I have hesitated in addressing the latest homophobic spew wrapped in "Christianity" from Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In case you missed it, in brief Mohler recently wrote that if it was possible to determine in an unborn baby was homosexual and doctors were able to biologically change it that they should.
I have pledged to keep this blog positive and homophobe free as much as possible, so it was hard to work this in to that editorial approach.
That is, until I saw this open letter to Mohler written by The Reverend Elder Nancy L. Wilson, the Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches. Rev. Wilson wrote:
The use of Scripture and faith perspectives to justify prejudice and hatred, and ultimately our extinction as a people, cannot be condoned by anyone who knows God's love and acceptance for all creation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are not the result of sin or God's judgment. If some LGBT people struggle with our identities, it is not because our orientations are in any way inherently sinful.
My more than 35 years of affirming, supportive ministry to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith reveal the underlying reasons why some LGBT people struggle with their own acceptance and identities:
-- It is because some of our brothers and sisters in Christ insist that we are an aberration, call for our virtual elimination from the human race, and advocate "unapologetic support" for "the use of any appropriate means" to change our God-given orientations.
-- And it is because too many faith leaders have used their positions of authority and their publicly acclaimed voices to fan the flames of homophobia, leaving some LGBT people singed with unnecessary shame and false guilt.
I thank God that the Scriptures offer the promise of a "more excellent way" (I Corinthian 12:31).
Can I get an amen for that!
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Most fundamentalists still insist that gay people "choose" to be gay, though most medical researchers believe that sexual orientation is given at birth for most people. To acknowledge that God does create some people as gay (as God created some left-handed) would be to admit that their fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible is wrong.
ReplyDeleteIn the face of growing medical evidence that sexual orientation is given at birth, some fundamentalists are preparing a way to still justify their prejudice against gays-- by claiming it's a treatable disease.
Here's a link to an excellent essay by a Baptist minister who had a change of heart on this issue:
http://www.GodMadeMeGay.com
Jim,
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I am not only a lesbian but also a pro-lifer. My group, the Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians, has been trying to get across to our community just how far abortion could go. We have been warning that it could be used once a gay gene is found, to "get rid of" gay people by aborting babies with this gene. The comments by Mohler come dangerously close to giving folks a reason for this mentality and takes it further by saying maybe they should give the babies "treatment" in the womb! Scary stuff, my friend.
amen!
ReplyDelete“The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals, and 362 to heterosexuals. This doesn’t mean God doesn’t love heterosexuals-- it’s just that they need more supervision.”
ReplyDelete~ Lynn Lavner, comic
(Actually, it's debatable if those six passages really refer to homosexuals at all).