My Sunday Thought for June 28, 2015: Gay Christian, Gay Marriage

So, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has overreached their authority and paved the way for gay marriage throughout the United States. It will be interesting to see how the individual states, and their religious majorities, react to being told what they can do and not do when it comes to their sense of morality. It would seem, by my comment here, I am against these unions. To the contrary, I am not. I have written much on the subject of homosexual tolerance, or lack thereof. I have attached links to a few of these posts:

Gay Marriage Equality 

The Gay Christian 

LGB, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQQ... and Confused 

Church Law or God's Love? 

Homosexuality: Is It a Choice?

The SCOTUS no sooner handed down this ruling when my inbox was hit with a few emails asking for my humble opinion.  For the most part the questions were a mix of two themes, gay marriage and gay Christianity.  For me, I have no problem with gay marriage.  I believe that a loving, giving, relationship is hard to come by these days, so wherever we can find it, so be it.  One of my friends sent this comment: 

So, is this where tolerance comes in? Is this what we've preached about all along? Acceptance? Tolerance? Okay, I'm buying it....however....you know I have questions. Like, what if deep down I am a conservative Christian who believes that marriage was to be between man and woman so they could reproduce and populate the earth with more believers and followers of Christ? I know, I know...LOVE IS LOVE. No matter what, love is patient.

And this is where all the controversy arises, with the "conservative Christian."  We must remember that man wrote scripture, scripture put together by a council of other men, and interpreted, for the most part, by men.  The minute you step back and question the validity of scripture to reflect the true desire of God and not just the agenda of men, you must also bring into question the validity of certain moral interpretations.  With so many accepting, loving, forgiving, Christians passing judgment on the gay community as a whole, it brings into question their own Christian values.  Once your own values are brought into question, your sense of morality is also suspect.

Is homosexuality an affront to God?  God is omnipotent.  God doesn't make mistakes.  God has a plan for all of us.  Why are we judging the servants of our own Master?  Where do we get off presuming we can speak for the Almighty?  We will all be judged for what we do by our Master, and it is for our own Mater to determine if we stand or fall.  As for the question of gay Christianity, I point my readers to several websites for more information.  I think the first link does a fine job of explaining misinterpretations in scripture:

God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships 

Gay Christian Network 

Gay Christian 101 

Being Gay Being Christian

We all want to have an opinion on this subject, and opinions are a good thing as long as they're constructive.  Unfortunately, we are only human, and we fail miserably when it comes to doing our own homework so we can form our own informed, intelligent, opinions.  We tend to operate on the agendas spewed forth by people we have faith are operating with our own best interest in mind.  We are but lemmings rushing to the cliff.  The question you should be asking is whether you'll drink the cyanide laced Kool Aid when the pastor presents it.

Many seem to feel a "civil union" should suffice for the gay community, and, in truth, a civil union has been better for many, even straight couples, when it comes to the laws of the land.  Marriage muddies the legal water.  And there is the point that marriage is not holy matrimony, and this would be correct.  Marriage is something done as a legal vehicle to join two people.  Holy matrimony is a promise made before God, family, and other witnesses, to do right by each other for as long as you both shall live.  How many Christians can you think of around you that have lied to God about this?  The divorce rate is staggering.  It will be interesting to see how gays stack up, and maybe this is what frightens us.  What if they can do it better; better parents of their adopted children, better relationships and lower divorce rate, and so on?  We judge the gay community for wanting to be Christian, wanting holy matrimony, wanting what we all want - to love and be loved.  Personally, I can see why they're so confused about straight attitudes, considering our own less than laudable sense of morality.

This isn't Sodom and Gomorrah or Rome.  There is more real crime in the streets than consenting sodomy and debauchery, except for maybe the French Quarter on a Saturday night.  We concern ourselves about gays kissing on television, yet we find a hot, sweating, softcore porn scene acceptable viewing in prime time.

Perhaps, before we pass judgment, those that pound the bible should reflect on what our scripture says about judging others.  Before we turn the lost away, perhaps we should ask them if they feel lost, and then see what the bible says about feeling in your heart that you are right.  The again, maybe we would be better served to have faith in God not making mistakes so we righteous hypocrites have to presume to feel obligated to clean up the mess.  If God made a mess, I'm sure God has all good intent to clean it up.  Maybe if we paid more attention to getting our own house in order we would find little time to presume to pass judgment on the house of another.

Of course, this is just my opinion.  I could be wrong.

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."