and was met with disdain, as though he were > simply out to shock. > > > After much reflection and with certainly no wish to shock, I felt I > was left with no option but to suggest, for the first time in half a > century of my Anglican priesthood, that Jesus may well have been > homosexual. Had he been devoid of sexuality, he would not have been > truly human. To believe that would be heretical. > > > Heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual: Jesus could have been any of > these. There can be no certainty which. The homosexual option simply > seems the most likely. The intimate relationship with the beloved > disciple points in that direction. It would be so interpreted in any > person today. Although there is no rabbinic tradition of celibacy, > Jesus could well have chosen to refrain from sexual activity, whether > he was gay or not. Many Christians will wish to assume it, but I see > no theological need to. The physical expression of faithful love is > godly. To suggest otherwise is to buy into a kind of puritanism that > has long tainted the churches. > > > All that, I felt deeply, had to be addressed on Good Friday. I saw it > as an act of penitence for the suffering and persecution of homosexual > people that still persists in many parts of the church. Few readers of > this column are likely to be outraged any more than the liberal > congregation to whom I was preaching, yet I am only too aware how > hurtful these reflections will be to most theologically conservative > or simply traditional Christians. The essential question for me is: > what does love demand? For my critics it is more often: what does > scripture say? In this case, both point in the same direction. > > > Whether Jesus was gay or straight in no way affects who he was and > what he means for the world today. Spiritually it is immaterial. What > matters in this context is that there are many gay and lesbian > followers of Jesus – ordained and lay – who, despite the church, > remarkably and humbly remain its faithful members. Would the Christian > churches in their many guises more openly accept, embrace and love > them, there would be many more disciples. > > More: > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/apr/20/was-jesus-gay-probably?newsfeed=true > > -- > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. > Have a great day, > Tommy > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TGPSK" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tgpsk?hl=en. > > > -- > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. > Have a great day, > Tommy > > -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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