I am afraid that people will continue to say problematic things about gays and lesbians for some time to come. I’m not suggesting we accept that. I would like to ask some questions about how we, or maybe how you, respond. I have a particular angle on this. I have been guilty of saying and thinking some of the very same problematic things. I came to view my attitudes as sinful in High School but, it took a much longer time for me to really repent. It’s wrong to superimpose one’s own spiritual or moral journey onto others and universalize a single person’s experience. But my own path of confrontation, conviction, confession and repentance at least gives me hope that change is possible. And that’s the basis of the questions I ask.
1. Do you regard homophobia as a sin or as an evil? I'm not sure that homophobia is the best term to use but, it's the one we seem to be using. I do believe that aggression toward LGBTQ persons is such an obsession for some people that it rises to the level of evil. I believe that what Fred Phelps and his followers do is evil. But I think most of what we see and hear that we view as homophobia is not in fact evil. It is sin. Evil is a system that takes a sin or set of sins and institutionally and systematically indulges in those sins. Evil creates mechanisms to maintain and replicate their sins. Picketing a funeral with disgusting judgments about people is evil. Sin is different. We are all sinners. I should know; I’m a chief example. Sin is a failure to live up to the glory of God. In this case, the sin is a failure to embrace ones whom God embraces. It is the moral mistake of allowing one’s own prejudice to control one’s thoughts and actions rather than allowing God’s grace to guide one’s thoughts and actions.
2. Do you want the sin you call homophobia to be punished or transformed? Satire is a really effective form of punishment. Suspending people from their jobs for the views they express is a form of punishment. Stripping people of their ordination is a form of punishment. We live in a punitive society. One of the ways Christians are most influenced by the world is in believing that we can benefit from and cooperate with a system of punishment. The passage of scripture recently quoted in one person’s aggression toward gay and lesbian persons is really about this very question. However awkwardly worded and culturally contextualized it was, Paul’s point was that as Christians we respond to sin differently than the world does. Rather than seeing sin as an infraction of laws that ought to be punished (i.e., his discussion of lawsuits among believers 1 Corinthians 6:1-8) he believed that the faithful should work for the transformation of sinners recognizing that they also are sinners who are in the midst of transformation (1 Corinthians 6:11).
There are certainly punitive passages in scripture but, I think the overall message of scripture is not about punishment. The supreme law of God is love. Love desires that those we love be set free from their sins. An enemy is one whose sin is directed at us. To love our enemies is to desire that they be released from that sin. God prepares a table of welcome for us in the presence of our enemies so that we might invite our enemies to come to the table with us and there experience God’s grace and there be released from their bondage to sin. It is a misreading of scripture to assert that God desires the punishment of sinners. The whole narrative arc of scripture is that God is about the business of reclaiming, redeeming and transforming sinners. Thanks be to God.
3. Are you using the example of Christ to bludgeon or as a model for your own actions? People who express moral aggression toward gay and lesbian persons often do so reciting some passage of scripture. The rebuttal is often that such persons are not following the example of Christ. It’s true; they aren’t. But if we can agree that homophobia is a sin and if we can agree that God desires the transformation of sinners rather than their punishment then we must ask how Christ responds to such sinners. One example we have of Jesus encountering this kind of sin comes in the eighth chapter of John (John 7:57-8:11). A group of men were in bondage to their own punitive moral judgment and came close to destroying another human life in the process. When Jesus encountered the group of sinners he stooped down and humbly allowed his refusal to judge to provide an example for them. One by one beginning with the elders they dropped their stones and went away. How do we follow the example of Christ and give people the chance to walk away from their sin? Some people speak of that as an act of mercy for a woman caught in the act of adultery. I think it was an act of mercy for a group of men caught in the sin of judgmentalism.
This is, I believe, the very heart of the Gospel. Jesus came and preached a message about the nature of God’s reign. The world unleashed an aggressive rejection of Christ’s message and crucified him. God raised Christ from the dead quietly and humbly as a way of offering the world--to offer us--a chance to rethink our aggression. God continues to give sinners the chance to rethink aggression and choose a better path. That is the example Christ sets for all of us.
5 comments:
Very probing questions Andy, and very appropriate.
Thanks for raising this point, Andy. I really appreciate it, and I really appreciate that it emerges from a desire for reconciliation. I'm a big fan of reconciliation! :) I read a by-and-large moving reflection from the American Conservative that compared Phil Robertson and Jeremiah Wright. (I'll include the link at the bottom.) Now while I do think he caricatured Jeremiah Wright and grossly misunderstands him, I was moved by the compassion the author found for both Robertson and Wright by considering their contexts. I think what is hard for folks on the margins is that we're ALWAYS asked to be on best behavior, and when we are, nothing changes, and when we're not, it's our FAULT nothing changes. So once in a while we get a little snarky. We're moving into dangerous territory right now on the reconciliation front because the long-maligned and dehumanized LGBTQ community is finally receiving the occasional victory, and after so long being told they're barely human and certainly not save-able the way God made them, and MAN is it hard not to take a little joy in the occasional victory. So I think you're asking some very good questions, and they're questions that I as someone with straight privilege should learn from--I only complained about the internal inconsistency of consdervative leaders in the same breath demanding Bashir be fired while demanding Robertson be retained on first amendment grounds, but I certainly showed no compassion for Robertson. And I would also invite you to think about what you're asking of a people who have experienced real oppression and threats to their lives (which continue today everywhere in the country and world). The thing about grace extended after long periods is that it may be a religious requirement, but it is still something the oppressed person needs to choose to offer. I hope that this non-linear reflection makes some semblance of sense. Thank you, friend! And here's that link (again, I have met Jeremiah Wright and know him to be a man who gladly works with many White people, including his dear friend and mentor Martin Marty, so I know this description of him to be untrue, but it's otherwise a good article): http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/jeremiah-wright-phil-robertson/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jeremiah-wright-phil-robertson
Thanks Sandhya, I very much appreciate the link. I found his assessment that fundamentalist Christianity has a positive side helpful. His closing lines are akin to what I'm saying though I don't think it is a universal a tendency to villainize our adversaries. I believe there are those who aren't reactionary and when I think of the term "ecumenical spirituality" it is that very capacity I think of. As to your request that I consider what I'm asking of people who have experienced oppression. I agree. I should have drawn a distinction between liberals and people who feel personally attacked by homophobia. I also should have expressed this more as testimony than admonition. I have spoken and acted out of homophobia. I have had my homophobia rebuked harshly and I've had people who were gay and lesbian gently confront me. I'm not saying that's the way everyone should respond. I deserved the harsh rebuke and the people were within their rights. I'm just not convinced it helps that much. Accusations and sarcasm tend to make me move more in the direction of negative attitudes. Grace, patience and true accountability draws me to repentance. I should not have implied that was a prescription to others. It is a testimony about myself. To a gay or lesbian person I would only offer that if they wonder whether grace in these situations is really effective, my experience has been, "yes."
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