‘Anti-Gay Bigotry, Sincere Belief, and
Christianity’
Of recently I was asked by a friend to give a response to
Mr. Reitan’s article: “Anti-Gay Bigotry, Sincere Belief, and Christianity”
written on Sunday April, 6, 2014 on his blogsite.[1]
The article opens up with a popular meme going around the social media. Here
below, I have recopied it so my readers can see the meme for themselves.
On the most part, as a Bible believing Christian I agree
with the meme above, but of course my opponents will disagree with it. Since
the meme above was the focus of Mr. Reitan’s article, my focus will be on examining
his comments to see if it lines up with the facts and with what God says about
the matter in the Holy Scriptures.
After carefully considering Eric Reitan’s article and what
it has to say about the subject of homosexuality. It had raised a few concerns
that I will be addressing in my thoughts below. So let us consider the matter
before us.
First, I want to open by stating that I will not be dealing
with the Huffington Post article that Mr. Reitan alludes to. That’s an article
best left for another time to respond to. My primary focus will be on Eric’s
article.
Second, It is good to see that Mr. Reitan acknowledges to a
degree the love Christians desire to show to their gay and lesbian neighbors.
He writes, “Let me start with the grain of truth. There are Christians out
there--I've known many of them--who are sincerely committed to the love command
of Christianity, who sincerely wish to show love for their gay and lesbian
neighbors,…” However, he then goes on to reiterate one of the common
phrases used by homosexual advocates to bully them into silence with such terms
as “phobic”[2]
I think it is important to mention here the meaning behind
the word homophobia. The
Merriam-Webster Dictionary says the following:
“An irrational fear of, aversion to, or
discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals—homophobe/ homophobic.”[3]
However, not all agree with the term homophobia, as one
online article mentions:
“Perhaps the leading researcher and writer on
homophobia from a gay perspective is Greg Herek, and he clearly expresses his
reservations about homophobia, preferring the term sexual prejudice:
Sexual prejudice refers to negative attitudes
toward an individual because of her or his sexual orientation. In this article,
it is used to characterize heterosexuals’ negative attitudes toward (a)
homosexual behavior; (b) people with a homosexual or bisexual orientation; and
(c) communities of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. Sexual prejudice is a
preferable term to homophobia because it conveys no assumptions about the
motivations underlying negative attitudes, locates the study of attitudes
concerning sexual orientation within the broader context of social
psychological research on prejudice, and avoids value judgments about such
attitudes.”[4]
As you can see from the quote
above, the term homophobia is not favored by Mr. Herek, who prefers the term
“sexual prejudice.” Though I disagree with Mr. Herek, I believe his term is the
better one. Sexual prejudice better explains how a homosexual feels in the face
of those who disagree with him or her. However, the term is still wrong in
light of God’s Word that clearly condemns homosexuality (more about that
later).
What is even more interesting,
the same online article I quoted from above gives its own criticism of the term
homophobia in this comment below:
“For different reasons homophobia has
been condemned, as inaccurate and not always appropriate for the purpose by gay
writers and activists, and as a deliberately misleading and sinister smear by
those opposed to the gay agenda. Thoughtful writers on both sides agree that
the word rarely if ever means a debilitating irrational fearfulness of
homosexuals or homosexuality, a meaning strictly required by psychiatric
nomenclature. Probably for those very reasons, its broadness and its
guilt-inducing and mental illness connotations, the word has served, and
continues to serve, a most useful political purpose and despite its limitations
is not likely to be abandoned any time soon.”[5]
I wholeheartedly agree with the quote
above. My personal experience on online forums such as Youtube, Facebook, and
even my personal email has people using the term homophobia as a political
tool, often use it to silence those who oppose homosexuality and its agenda. Both
myself and many other devote Christians who love our homosexual neighbors and
want to reach out in love to them, do not suffer from a so-called ‘overwhelming
irrational fear’ of homosexuals. We do not scream, “Eeeek! Look! A homosexual!
Run!” No, in faithfulness to God and love to our homosexual neighbors we seek
to share the TRUTH of God’s Word and what it says about homosexuality. Dr.
