[GCFL-discuss] Twisting Scriptures

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

No, I am not proposing a name for a punk rock group. But one thing Jeff
wrote sent me off on another tangent.

A friend of a friend of mine once introduced me to a young man whose
nick-name was "the Gay Christian." He was a graduate of Bob Jones
University, raised in a Southern Baptist Church in Goldsboro, NC, and
somewhere along the line found, chose, or somehow came to act and think
of himself as homosexual. But he adhered to all other beliefs of any
born-again Christians.

I asked him, you must be familiar with references in the Old Testament
that are cited to condemn what you are saying. How do you responed to
that?

He answered, oh, you mean in Leviticus? If I am talking to a Christian, I
ask, do you eat crab, lobster, oysters, or pork? Those things are also
prohibited in a chapter of Leviticus. Now if I'm talking to a Muslim or
an Orthodox Jew, I can't say that, because they DO honor the command to
eat none of those things.

I recounted this a few months later to a friend who I knew had a
different attitude on the subject, who was easily ready and able to cite
what the New Testament says about dietary laws. I speculated that if I
had a chance to pass that comment along to the gay Christian, he would
answer "like Paul said about diet, if you are a heterosexual, be a
heterosexual for Christ, if you are a homosexual, be a homosexual for
Christ." Of course Paul ranked one man lying with another right up there
with fornication, but then, most homosexual conduct WAS fornication in
the culture of the Roman Empire. Even cultures that have respected
homosexuality never even considered that it might be the basis for a
marriage. And in our culture today, men who freely engage in fornication
somehow feel that they are superior to men who engage in homosexuality,
whether monogamous or promiscuous.

So, when it comes to twisting and turning Scripture, I sometimes arrive
at the conclusion that EVERYONE who cites scripture is twisting and
turning it to their own satisfaction. Some people still cite Leviticus to
uphold that God approves of the death penalty -- but Jesus said, "Let he
among you who is without sin cast the first stone."

(Which is exactly what I would hold up in the face of the
"godhatesfags.com" idiots if I ever ran into them -- it wasn't let he
among you who never committed THIS sin cast the first stone, but he who
is WITHOUT sin.)

Jesus did change some of the rules. Why? I expect because God decided it
was time t change the rules. Maybe us humans were a little more mature by
then. 

Siarlys


________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!