TommyTomTomForNews. Enough said.
On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 4:51 PM, GregfromBoston <[email protected]>wrote: > 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<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 >> tgpsk+unsubscribe@**googlegroups.com<tgpsk%[email protected]> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/**group/tgpsk?hl=en<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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