James Dobson gives this insight on how Christians should treat their homosexual
neighbor:
“As Christians, we
must never do anything to cause hurt and rejection, especially to those with whom we disagree emphatically. We
certainly cannot introduce homosexuals to Jesus Christ if we are calling them
names and driving them away. Believers are called to show compassion and love
to those who would be our enemies. These people, some of whom seem hateful
themselves, need to be welcomed into the church and made to feel accepted and
appreciated. At the same time, we must oppose their agenda, which is harmful to
society, to families, and ultimately to homosexuals themselves.”[6]
Third, before I get into the
three main points Mr. Reitan talks about, I believe it is worth while quoting
his last paragraph in his introduction and make a few comments in what I have
observed in it. It is as follows:
“In some cases, the Christians
I've know who fit this description seem to wish quite sincerely that the Bible
didn't say what they take it to say--because they are uncomfortable with the
implications. They have gay friends and, while trying to avoid the subject when
they can, feel that their allegiance to their faith demands that they call all
gay/lesbian sex wrong when asked. They say, almost apologetically, "I'm
just saying what I believe. It's nothing personal against you."” I
don’t doubt there are those Christians who do feel “uncomfortable” with what
the Bible says about homosexuality, since it is clearly condemned in the
Scriptures. Such saints need to ask themselves this question, “Does a “loving
monogamous” homosexual relationship justify it as being “Right” in light of the
Holy Scriptures, or is it better to compromise on this issue so not to offend
my homosexual neighbor, or is it better to just tell the TRUTH?” If we truly
LOVE our homosexual neighbor (see Matt. 22:39), we will tell him or her the
truth. That is the right thing to do. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing
[homosexuality], but rejoices in the truth [heterosexuality] (1 Cor. 13:6).
Fourth, now let us consider the
three main points in the body of his argument and come to the conclusion of
what the truth really is.
- First and
foremost, it is Personal.
Under this first heading by Mr.
Reitan, the author fallaciously
argues the issue of homosexuality is personal. Often, gay people like to equate
homosexuality to their identity. Some of them like to argue that being gay is
innate, they were born that way. I can accept the fact that some people have
more of an inclination towards homosexuality than other people do. However, a
homosexual is NOT who he/she really is, it’s what they choose to do. Since we
all possess a sinful nature, we all have desires and temptations we can fall
prey to if we are not careful in making the right choice.
Next, we see Mr. Reitan appealing
to his reader’s emotions through the illustration he uses to try to persuade us
on how terrible it would be if some person was committed to breaking our
marriage apart from the person we dearly love. He argues, because they love
each other that makes their relationship before God alright. The author here is
trying to equate same-sex marriage with heterosexual marriage. This of course
is an erroneous argument. He is appealing to our emotions, instead of appealing
to the TRUTH. The truth is the Holy Scripture does not recognize same-sex
marriage. Actually, it is in opposition against the true order and purpose of
marriage, which God ordained to be between a man and a woman. Also, it is a
picture of Christ and the Church. The fact is same-sex marriage is a perversion
of the true model of marriage between a man and a woman who are a picture of
Christ [the man] and the Church [the woman] (see 1 Cor. 7:2; Eph. 5:22-33).
Then Mr. Reitan concludes his
first point with these words: “And the personal effects would be devastating,…”
Here, Mr. Reitan argues about “the personal effects would be devastating,”
while at the same time ignoring the “devastating effects” that homosexuality
has already had on our society. Funny how he conveniently did not consider
addressing that issue.
- Beliefs can be
Unloving.
Wow! There is so much I take
issue with here in this second point. So for brevity’s sake, I will only
address some of his key points that caught my attention.
First, Mr. Reitan argues, “Standing
by certain beliefs can affect people’s lives. And this means that standing by a
belief can be loving or unloving towards your gay and lesbian neighbors. To
stand by the belief that all gay/lesbian sex is wrong is to be committed to the
systematic social marginalization of gays and lesbians, and to be committed to
ending their meaningful, loving intimate life-partnerships. In the face of
that, an assurance of love and friendship and a promise not to “bully” can
sound pretty darned hollow.” To begin with, standing by certain beliefs
can affect people’s lives. Of course it does, it is supposed to. Now as for the
Biblical “stand” or “belief” that Christians like myself hold to on the issue
of homosexuality is the LOVING position to hold to, because it is based on
God’s Word. But of course, you are going to cry foul, when I quote such Scriptures that condemns homosexuality as sin. You, like many other advocates for homosexuality will accuse me of being "unloving" and a hateful, bigoted, homophobe. All because I stand on the truth of what God's Word says about homosexuality.
(To be Continued...)
[1]
http://thepietythatliesbetween.blogspot.ca
[2] This phrase
“phobic” is a shortened form of the term “homophobic,” which is another form of
the word “homophobia.”
[3] The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Sixth
Ed., (Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield ,
Massachusetts , USA
[6] Dr.
James Dobson, Marriage Under Fire: Why We
Must Win This Battle
