Homosexuality in Christianity

In this chapter you will learn modern Christians are handling homosexuality.

In his article entitled Haynes: A Biblical Analysis of Homosexuality, Dr. Donald Haynes presents many scriptures that Christians use to condemn homosexuals today. The first scripture Dr. Haynes invalidates is Leviticus 18:22 which prohibits men lying with men. He does this by giving examples of many other laws in Leviticus that Christians no longer follow. He then asks a very important question, “What did Jesus say?” He answers this question by quoting Jesus himself who said that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As Dr. Haynes continues in his article, he explains how at a young age he used the bible to condemn people. He then explains how he heard a sermon about how Christians should not use the bible “as a weapon,” but instead a method of helping others. He ends his article by making a call to Christians to drop the judgment and to love everyone just as Christ loves everyone (Haynes). Since Christians are called to love everyone regardless of fault, there is no need for an exemption to Title IX. Discrimination is a form of judgment, and Christians are called to drop judgment, and love.

            John Shore, a writer for Huffington Post, gives an even stronger argument as to why Christians should end their judgement and discrimination of the LGBTQ community in his article titled The Best Case for the Bible Not Condemning Homosexuality. At the beginning of the article, Shore calls on Christians to end the notion that God wants his followers to decide between either “compassion or faith.” He explains how overtime Christians have adapted their interpretation of the bible to mean that God will only accept them if they condemn homosexuals for their acts. He annuls this concept by explaining that God never commanded his people to choose between mercy and belief. As the article continues, Shore reveals how Christians, in choosing condemnation over compassion, have “indefensibly” deprived homosexuals of the same basic foundations to the Christian faith. Some of these examples include: partaking in church services, marriage, and strong family ties. The prohibition of these things does not allow homosexuals to see and feel the love of God. Instead, it leads them away from any faith in God. In the middle of the article, Shore challenges Christians and their beliefs towards homosexuality. Like Haynes, Shore quickly denounces the Old Testament scriptures relating to homosexuality because these verses are now obsolete. After doing this, he questions the three verses in the New Testament that relate to homosexuality by giving its definition as it was when the verses were written. This definition describes homosexuality as an act of rape committed by men of higher power. It is obvious that in today’s society homosexuality is not viewed the same way. It is viewed as consensual love between two human beings. So, the New Testament verses do not prohibit homosexual acts between two consenting men or women who remain within the scriptural guidelines given. As Shore ends the article, he again reminds his readers that the prominent thing Christians should do is show compassion and love to each other because, in doing so, no harm can be done (Shore).