Note: This is not fresh content, but the relevance and necessity of self-education and public awareness is ever more important in the context of the current resurgence of oppression in our society and government ...
Video
Narrative 8 – April 3, 2024 (TicToc, Instagram, FB)
In
considering the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in relation to
the church, how tragic and unnecessary it is that our sisters and brothers,
sons and daughters, friends and acquaintances choose to move out of state or
across the country to escape the rejection and stigmatization of their
identity, unable to enjoy family and church gatherings with their partner in
avoidance of the judgment, the glances, the whispers, all in deference to this
oppressive teaching which is based not on the Ten Commandments, not on the
messages of the Old Testament prophets, not on the teachings of Jesus, but on
the very debatable interpretation of six Bible passages. If you sense the
internal discord between this teaching which excludes and devalues people and
the rest of your faith, you do not have to remain in that position. I deal with
these issues in Against the Christian Oppression of Individuals on the Basis
of Sexual Orientation or Identity …
7 – April 2 …
The Clobber Passages …
In the world
of LGBTQ discourse in relation to the Christian Bible, there is something
called CLOBBER PASSAGES. This refers to six (6) passages in the Bible often
cited in relation to the issue of homosexuality. I analyze these six passages
in my book Against the Christian Oppression of Individuals on the Basis of
Sexual Orientation or Identity. Now, I’m not out to clobber anybody, so by
way of comparison and contrast, I also look at over 500 other passages in
the New Testament which deal with other moral and ethical issues. I look at
the Greek and the English and I place them into topics and groups. To make it
easy, I made charts of the topics and the words and the scripture passages.
This chart deals with the topic of ABUSIVE SPEECH. It’s a short book, only 168
pages, and if you don’t like charts, don’t worry, the first chart comes up on
page 109. My goal is to take a compassionate look at a sensitive issue that
affects us all.
9 – April 4
Even within
the assumption of an authoritative Scripture, the oppressive doctrines held by
many in the evangelical church on the issue of homosexuality are not warranted
by a close and careful interpretation of the very few verses that are regarded
as relevant to the issue. It is sad that many Christians feel compelled to
stand by this oppressive position even though it may seem inconsistent with
other life affirming and life giving values of their faith, even thought it may
be inconsistent with their understanding of the nature of God and the inclusive
human interactions demonstrated by Jesus, even though it puts them in a
position of rejecting the full personhood of their own family members, friends
and co-workers whom perhaps they know to be just as wonderful , moral, and
spiritual as anyone in their sphere of relationships. I deal with this topic in Against the Christian
Oppression of Individuals on the Basis of Sexual Orientation or Identity …
10 – April 5
Ethical
understanding evolves over time… Historically, there are many cases in which
beliefs and practices taken from the Bible have been used to oppress and
exclude individuals from full participation in the church and community, only
to be overturned or abandoned through reform or through historical changes in
ethical standards. The most prominent example of this is the history of
slavery. Slavery was accepted and practiced in many cultures and defended by
Christians with the support of the Bible. In the nineteenth century, the
practice was rejected and overturned in country after country, and is now
recognized as unethical, immoral, dehumanizing and unchristian. Ethical
responsibility requires that we examine and question doctrines, norms and laws
that bear upon the dignity, the human rights and human equality of people. I
deal with these issues in Against the Christian Oppression of Individuals on
the Basis of Sexual Orientation or Identity …
11 – April 9
The word
“homosexual” does not appear in the 1611 King James Bible nor in any other
English translation of the Bible until 1946. It appears two times in the New
American Standard Bible and the Greek word used, (αρσενοκοιτης
/ arsenokoites) is not clearly defined, being rarely used in the Bible and
in ancient Greek literature. Words that are used once or twice in the Bible
present a special problem of interpretation in ancient literature because the
most reliable word meanings are developed from usage and context. Without an
adequate number of examples of the use of the word, the meaning highly
interpretive and at the very least, subject to debate, and should not form
the basis of a significant Christian doctrine. From Chapter 15 of Against the Christian Oppression of
Individuals …
12 – April
11
Do we have a
problem with Jesus having long hair? Hello friends … To use the concept of natural
and unnatural as a guiding principle in moral reasoning is a subjective
endeavor, even when using the Bible as a source. The book of Romans is often
cited as one of the clobber passages in discussion of homosexuality. But
the concept of natural and unnatural has several different meanings even in the
New Testament … sometimes referring to what seems normative within the culture
and context, such as whether a person’s hair should be long or short, their
head covered or uncovered. Paul actually says that nature teaches us that, for
a man, long hair is a dishonor. Claims to moral reasoning based on what is
natural should be supported by other, more substantial moral principles.
community. From Chapter 15 of Against the Christian Oppression of Individuals
…
13 – April
12
The biblical
story of the city of Sodom is often understood as a commentary on
homosexuality. Let’s take a closer look. Two visitors to the city are taken in
as guests by a man named Lot. All of the men of the city gather outside the
door of Lot’s home and demand that the men be sent out sexual relations. So, we
have here the threat of violence and sexual assault, gang rape, and what
appears to be sex as a type of exhibitionism, and this not with people but with
angels. To escape this violent and threatening circumstance, the angels struck
all of the men with blindness. Keep in mind that this would have happened
approximately 4,000 years ago. As an exercise in biblical interpretation, I do
not find this incident in this time and in this context to be at all
informative of the reality of attraction, love and romance between individuals
who are gay or lesbian. From Chapter 17 of Against the Christian Oppression
of Individuals…
18 – April
29
How hard is
it to stop excluding and oppressing individuals and to begin recognizing the
full unqualified personhood of all regardless of ethnic identity, geography,
gender or sexual identity? Do your religious or moral values require or even
allow you to elevate the value of some and diminish the value of others? I
mentioned previously that intellectual freedom and intellectual honesty is the
foundation of deconstruction. A second dimension is that of being and
belonging. Many people leave churches and some leave faith altogether because
they find that religious doctrines and church practices qualify and exclude
individuals, not based on their character but merely on specific excluded
categories of identity … and these doctrines of exclusion are extended beyond
religion and into the social, professional, and civic realms and are often
codified into law as a way of enforcing religious norms upon the wider
community. From Chapter 28 of Deconstructing Christians and The Third Wave…
Deconstructing Christians and the Third Wave is now available on Audible and Apple books
and I encourage you to take a listen. If you have a subscription, please add it
to your list. Here I explore the 21st century movement of
Christian Deconstruction to understand questions and issues relevant to those
compelled to make adjustments in their beliefs in light of history and ethics,
science, politics and world events. This may be your child or family member or
the person worshipping or working next to you. I set these issues into
historical context at the intersection of faith, human rights and civil rights,
exploring major events and people that have shaped our national story.
Against the
Oppression of Individuals on the Basis of Sexual Orientation or Identity is now available on Audible and Apple Books.
Please check it out and add it to your list. Here I challenge people of faith
to reexamine the doctrines that have emerged in the church to create the
environment of oppression that many experience. I look at the Scripture and the
theology, and I take a deep dive into the teaching of ethics in the New
Testament. What are the ethical themes that are addressed most frequently in these
Scriptures, and do take these seriously?