When I started wrg my new book, God and the Gay Christian, I was well aware that Christians who oppose same-sex marriage the church have long ed the Bible to fend their pot of view. As a gay Christian om an evangelil church Kansas, that stat quo has had a damagg impact on my life, which is one reason I'm settg out to change the flty perspective. Here are 10 reasons why God accepts gay Christians.
Contents:
- 10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS
- KIRSTEN POWERS: CHRISTIANY'S NEW LOOK ON GAYS
- ARE THERE REALLY “GAY CHRISTIANS”?
10 REASONS GOD LOV GAY CHRISTIANS
While ncerns about the ordance’s lack of relig liberty protectns buoyed her effort, Bryant’s rhetoric about the threat gay people ostensibly posed to children was the mpaign’s lastg legacy. While praisg her urage and ldg her for “emphasizg that God lov the homosexual, ” Graham also suggted that he would not have said “some thgs she and her associat said … the same way. Graham add that, while he saw his votn as foced on preachg the gospel, he “was also fearful that her mpaign might galvanize and brg out to the open homosexualy throughout the untry, so that homosexuals would end up a stronger posn.
As Ta Fetner argu How the Relig Right Shaped Lbian and Gay Activism, Bryant and Briggs advertently revigorated what had been an creasgly dormant movement, givg a more ant and opposnal edge than had prevly. Activists personalized the issue for the first time: Openly gay polician Harvey Milk enuraged people to e out of the closet to their iends and neighbors, rhapg public opn about the challeng they faced.
The televisn mpaign tentnally prented the most flamboyant, non-bourgeois pictns of gay pri paras—ostensibly to show the “realy” of the LGBT movement, but effect to generate fear. Some 16 years later, California voters reenacted a nearly intil pattern when—after a tumultuo fight—they simultaneoly prohibed gay marriage wh Proposn 8 and ma Barack Obama print.
KIRSTEN POWERS: CHRISTIANY'S NEW LOOK ON GAYS
In 2012, for stance, the Fay Rearch Council (FRC) gave an award to pastor Ron Bay for his efforts on Amendment 1 North Carola, which prohibed the state om regnizg gay marriag. When vio was disvered showg Bay had pared gay people to maggots, the FRC argued that he was given the award not for his “misstatements” but for “his example of standg for the tth and for his 42 years of mistry. It also fets that the gay liberatn movement was a direct rponse to the systemic and pervasive excln of lbian and gay dividuals om the stctur of our public life—cludg om Ameri self.
Ironilly, though, the pathologizatn of homosexualy ed to jtify the mid-century rtrictns cleared the ground for both the assertn of “gay pri” on the one si and the failgs of the “ex-gay spokmen” on the other. Henry fers om this that “legislatn should benef fay stctur, not penalize them” and that legislatn should “prerve the civil rights of all, cludg homosexuals, but not approve and advance immoral liftyl” (emphasis add).
ARE THERE REALLY “GAY CHRISTIANS”?
However, to bate the issue serly and tthfully, we mt seek an hont picture of what our opponents actually believe — workg om what we thk they believe is neher helpful nor there are people of many diverse beliefs and nvictns — cludg gay and lbian people — who oppose same-sex marriage, here are 10 foundatnal tths that rm the tradnal, orthodox Christian belief. He fend tradnal marriage a 2008 Christiany Today article, sayg he wasn’t sure he’d perform a same-sex blsg, although he did exprs support for gay and lbian civil rights.
After takg a leave of absence om Harvard Universy to study the Bible and homosexualy, Matthew V gave a speech at his church about acceptg gay Christians that has amassed over 1 ln views on YouTube sce 2012. He also started The Reformatn Project, a nonprof tryg to “reform church teachg on sexual orientatn and genr inty, ” and wrote the book “God and the Gay Christian: The Biblil Case Support of Same-Sex Relatnships.
While he said recently that his church, Northland, A Church Distributed, will mata that the Bible prohibs gay relatnships, he now believ nservative church should wele and support those of all sexual orientatns. Some morn Bible translatns say that “homosexuals” will not her the kgdom of God, but neher the ncept nor the word for people wh exclive same-sex attractn existed before the late 19th century. Requirg that all gay people rema celibate is at odds wh the Bible’s teachgs on celibacy, which are ground Scripture’s re affirmatn that God’s physil creatn is good.