What is it about Homosexuality?
Editorial Note -- this column was published in 2006, after the revelations about Ted Haggard. While Haggard isn't a story any longer, homosexuality continues to be an issue. --
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Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
November 26, 2008
By the time the dust settled, Haggard had resigned in disgrace and the Religious Right seemed to have suffered a major defeat. But there's more to this story than politics and scandal. As I contemplate one pastor's fall, I'm aware of my own moral frailty. Christians teach that humans are liable to err and that forgiveness and reconciliation is available.
The story has a political angle because Haggard was politically connected and used these connections to lobby for issues important to the conservative Christian movement, including a ban on gay marriage. There is, however, a more compelling human angle that draws my attention. This is about more than politics and culture wars; it's about who we are as human beings.
Despite the initial denials, Pastor Haggard finally admitted to a long-term struggle with homosexuality. Believing these inclinations to be sinful, he tried to suppress them. I understand why he chose this route. He felt called of God to serve the church, a calling that what would be thwarted if he admitted to what was going on inside him. Yet, what was going on inside contributed to the contradictions that made him who he was. He spoke of the need to overcome sin and offered the possibility of healing. He campaigned against gay marriage, and yet he could on occasion be welcoming and supportive to gays and lesbians.
Before this scandal recedes into the dust bin of history, maybe some good can come of it. Maybe it will give us an opportunity to discuss this issue that polarizes our nation. By all accounts, there is a growing acceptance of homosexuality in our culture, and yet there is also strong resistance, much of it coming from within our religious communities. Perhaps it's time to have the difficult but necessary conversation about the place of homosexuals in church and society.
With questions about civil rights serving as the starting point of our conversation, I think it's appropriate to say upfront that whatever our personal views of homosexuality, we should affirm a principle of equality that grants gays and lesbians their legal right to things we all take for granted, like housing, employment, and visitation of loved ones. For the religious community, the issues go deeper than civil rights and require thoughtful discussion, for these discussions focus on matters such as marriage, ordination, sin, and salvation, and what it means to be a person created in the image of God. Churches talk about being welcoming, but the question remains, whom are we willing to welcome?
This question leads us back to the ways we interpret our sacred texts. A century-and-a-half ago, devout Christians stood on opposing sides of the slavery issue, with partisans arguing their point from Scripture. Today few Christians would argue that slavery has divine approval. Another issue that turns on our interpretation of the Bible is the role of women. Even today many Christian traditions believe that women should not teach or hold authority in the church, even as my own denomination is now headed by a woman and the Episcopal Church has installed a woman as its Presiding Bishop.
Many will argue that homosexuality is a different issue, but the debate still centers on how we read the Bible. Although my congregation has yet to have an in-depth conversation on this issue, and I take some risk in sharing my views, I believe the Bible has within it the seeds of liberation and offers a way of welcome for gays and lesbians. As with my view of women in the church, personal relationships have played a role in how I view this issue. Even as friendships with gifted and called women pushed me to re-examine Scripture, the discovery that my brother is gay has forced me to re-examine what Scripture says about homosexuality. What had once been an academic question became a very personal one. Once, I believed that homosexuality was a choice, but further study suggests otherwise. I had to face the question: If the scientific viewpoint is correct, how should the church relate to gays and lesbians?
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Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
November 26, 2008
On the eve of our recent election, scandal rocked America's religious world. A prominent and politically connected evangelical leader resigned amidst charges of hypocrisy and “sexual immorality,” and pundits wondered how the election would be affected by the fact that Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church of Colorado Springs and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, had been involved in a long-standing relationship with a male prostitute. It's unlikely we'll ever know the true impact of this revelation, but the story on the front page raised an issue most religious people would rather not discuss.
By the time the dust settled, Haggard had resigned in disgrace and the Religious Right seemed to have suffered a major defeat. But there's more to this story than politics and scandal. As I contemplate one pastor's fall, I'm aware of my own moral frailty. Christians teach that humans are liable to err and that forgiveness and reconciliation is available.
The story has a political angle because Haggard was politically connected and used these connections to lobby for issues important to the conservative Christian movement, including a ban on gay marriage. There is, however, a more compelling human angle that draws my attention. This is about more than politics and culture wars; it's about who we are as human beings.
Clearly, our nation isn't of one mind when it comes to homosexuality. Like the nation itself, many of our religious communities are divided on this issue, making opportunities for open, calm, and thoughtful discussion rare. The role religion plays in this debate is influenced in large part by the fact that our authoritative religious texts tend to frown upon homosexuality, making the interpretation of these sacred texts the focal point of the conversation. But this isn't simply an academic exercise, because human lives are at stake.
Despite the initial denials, Pastor Haggard finally admitted to a long-term struggle with homosexuality. Believing these inclinations to be sinful, he tried to suppress them. I understand why he chose this route. He felt called of God to serve the church, a calling that what would be thwarted if he admitted to what was going on inside him. Yet, what was going on inside contributed to the contradictions that made him who he was. He spoke of the need to overcome sin and offered the possibility of healing. He campaigned against gay marriage, and yet he could on occasion be welcoming and supportive to gays and lesbians.
Before this scandal recedes into the dust bin of history, maybe some good can come of it. Maybe it will give us an opportunity to discuss this issue that polarizes our nation. By all accounts, there is a growing acceptance of homosexuality in our culture, and yet there is also strong resistance, much of it coming from within our religious communities. Perhaps it's time to have the difficult but necessary conversation about the place of homosexuals in church and society.
With questions about civil rights serving as the starting point of our conversation, I think it's appropriate to say upfront that whatever our personal views of homosexuality, we should affirm a principle of equality that grants gays and lesbians their legal right to things we all take for granted, like housing, employment, and visitation of loved ones. For the religious community, the issues go deeper than civil rights and require thoughtful discussion, for these discussions focus on matters such as marriage, ordination, sin, and salvation, and what it means to be a person created in the image of God. Churches talk about being welcoming, but the question remains, whom are we willing to welcome?
This question leads us back to the ways we interpret our sacred texts. A century-and-a-half ago, devout Christians stood on opposing sides of the slavery issue, with partisans arguing their point from Scripture. Today few Christians would argue that slavery has divine approval. Another issue that turns on our interpretation of the Bible is the role of women. Even today many Christian traditions believe that women should not teach or hold authority in the church, even as my own denomination is now headed by a woman and the Episcopal Church has installed a woman as its Presiding Bishop.
Many will argue that homosexuality is a different issue, but the debate still centers on how we read the Bible. Although my congregation has yet to have an in-depth conversation on this issue, and I take some risk in sharing my views, I believe the Bible has within it the seeds of liberation and offers a way of welcome for gays and lesbians. As with my view of women in the church, personal relationships have played a role in how I view this issue. Even as friendships with gifted and called women pushed me to re-examine Scripture, the discovery that my brother is gay has forced me to re-examine what Scripture says about homosexuality. What had once been an academic question became a very personal one. Once, I believed that homosexuality was a choice, but further study suggests otherwise. I had to face the question: If the scientific viewpoint is correct, how should the church relate to gays and lesbians?
As for Ted Haggard, I grieve for his family and his church. I hope for the best, knowing that this scandal has had a lot of collateral damage. Yet, his fall and confession might lead to a much needed conversation about sexuality, civil rights, and the role of religion in our nation. Of course, driven by fear, these revelations could further polarize our country. But, being driven by hope, I believe that a turning point has come and we will have this needed conversation. If we don't, then others may suffer a fate similar to that of Pastor Ted, and that would be a tragedy.
Dr. Bob Cornwall is pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc (www.lompocdisicples.org).
Nov. 26, 2006
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