The “G” word...PSST.. the “G” stands for GAY

The “G” word...PSST.. the “G” stands for GAY

   Why is it that when we don’t agree with something we call it “gay”? Gay is a word that commonly refers to a male or female whose sexual orientation is attraction to persons of the same sex. It was originally used to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy (brought to you by Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay ), but now, unfortunately, the majority of people use the word to describe something that they hate. I for one don’t think it’s OK to classify everything that is bad as “gay”. It’s actually really offensive.

 

                Working in the construction field I hear it all the time, if you like something that is a little less macho than the other Neanderthal you’re working with you are automatically called “gay”, “queer” or a “fagot”. I’m not real keen on being called a bundle of sticks (the actual definition for fagot), nor am I real peculiar (the meaning of the word “queer”), a little weird maybe but not queer. The odd thing is that most of the guys in the construction profession say a lot of conflicting things. One minute you are being called gay for not being “man enough”, while the next minute that same individual will try to hump you from behind, tell you to “suck my dick”, or poke you with a tape measure in the butt. I have a feeling that if a closeted homosexual wanted to hide out in the open all he/she would have to do is play along so to speak.

                I used to be one of these “Neanderthals” years ago. I used to call people and things gay all the time too because I didn’t care if it was offensive to the gay community. As a matter of fact I didn’t even care that there was a “gay community” let alone know how many people that I knew and dealt with on a regular basis were a part of it. I was completely oblivious. Let me apologize wholeheartedly for that. I have come to realize how offensive the use of the word in a malicious tone can be. As I said I had no idea how many people or who for that matter were gay in my life then, nor did I know who and how many would be in my current life. Most of whom I regard as family or actually ARE family, and saying or doing things to hurt them is the last thing I’d ever want to do.  This is a big part of why I don’t say these things anymore. To me it is as offensive as calling someone a racial slur.

                I know that some of you might think that I’m going a bit far with that last comment, but I really don’t think so. What is “racism”? Racism is hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. While homosexuals may not be a “race” they are made up of many different races. The gay community is a large group of people that get slandered on a regular basis. They get assaulted because of their beliefs, called names because they are different (and we all know how bad being different is), and they get denied rights that everyone should have and NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE AWAY!!!! I’m talking about marriage, and the use of the bible to either be for or against it. A lot of people use the tired excuse of “the bible says it’s a sin. Let me shoot you a few verses from the bible concerning homosexuality.  

Please note that I will be using a website I found that contains some Bible verses as well as some personal insight for the following few paragraphs. All the credit for what is written except for what's in the (RRF)’s should go to soulforce.com  Here is the site address so you can read it……and you really should….very, very interesting… http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christian . So here we go.

“Most people have not carefully and prayerfully researched the biblical texts often used to condemn God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children.

As you may know, biblical ignorance is an epidemic in the United States. A recent study quoted by Dr. Peter Gomes in The Good Book found that 38 percent of Americans polled were certain the Old Testament was written a few years after Jesus' death. Ten percent believed Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Many even thought the epistles were the wives of the apostles.

This same kind of biblical ignorance is all too present around the topic of homosexuality. Often people who love and trust God's Word have never given careful and prayerful attention to what the Bible does or doesn't say about homosexuality.

For example, many Christians don't know that:

• Jesus says nothing about same-sex behavior.
• The Jewish prophets are silent about homosexuality.
• Only six or seven of the Bible's one million verses refer to same-sex behavior in any way -- and none of these verses refer to homosexual orientation as it's understood today.

Most people who are certain they know what the Bible says about homosexuality don't know where the verses that reference same-sex behavior can be found. They haven't read them, let alone studied them carefully. They don't know the original meaning of the words in Hebrew or Greek. And they haven't tried to understand the historical context in which those words were written. Yet the assumption that the Bible condemns homosexuality is passed down from generation to generation with very little personal study or research. The consequences of this misinformation are disastrous, not only for God's gay and lesbian children, but for the entire church.

Historically, people's misinterpretation of the Bible has left a trail of suffering, bloodshed, and death.

