Interlude: The Last Word on the Gay Christian Debate

It's difficult for me to read much of the debate over homosexuality without becoming annoyed at both sides, despite the fact that one of the sides is "my" side.

So says Weekend Fisher at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength, a conservative Christian with common sense and a bracing lack of patience with cow caca, wherever it's coming from. (Funky sent me the link.) Examples of [his -- wrong!] her "pet peeves in the homosexuality debate":

For the traditional family camp:

• If the thought of what two men might be doing creeps you out, could you kindly just count to ten before you say something? "Eeeww" isn't the most persuasive argument in the world.

For the homosexual legitimization camp:

• Please don't resort to demonizing people who hold a more conservative view of Scripture. Especially right after you just gave a lecture about how much more Christ-like and loving you are than those evil morons who disagree with you.

For us all:'

• Morality is not a game of spiritual one-upmanship and the proper use of morality is not scoring points against your opponents. That's an immoral use of morality. And the immoral use of morality is one of the key reasons morality itself has fallen into disrespect.

Read the whole thing, and hold it in mind, like an astringent mint in your cheek, as you read our series and form your own arguments. In another post on the issue, Weekend Fisher makes the single most sensible statement on this heated subject that I've seen:

Homosexuality cannot be understood in isolation from the larger picture of sexual morality and ethics. [ ... T]he starting point of any discussion on homosexuality cannot be some nauseating moral one-upmanship, but an honest recognition of humanity's general brokenness and susceptibility to temptation and self-justification, especially with regard to sexuality.

This is a refreshing blog. I'm bookmarking it.

Comments

[WeekendFisher]

Thank you for all of the kind words. High praise there. Funny, I wrote that post just out of frustration with the conversation in general.

Take care & God bless
WF

[WeekendFisher]

Er, to clarify, the discussion at large, not you and Funky.

[Tom Strong]

The starting point of any discussion on homosexuality cannot be some nauseating moral one-upmanship, but an honest recognition of humanity's general brokenness and susceptibility to temptation and self-justification, especially with regard to sexuality.

As Michael gets at in the next thread, I don't necessarily agree that this is the starting point. People are also prone to temptation and self-justification with regard to pride, which most theologians consider to be a greater sin than lust.

I would argue that many Christians self-identify with Christianity to such a degree that they succumb to the sin of pride; promoting Christian morality becomes a way of promoting their own self-identity. They see Christian morality as infallible, and therefore see their own Christian "I" as infallible as well. Obviously, adherents of other ideologies (including ideological mutts like myself) can be prone to the same error.

I should say that I don't see this argument as one to strike down Christian morality with - after all, Christianity warns against it quite clearly, what with "Judge not lest ye be judged," and "Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

But I do see it as equally necessary to look at, as our own "brokenness" when it comes to temptation and lust. My side often is sanctimonious when it comes to this issue, but our sanctimony is usually not in response to humility from the other side.