A More Positive Approach To Sexuality

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from the globeinmail.com March 8^th, 2007, with a headline:A More Positive Approach to Sexuality.The following are excerpts:The Christian church has a deeply flawed understanding of sex that has led to morally groundless objections to masturbation, birth control, abortion and homosexuality, says a leading Canadian Anglican bishop.In particular, the church has been wrong for centuries on the notion that sex exists for only the purpose of procreation, Bishop Michael Ingham told the conference in Ottawa.Christianity, as a religion, stands in need of a better theology of sexuality, he said, a better understanding of the complex role sexuality plays in our human nature and the purposes of God in creating us as sexual beings.Ingham already has outraged most Anglican leaders by authorizing the blessing of same sex unions in his diocese.The CanadianChurch is to decide nationally on same sex blessings in June.Ingham told the conference, today we have a better understanding of homosexuality as a basic and natural orientation experienced by some members of the human community just as we find the same thing among some animal species, and in Christian terms we must come to think of this as not only natural but also God given and good.

Tom:

Dave, he goes on to say that the Bible’s Christian New Testament condemnation of homosexuality is almost certainly a proscription of sex between adult males and young boys tolerated in the first century AD in Greek society.St. Paul understood same sex relationships only in terms of the older man and younger boy relationship of the Greeks which we call, pederasty, or in other words, child abuse.But no difference was perceived by the Christian church between child abuse and adult same sex love.Well, what’s with this guy?

Dave:

Well, Tom, he’s with times. This is what they would have us believe. although the latest poll that I’ve read are 1.4% of adult males are involved in this sort of thing, and as they get older and older and older they give up.Now we’ve got, let’s say 1.2% of the population and they are forcing this on everyone, so that’s one problem.Now you’re talking about the New Testament, what about the Old Testament?This is a God given thing and he wipes out Sodom and Gomorrah because of something that he gave them.Of course this man probably doesn’t believe the Old Testament, and furthermore, Tom, we’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I don’t know how these people could have gay pride parades.What would you be proud of?If everyone adopted this way of living it would be the end, it would bring an abrupt end to the human race because they don’t procreate.Okay, and now---

Tom:

But Dave, it’s natural and God given, so---

Dave:

No, it’s not, as you know it’s not.But Tom, what was the very first command?I like to test audiences sometimes---Well, the first commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.No, it was earlier than that.Oh, don’t eat of that tree.No, there was a command even before then.What was it?Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth!Now these guys, the homosexuals, have defied God on the very first thing.Now the command, the very first thing He said to Adam and Eve was, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.And they say that this God given thing is something that contradicts what God created sex for, what He put us here for?Tom, it almost seems hopeless, you know, you can’t reason with these people.

Tom:

Well, Dave, what’s going on here?This is a moral issue, it has to do with the flesh, it has to do with perversions, I mean, there is no way around it.As you mentioned, Sodom and Gomorrah, why did God address that He did?Then let’s go to the New Testament, it’s clearly condemned by the apostle Paul, and he wasn’t talking about man-boy relationships.

Dave:

Of course,

Tom:

You know, these people who refused to be thankful to God, to turn to God, to do things His way, what are the ramifications of this, Dave, shorter life?You could make an argument against this, never mind what the Bible says, you can put that aside, just on the basis of the medical problems that develop through this so-called natural and good way that God has, in this case, almost promoted.

Dave:

Yeah, I was reading an article recently, Tom.Did we talk about this, I don’t know, about the polls they took in Denmark and Sweden, and so forth?That is where they have had the longest history of same sex marriage.These are people who have supposedly, been true to one another and stuck it out and so forth, and on the basis of the polls, it shortens the life span by about 24 years.Now, this is a secular writer now, he’s not a Christian writer, but one of things that he logically points out is that really has some impact on whether same sex marriages, partners of the same sex, should be allowed to adopt children.Because, let’s say you’re in your forties or whatever and you want to adopt some children.You’renot going to be around much longer, and it really isn’t fair to the child.That’s just another angle on homosexuality, lesbianism, that’s talking about both sides now, lesbians and homosexuals, it reduces their life span on an average of about 24 years, and it causes, as you said, all kinds of medical problems.

Tom:

You know, Dave, again, research out there based on observation, when you don’t have a male figure and female figure in the family it creates problems..It’s just as simple as that, again, not somebody looking at it from a biblical point of view, just from observation and how this works out in the lives of families.

Dave:

Right, and Tom, I think we already said that, look, this isn’t natural.It’s in your genes?Well, if it were in the genes it would be wiped out immediately because these people don’t have children.Okay.So, evolution or survival of the fittest, or whatever you want to call it, natural selection, would wipe this out.But it’s only about 1.4% and this is not the massive amount of practitioners of this that they want us to believe and are demanding their rights.