Response to the "Cool Church"

Last week I posted about the homophobic pastor at the Tuscon (AZ) Community Church and how he is misleading his congregation with bogus "research" about what claims to be the consequences of the homosexual "lifestyle."

My friend and faithful reader Sharone Belt saw that post, became angry and, as she usually does in those situations, channeled her anger into a well-written letter. She has given me permission to reprint her letter to Pastor David McAllister:

Dear Pastor McAllister,

I was appalled and shocked at your website’s section on “homosexual sex”. While you may discount what I have to say, I must say it. You may think of me as an activist, which is fine with me. However, I am not a Godless humanist or some kind of child molester or pervert. I simply am in love with another woman.

I would like to speak to a few of the issues raised on your site:

Homosexual sex activists have tried to convince our society that 10% of our population practices homosexual sex to give it credibility, yet study after study continues to consistently come up with only 1-2%.

You cite study after study, but as we all know, studies are usually one sided. Studies on the side of homosexuals usually quote 10% while studies by the other side quote 1-2%. Most true experts believe the figure is more like 5%. Either way, if the incidence of homosexuality was less than 1%, it wouldn’t matter. The point isn’t legitimacy…it’s tolerance. Most of the mainstream church has decided that homosexuality is a behavior and not a sexual orientation. I disagree.

Contrary to what homosexual sex activist have tried to convince us, there is no medical or scientific evidence that people are born homosexual; it is a choice of sexual behavior.

There’s no medical or scientific evidence that people are born heterosexual either. There are a lot of things that medical science doesn’t understand yet. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Take the disease Lupus. Years ago, medical science said it didn’t exist. Today, they know better. That has happened with a great many medical breakthroughs. That’s why they are called “breakthroughs”.

Virtually every STD increases astronomically among homosexuals compared to the general population, as do violence and the various addictions – practicing homosexual sex is a risky, dangerous choice.

Again, studies can be, and are, skewed to show a certain point of view. Straight people and gay people alike engage in reckless behavior. To say that one group is more promiscuous than the other is just irresponsible. I would also ask you what hundreds and thousands of years of being told you’re evil will do to your self-esteem and judgment too. Many homosexual people have been told they are evil for their orientation for so long that they believe it and start acting like it. It doesn’t make that right, I’ll grant you, but it also doesn’t make what the Church has done to us over the years right either. Jesus hung out with sinners, remember??

Practicing homosexually - even taking out the issue of AIDS - reduces the life expectancy of a person by OVER 30 YEARS.

This figure has been scattered around for a long time. Again, there are reasons for those numbers. Homosexual teenagers, for instance, run a much higher risk of committing suicide due to discrimination and bullying than straight kids.

While the average number of sexual partners in a lifetime in the heterosexual community is around 10, in study after study, the average number of partners in the homosexual community is consistently in the hundreds with over ¼ claiming over 1,000 partners, many of these encounters anonymous, one time events.

I guess I don’t have to talk about studies anymore since I covered that before. Suffice it to say that people are people. Some sleep around and some don’t. Gene Simmons, who prides himself on being a “ladies’ man”, has openly and consistently bragged about sleeping with thousands of women.

In light of the total farce of what they call “gay marriage”, studies show that less than 2% of practicing homosexuals could be referred to as being in a monogamous relationship.

I can only speak from experience on this one. My partner and I are monogamous and have been for 14 years. I know many gay and lesbian relationships that are monogamous. In my circles, which admittedly are full of Christian gays and lesbians, non-monogamous relationships are rare and are not celebrated by any stretch of the imagination.

People who participate in homosexual sex are extremely more likely to suffer psychological disorders and consider or attempt suicide and have a less happy, satisfying life than the general population.

Why do you think that is?? You would be depressed too if your parents kicked you out of their home and lives for being who you are. You’d probably want to attempt suicide if you were called a faggot every day of your life. You’d probably take up drinking or drugs to feel better if you lived life knowing that the majority of churches wouldn’t allow you to be a part of their worship experience.

Here's what God says in the Bible.

God also says in the Bible that He loves us. He also says that if anyone causes the “least of these” to stumble, it would be better if he had a stone tied around his neck and be cast into the ocean. He also says that whosoever calls upon His name will be saved. Whosoever. It doesn’t say whosoever is straight. I am a whosoever.

"Is homosexuality healthy for society?" (recent articles – 2002/2003)

If you asked most folks, they might say that religion was unhealthy for society. It’s religious folks who judge everyone else and tend to blame others when they themselves do wrong. How many Christian leaders have been caught in sexual or financial wrong over the years? Remember that Jesus said, “Let him who knows no sin, cast the first stone.”. That’s a paraphrase, of course, but I think you get my point. Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, much less condemned it. Jesus hung out with the outcasts of society. I believe that if He lived in modern day America, He would count homosexuals among His inner circle of friends, much like he did the prostitutes and tax collectors in Biblical times.
In conclusion:

I find it really disappointing that people who call themselves Christians would use language such as “homosexual sex activists”. I don’t advocate for homosexual sex. I advocate for myself and others like me who love differently. If I never had sex with my partner again, I would still be a homosexual. I love her as you love your wife, if you have one.

The pastor of the church that I call home has been in a monogamous relationship with his partner for over 30 years. He’s a mighty man of God and preaches to a congregation of about 80% gay or lesbian. He is uncompromising in his defense of the Bible as God’s word to us, even though many gay and lesbian congregations have turned their backs on the Bible because of what straight Christians have put them through. The Bible is an offense to them, not because of them, but because of what they’ve been told by the Church.

I truly hope that you will one day come to understand that this issue is not unlike the civil rights struggle of African Americans in the 60’s. Many churches back then refused to allow blacks into their churches. They believed that God taught us in the Bible that blacks were less than human. One minister in particular, Jerry Falwell, had to later confess that he was wrong in that belief and now the church that he founded has many black members, as well as other racial diversity. Whether you ever understand the revelation that God loves homosexuals as we are, I think you will be surprised at how many of us you will meet in Heaven. I count myself among the sheep, not the goats. How about you?

Sincerely,

Sharone Belt