Over the centuries people who misunderstood or misinterpreted the Bible have done terrible things. The Bible has been misused to defend bloody crusades and tragic inquisitions; to support slavery, apartheid, and segregation; to persecute Jews and other non-Christian people of faith; to support Hitler's Third Reich and the Holocaust; to oppose medical science; to condemn interracial marriage; to execute women as witches; and to support the Ku Klux Klan. Shakespeare said it this way: "Even the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."

We'd like to believe that no person of good will would misuse the Bible to support his or her prejudice. But time and time again it has happened with tragic results.

In the 16th century, John Selden pointed at two Latin words carved into a marble wall in an ancient church in Rome: "Scrutamini Scripturas," which means search the Scriptures. "These two words," Selden said, "have undone the world."

In one way, John Selden was right. Misusing the Bible has drenched the planet in blood and tears.

But in another way, he was wrong. Most people who misuse the Bible DON'T search the Scriptures. They simply find a text that seems to support their prejudice and then spend the rest of their lives quoting (or misquoting) that text.

The way certain Bible verses are used to condemn homosexuality and homosexuals is a perfect example of this.

On September 22, 2000, a 55-year-old man named Ronald E. Gay, angry for being teased about his last name, entered the Back Street Café in Roanoke, Virginia, a gathering place for lesbians and gays just a few miles from Lynchburg. Confident that God's Word supported his tragic plan of action, Mr. Gay shouted, "I am a Christian soldier, working for my Lord." Claiming that "Jesus does not want these people in his heaven," he shot seven innocent gay and lesbian people. One man, Danny Overstreet, died instantly. Others still suffer from their physical and psychological wounds.

Matson and Mowder

In July 1999, Matthew Williams and his brother, Tyler, murdered a gay couple, Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder, in their home near Sacramento, California. Speaking to his mother from the Shasta County jail, Matthew explained his actions in this way: "I had to obey God's law rather than man's law," he said. "I didn't want to do this. I felt I was supposed to. I have followed a higher law... I just plan to defend myself from the Scriptures."

After Matthew Shepard was killed in 1998, a pastor in North Carolina published an open letter regarding the trial of Aaron McKinney that read: "Gays are under the death penalty. His blood is guilty before God (Lev. 20:13). If a person kills a gay, the Gay's blood is upon the gay and not upon the hands of the person doing the killing. The acts of gays are so abominable to God. His Word is there and we can't change it."

Most of the people I know who say "the Bible condemns homosexuality" would never condone these acts. Most Christians have no idea that the people killing gay and lesbian persons go around quoting those few verses of Scripture as justification.

But it's important to hear these stories, because I'm not writing this little pamphlet as a scholarly exercise. It's a matter of life and death. I'm pleading for the lives of my lesbian sisters and gay brothers who are rejected by their friends and families, fired by their employers, denied their civil rights, refused full membership in their churches, and kill themselves or are killed by others -- all on the basis of these six or seven verses.

The Bible is a book about God -- not a book about human sexuality.

The Bible is the story of God's love for the world and the people of the world. It tells the history of God's love at work rescuing, renewing, and empowering humankind. It was never intended to be a book about human sexuality. Certainly, you will agree.

In fact, the Bible accepts sexual practices that we condemn and condemns sexual practices that we accept. Lots of them! Here are a few examples.

• DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21
  If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately. (Let’s be honest a good majority of married women would be stoned out of their mind!!!! RRF)
• DEUTERONOMY 22:22
  If a married person has sex with someone else's husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.
• MARK 10:1-12
  Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced. (I know a lot of those. Unfortunately it happens but should they be considered evil or sinful? RRF)
• LEVITICUS 18:19
  The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both shall be executed. 
• MARK 12:18-27
  If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir. (I told one of my co-workers about this and he 100% agreed. Really???????? I guess that goes back to my whole “Neanderthal” section above…….REALLY???????? RRF)
• DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12
  If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her. (All she wanted to do was help a brother out LOL. RRF)

I'm certain you don't agree with these teachings from the Bible about sex. And you shouldn't. The list goes on: The Bible says clearly that sex with a prostitute is acceptable for the husband but not for the wife. Polygamy (more than one wife) is acceptable, as is a king's having many concubines. Solomon, the wisest king of all, had 1,000 concubines. Slavery and sex with slaves, marriage of girls aged 11-13, and treatment of women as property are all accepted practices in the Scriptures. On the other hand, there are strict prohibitions against interracial marriage, birth control, discussing or even naming a sexual organ, and seeing one's parents nude. 

