Ann, your question is based on the assumption (with which I agree!) that God is a pragmatist and gives us commands (guidelines, whatever) for the practical reason that they enable us to live in love, neither hurting ourselves or others.
It has been my experience that a significant part of the Christian church does not share this assumption, but sees that God has the right to be, and indeed is, arbitrary in his commands. Thus there need not be any rationale for seeing homosexuality as evil (ie against God’s will). It is enough that God says it is evil (in their opinion).
Then I have also come across people who argue that homosexuality is evil because it harms society (on the rather spurious basis that if everyone was homosexual we would cease to exist as a race, in the absence of technological aids to reproduction...), or that it is harmful to individuals because of its supposed health risks, or even that it is harmful but we don’t know why yet, but God does.
I’m sure you find all of these approaches equally lame. Me too.
Cheers
Linz
Psssst! Did you hear that Ann Wansbrough ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) said this:
I am interested that some people think homosexuality is evil. Perhaps we need to get people to talk about what they mean by evil. In what sense is homosexuality evil and for what reason? How does it rate with other evils? I can understand various forms of violence (bombing millions of people, using weapons of mass destruction, murder, torture, rape, and deliberate assaults) and greed (whether corporate or criminal) being described as evil, as innocent people suffer in consequence of someone else's action. For similar reasons I can understand public dishonesty by politicians, bureaucrats and corporations being described as evil. Dishonesty within marriage, family or professional relationships clearly damages the relationship of trust and is certainly evil if it is a deliberate choice made to manipulate, damage, control or exploit people, although sometimes it is merely human failing in a lesser sense. But why exactly would God think it evil that some people live in a same sex relationship, provided that they value the heterosexual marriages of other people and reject all exploitative sexual activity? What exactly makes their action intrinsically evil?
At what point does a relationship between two people of the same sex become evil - when they merely exist as people seeking a partner, when find each other attractive and become friends, when they share a meal at home, when they go to bed together, when they cuddle and comfort each other as fellow human beings, when they actually stimulate one another's genitals, when they share their finances, when they support one another emotionally, or when they commit themselves to a long term relationship? And why would any or all of these activities actually be evil in a way that can be compared to bombing millions, destroying whole species, executing tens of thousands of people and burying them in mass graves, or destroying economies and environments of less developed nations in order to make corporate profits? What is it that people think God takes offence at, and why do they believe that God is offended? And don't tell me the bible tells them so. I am saying: why would the bible tell us so? What is the underlying rationale?What is it about the nature of God that makes this behaviour so distasteful to God?
My point is that everything else that I would describe as evil, everything else that I would oppose or question in the course of my work, I understand WHY it is evil. I can explain why it is unacceptable. Opposing caring, long term homosexual relationships makes no sense in the frameworks I use for everything else in ethics and social justice. What exactly is the nature of the offence, if this is people's natural identity?
Ann
(Rev. Dr.) Ann Wansbrough
UnitingCare NSW.ACT
PO Box A 2178 Sydney South 1235
Phone (61) (02) 8267 4280 Fax (61) (02) 9267 4842
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Stuart <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 10:35 PM
Subject: Covernant or Affirmation of Unity
I have noticed that there are quite a number of people who believe that homosexuality is evil who are feeling particularly vexed because they feel their commitment to unity compromises their communicating their belief on this issue. The same could be said for the other side.
"10 percent of computer users are Mac users, but remember, we are the top 10
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Rev. Lindsay Cullen
Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
An old(!) website... www.lindsaycullen.com
