"Pray away the Gay"
Did anyone see this article "The Dangers of Gay Conversion Therapy" in stuff today?
Interesting wasn't it? Very controversial for Christians. I particularly enjoyed the phrase "pray away the gay" which sounded so very 1950s to me.
As a Christian I have heard so so many opinions and positions on homosexuality, with Leviticus often quoted. But should heterosexual Christians even have a position and opinion on this?
Lets think about the fundamentals of Christianity as I understand it.
1. In the old testament the Jews had hundreds of laws and rules to follow. Orthadox Jews today still attempt to live by these I understand.
2. When Jesus came to earth he created a new covenant which meant that we were no longer bound by those rules specifically.
For example one of the old rules was that you shouldn't mix fibres, so if you were wearing a wool suit, it better not have a linen lining. Now most Christians agree that this is not crucial or that this was a metaphor in some way.
3. Most Christians agree that the 10 commandments are still very relevant to us today. These are the key 10 rules from the old testament and are still worth following as they are moral laws not rules about eating or clothing etc.
4. There is no mention of homosexuality in the 10 commandments.
5. There is no recorded evidence of Jesus making mention of homosexuality at all, ever and he was pretty outspoken about things he cared about.
6. Jesus said that all the laws were bound up in 2 commandments. To love the Lord your God and to love your neighbour as yourself.
7. There are more mentions of piercings being forbidden in the bible than there are of homosexuality being forbidden. Yet most Christians are quite ok with girls piercing their ears and have no compunction deciding that these girls will still be able to get into heaven.
Everyone will have their own opinion on this, but my opinion is that it is not worth having an opinion.
If we truly try to follow Jesus we will be so busy helping the sick, feeding the hungry and reaching out in love to help people we will have no time to condemn a group of people for something we do not truly understand. And surely becoming like Jesus is the point of being a Christian?
KG
Update 03-12-14:
Did anyone else know that in the US gay men are currently not allowed to donate blood? Possibly this is going to change in the future for those who are not sexually active. See the article here at www.3news.co.nz
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