Over the centuries the Holy Spirit has taught us that certain Bible verses should not be understood as God's law for all time periods. Some verses are specific to the culture and time they were written, and are no longer viewed as appropriate, wise, or just.

Often, the Holy Spirit uses science to teach us why those ancient words no longer apply to our modern times. During the last three decades, for example, organizations representing 1.5 million U.S. health professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and educators) have stated definitively that homosexual orientation is as natural as heterosexual orientation, that sexual orientation is determined by a combination of yet unknown pre- and post-natal influences, and that it is dangerous and inappropriate to tell a homosexual that he or she could or should attempt to change his or her sexual orientation. (See Recommended Resources, p. 23-24.)

While there are some people now living in heterosexual marriages who once perceived themselves to be gay, there are millions of gay and lesbian persons who have accepted their sexual orientation as a gift from God and live productive and deeply spiritual lives. The evidence from science and from the personal experience of gay and lesbian Christians demands that we at least consider whether the passages cited to condemn homosexual behavior should be reconsidered, just as other Bible verses that speak of certain sexual practices are no longer understood as God's law for us in this day.

(Some people use the reasoning that “it’s not natural. RRF) Now what does the creation story say about homosexuality? Because the text says it is "natural" that a man and a woman come together to create a new life, some people think this means gay or lesbian couples are "unnatural." They read this interpretation into the text, even though the text is silent about all kinds of relationships that don't lead to having children:

• couples who are unable to have children
• couples who are too old to have children
• couples who choose not to have children 
• people who are single

Are these relationships (or lack of relationships) "unnatural"? There's nothing said here that condemns or approves the love that people of the same sex have for each other.

So I believe the creation story says a lot about God's power and presence in the universe -- but nothing about homosexuality as we understand it today.”

         

   OK that is enough of me quoting the site. I really, REALLY think you should read the rest because it has so much to say that everyone should know. I’m not saying that you should automatically agree with everything (that’s kind of what got us into this mess) but some of the things here really make a lot of sense. If you read the site you will see that the writer has done some extensive research on the topic of sexuality as it pertains to the bible.

            I am a huge advocate for gay marriage, and I truly think that you should be able to marry whoever you feel. It shouldn’t matter if your significant other is of the same sex, all that matters is that you love with your whole heart whomever you decide to be with. I’m going to use a phrase that a friend said once…"If you have a problem with gay marriage… DON’T MARRY A GAY PERSON!!!”. To me that pretty much sums everything up, don’t you think? Why then do so many people have such a big problem with it? If it’s not harming anyone then what the hell is the big deal? It’s not like they’re getting married then going to a baby kicking contest afterwards. I know it’s a bit more serious than that for some people though. Some people are so against gay marriage that they fight night and day to ruin the chance for people they don’t know and probably will never meet to get married.

Bottom line is this, there is always going to be one group of people that will do what they can to persecute another group. It has been happening for years and probably will go on until the end of time. Much like people have throughout time though, we have to keep on pushing. You have to keep fighting to get your views heard. I am actually extending that to both sides of every argument. You need pros and cons and as long as no one is bringing violence to the table, debates can be a healthy and constructive part of life. Some things shouldn’t be debatable though, like people’s happiness and the right to love who you wish. So before you go around telling people that they are going straight to Hell and not collecting their $200, try to put yourself in their shoes and think “What if this was me, would I really want someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to decide whether or not I can be happy?”  Hopefully it’ll change your view a little bit.

Well with that I will wish you all good things, big love and happiness. I am sorry that this one had a lot of cut and paste happening from another site, but I thought that the site had so many good points and there are still a lot more there. So please go and read them. You should also check out the NOH8 Campaign and the Trevor Project if you haven’t already! As always please do your own research and come up with your own decisions. BE A LEADER NOT A FOLLOWER!!! Be good to one another. Until next time everyone.

-Editor & Chief of The Penguin Gazette,

Rudy

P.S. I'd love to hear what you think about this topic. Please post your comments below.