A series of articles by Robert Buchanan, D.Min., on gay prejudice and
Christianity in order to challenge the church and help provide for the
spiritual needs of sexual minorities
Please bookmark this page and come back.
|
A series of articles by Robert Buchanan, D.Min., on gay prejudice and
Christianity in order to challenge the church and help provide for the
spiritual needs of sexual minorities
Please bookmark this page and come back.
|
|
|
The Pope is Wrong Again
In 1615 the Pope
presided at the inquisition of the man who had invented the telescope,
Galileo. The result was that Galileo swore not to teach that the earth is not
the center of the universe, in order to keep the Roman Church from taking his
life. Today, we know that Galileo was right, and Christianity was not
threatened in the least by Galileo.
Last week, the
Pope received the credentials of the new Dutch ambassador to the Vatican.
Rather than practicing diplomacy, the Pope lambasted the ambassador for his
country’s new same sex union law. He insisted that unions be only for “men
and women whose love will yield children.” Earlier this year, the Pope
condemned gays as deviants who are contrary to “natural law.” This isn’t the
first time such things have been said, and will likely not be the last.
Interestingly,
the Pope used philosophical arguments rather than the Scripture to condemn
homosexuals and promote an atmosphere of hate and violence. He couldn’t
honestly base his argument on Scripture because it simply isn’t there. The
Bible never forbids the union of same-sex unions between people who love each
other. Homosexuality was not even codified as sin for the first 1300 years
after Jesus. It was Thomas Aquinas who, following pressure from political
powers, wrote the teaching of the church that calls gay relationships sinful.
Both of the Popes ideas actually come from Aquinas.
On the one hand
he states that gay relationships are “against natural law.” Aquinas set out
to prove this by making assumptions about animals other than humans, However,
animals do have same-sex relations. Besides, humans have intellect and
reasoning skills that animals simply aren’t capable of. The only people for
whom gay relationship is unnatural are those who are not attracted to the same
sex. For those who are attracted to the same sex it is perfectly natural.
The Pope also says that only unions that can bare children are acceptable.
This is nonsense. The Roman church performs weddings for people who are
unable to bear children all the time. This presumes that the only reason for
sex is to make babies. Did he forget that sex is also designed for mutual
pleasure between partners? He should read the New Testament again I think.
With all due
respect, these arguments are simply wrong. I doubt they will be corrected by
the hierarchical powers of the denominations however. But there is a way for
change to take place. If those in the pews would challenge these ideas, and
stop supporting institutions that promote hateful and dangerous philosophies
by worshipping elsewhere and not giving finances, then eventually even the
Pope would get the idea that, like Galileo, gays are no threat to
Christianity.
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Robert Buchanan is a minister of the Ecumenical Catholic Church and a psychotherapist who lives with his partner of many years in Durham North Carolina. He is the author of Love, Honor & Respect: How to Confront Homosexual Bias in Christian Culture and serves as director of the Institute for Inclusive Christianity. a training program for ministers and clergy who do not discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or because of financial, familial or social status. Additional resources for inclusive Christians can be found at our Resources page.
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