Preaching on the Gay Gene

February 23, 2011 15 Comments

Apparently one of our small town religious groups has awakened enough to recognize that just maybe it can acknowledge that science is suggesting there is a gene for homosexuality.

Glory be.

HOWEVER, apparently like the alcoholism gene, one can choose whether or not to act on that genetic urge. At least that’s what Sponge Bob Square Pants is reported to have said from the pulpit to his captive audience. And of course, if someone does choose to act on that urge, well…..we all know how “God” feels about that. <insert dripping sarcasm here>

The way I see it, that’s akin to saying to someone, “Wow. You got the gene, eh? So God screwed up when making you, and as a result you don’t get to experience happiness and sexual satisfaction on the level that ‘normal’ people do. Better be careful. If you do decide to choose happiness, God’s gonna get you in the end. Don’t worry though, we’ll still love you because we rock like that. We’re so Christian and all. We’ll love you, the sinner, but we’ll still hate your sin and do everything in our power to prevent your ever having rights equal to ours.” <insert even more dripping sarcasm here>

As for the comparison between homosexuality and alcoholism, acting on one destroys a person’s life. The other, if handled properly and given appropriate support can result in a well-adjusted human being in a normal, committed relationship who contributes to the betterment of society in a multitude of ways.

Charlie Sheen or some of my gay friends?

No comparison. None. Not even on the same planet with this one.

I officially dub that one of the most ignorant comparisons ever to come out of a preacher’s mouth. In all fairness, I’d be willing to bet he is a victim of religious abuse growing up. I’d also be willing to bet he’s never taken time to get to know someone who is GLBT. There is a video on YouTube that suggests no one chooses their sexual orientation. They just recognize it and evolve into it, sometimes with love and support of others, and sometimes enduring brutal persecution and torture.

I might also point out that the same book that is used as justification for persecuting GLBT’s also says women should keep their heads covered, slaves should be loyal to their masters, and it’s okay to annihilate entire nations of people who don’t believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It even says that we all can have the power to perform miracles, and that children who disobey their parents should be killed. Oh yeah….and there’s that little bit about stoning people who commit adultery and that remarriage after divorce is adultery.

Raise your hand if you know someone who has divorced and remarried.

I know I won’t be throwing any stones. I love them and want them to be happy.

Anyone out there for making a law that says no one can marry another after a divorce?

What’s the difference between that law and one that bans gay marriage, or only recognizes the commitment of two people if they are a heterosexual couple?  There is no difference. It’s the same thing.

So help me to understand the logic that says since the Bible condemns homosexuality, we as a 21st century free society must do the same. However, even though the Bible condemns other things, we can conveniently sweep those under the carpet and look the other way.

Either it all applies today, or none of it applies today.

One simply cannot pick and choose what is for today and what isn’t to use as a means of persecuting those who experience life differently from our narrow view of what should be.

That is where my religious convictions died. The day I realized that I had allowed myself to be conditioned to accept inconsistency because someone said I should was the day I walked away.

It’s never been the same since.

I caught a glimpse of a bigger picture. It’s a beautiful picture. I think it’s the one that artists like Jesus and Buddha worked on.

Maybe I’ll have a few opportunities to add some brush strokes to it.

15 thoughts on “Preaching on the Gay Gene”

  1. From the heart of a parent with a gay son, thank you!. I think I just might have to hit something if I hear, “Love the sinner, hate the sin”, one more time. Even though the phrase is attributed to Gandhi, I DON’T like it. Yes, that’s right, it’s not in the Bible.

    1. It’s so easy to condemn until we walk that mile in someone else’s shoes. Your son is so blessed to have you for a dad.

      Glad to know the origins of that saying. It’s thrown around church circles as if it came straight from the lips of Jesus himself. Ghandi probably regrets ever uttering that little phrase.

      It also occurs to me that there was a time in history when it was a sin for a woman’s ankles to be seen, for one to wear “pantaloons”, and when natural healers (herbalists who were a person’s best chance for surviving a nasty infection) were killed as witches. What’s it going to take to get us past this one?

  2. Angie, I love your posts.

    You’re truly inspiring. As a gay young adult I have always found religion hard to cope with because of the fact that if my congregation know who I am, it would be how you stated. They would all pray for me to be better, when there’s nothing wrong with me.

