Orthodox Christiany and homosexualy. A place of support for gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenred Orthodox Christians. Constctive cricism of the church's posn
Contents:
- SERGI AND BACCH: THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO WERE MA SATS BY THE CHURCH
- ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?
SERGI AND BACCH: THE GAY SOLDIERS WHO WERE MA SATS BY THE CHURCH
Christiany’s history of discrimatn agast the gay muny is wily known, and the irratnal aversn on the part of Christians towards same-sex relatnships and marriage is unfortunate, to say the least. What is clear, however, is that the two sats were fact venerated for centuri startg the 5th century, and their close relatnship has spired many gay Christians, who’ve now taken them as the patron figur of homosexualy Christian non. A repentant, stgglg homosexual who reas om homosexual acts n be received to the church after the ual urse of stctn, but he or she would do bt to keep this matter the nfsnal, jt as is mon wh every other s.
It’s not jt homosexualy; the Orthodox Church oppos today’s cultural permissivens the area of sexualy generally, pecially wh regard to habatn, promiscuy, and var forms of eroticism. Several relig anizatn, s cludg the Natnal Anglin Catholic Church and Integry the Epispal Church the Uned Stat have regnized Aelred as the patron sat of such gay-iendly groups as the Orr of St. While no tal actually exist providg rmatn about Sebastian's love life or sexual orientatn, the fact so much Renaissance art picts him homoerotic pos monstrat a strong nnectn to LGBT people.
For example, the Greek Orthodox Archdce lists homosexualy bi fornitn, adultery, abortn and abive sexual behavr as “immoral and appropriate forms of behavr and of themselv, and also bee they attack the stutn of marriage and the fay. Of urse, the two men uld be gay and have had a strong affectnate and timate relatnship whout beg sexually active, jt as many gay men the prithood and relig life today mata their promis and vows of celibacy. While some people thk that homophobia agast gay men om a revulsn about male sex acts, I thk that for many people the more horrifyg and sndalo phenomenon is men beg emotnally sensive, tenr, and affectnate wh one another.
ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC SAT?
Of urse, such gentle and timate rpons by men is only a problem if one suffers om tense homophobia or believ the enforcement of strict genr expectatns that men should not be emotnal and rg toward one another. Yet, I thk a good se n be ma for Newman beg the “first openly gay” Catholic sat for the simple reason that we know so much more about him and his relatnship than we do about the other exampl.
The persons say that the Bible and Church Tradn do not nmn homosexual behavur, but have been misterpreted and mised, sometim unknowgly and other tim que willfully, by prejudiced and hostile people who hate homosexuals.
The people hold that they are lled by God to stggle agast their homosexual tennci as all people are lled to stggle agast the sful passns which they fd wh themselv, while they work to heal the of their disorientatn and disease. Given the tradnal Orthodox unrstandg of the Old and New Ttament scriptur as exprsed the Church’s lurgil worship, sacramental r, nonil regulatns and liv and teachgs of the sats, is clear that the Orthodox Church intifi solidly wh those Christians, homosexual and heterosexual, who nsir homosexual orientatn as a disorr and disease, and who therefore nsir homosexual actns as sful and stctive.