    I want you to now that right now I have been offered to go on a Walk to Emmaus. I want to go so my relationship with God can grow, but I’m worried that the other men will simply turn their backs on me if they find out that I’m gay.

    Your posts always make me feel proud and more confident about who I am.

    1. Awww, Jacob. YOU are a huge part of the reason I have changed my views. There is something about really knowing a real live, walking, talking, breathing human being whose life challenges me to grow and stretch. It makes a difference. As for the walk, I’m probably not a good resource for encouragement on the God thing at this point. I would suggest you ask your sponsor why they want you to go. Make sure their motives are pure, because it’s obvious yours are. You deserve an opportunity to find what you are seeking, not experience a two day attempt-to-save-Jacob event. You were created perfectly, and you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, love and compassion.

    2. Jacob going on the walk to Emmamus with men you fear will reject you is not the only way to you to grow your relationship with God. Depending on where you live there are congregations that would embrace and support you for who you are not for who you pretend to be. Do some searching and find yourself a congregation that will accept you and not force you to constantly live with the fear of being found out and the stress that causes.

      1. James, Thank you for caring. I have thought of that especially since there is a “gay” church here in Lubbock, but I havent been able to go due to me either being tried from working or just working. I will eventually go, but my boyfriend is a very loving christain, so I see a lot of God’s love through him. He helps me, as much as he can, understand how much I’m loved. Not only through him, but its people like Angie and you, someone who I don’t know, that are giving mr amazing advice. Thank you again.

  3. I had this conversation recently.

    them: “Gay sex is a sin… They should never be allowed to marry.”

    Me: “So you are saying that marriage is all about sex.”

    them: “well, no. Marriage is about love, but it is between a man and a woman!”

    Me: “so you are saying that men cannot love men and women cant love women?”

    them: “no, but they shouldn’t have sex!”

    Me: “So marriage is all about sex?”

    them: “no, you are twisting my words!”

    Me: “No, you said that marriage is about sex and that no person of the same sex can ever love another person of the same sex.”

    them: “hmmpf.”

    Christians have to come to grips that gay couples have been together for YEARS..
    fully committed. In love. Not just sexual love, but true abiding deep committed love.
    You cannot just say “oh by the way, you will have to separate now and never be in love again.”
    Right.

    1. LeighAnn, you rock. That’s the most spot on, perfect response I can possibly imagine. Remind me never to tangle with you in a battle of wits. ;-)

  4. Therein, once again, lies the eternal question, what “right” and what is “wrong”? It’s a conditioning that we have had since birth. We grow up with a right from wrong mentality. But what is that exactly? Why is it that what the baptist are doing are wrong, and the catholics are right? Why are the carismatic wrong and the baptist are right? Or the hindus are wrong, or the budists are wrong, and christian are the “right” group? What makes things taboo for us, but perfectly okay for other cuktures? Conditionaing and what we consider to be truley right from wrong. Dare me to say, maybe the hindus are right, and christians are wrong? Or the whole standing up sitting down sign of the cross is wrong and the baptist were right? …….okay I’m opening a whole nother can of worms….but I’m with don, I hit anything I possibly can if someone else says hate the sin, but love the sinner….I’m so sick of hearing what is cosiderably right because of what it may state in the bible. Ya, I read that book too, and if that was really right, if it that was the “right” way we should live, then you might as well count me off this planet, and my parents, and my uncles and aunts, and cuzins, and ….well u get the point….so I hear all of y’all! Oh oh oh….should I mention that leonardo di vinci was gay. And that the mona lisa was really a man and not a woman….perhaps leo’s love interest? Yes, leo was charged in his twenties for having sex with men, so yes, gays and lesbians have been around for years!!…great post angie….I hope all what I wrote was inspiring, and I didn’t drift back and forth too much…..plus its really ahrd to type inthe bathtub…oops tmi….sorry!!! Lol

  5. I hear you, Angie. I don’t think any of us have the capability or responsibility to throw stones…

    I, for one, would love if we could accept everyone…where they’re at in their journey of life…

    xo

    1. Oh Elissa! So glad you are back in the virtual world!

      Yes, if only we could just accept people where they are rather than insisting they join us where we are. Life would be much simpler.

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