Afew years ago a Christian friend of mine, who happens to be an ordained
clergyman, was participating in a pro-life march in New York City.
Several evangelical and Roman Catholic groups were represented, so
there were, predictably, vigorous counter-demonstrations. Many of these
were led by gays.
My friend said that for many long minutes a counter-demonstrator
kept pace with him from a few feet away, screaming hateful obscenities
at him. His tirade slowing down for a few seconds, he shouted this
strange question at my friend: “Why do you people hate us?”
The question seemed quite unrelated to the pro-life issue,
which of course it is. The questioner identified himself as a gay
activist.
With remarkable presence of mind, and graciousness, considering
the hostility expressed toward him, my friend replied: “I don’t hate
you at all. I’ve probably committed far worse sins than you have, at
least in my own mind.”
Then, breaking away from his fellow pro-life marchers, he
simply hugged the man. Stunned, the would-be antagonist now kept pace
with my friend for a different reason.
Instead of hurling more insults at him, he peppered him with questions:
“Why did you do that? What were you trying to convey?” and so forth. He
was absolutely stunned that an evangelical Christian would ever express
any affection at all toward an obviously gay person.
The moral of this story is clear: Gays, in general, regard
evangelical Christians not just as critical of them, but also as
implacably hostile toward them.
It is certainly true that a few conservative Christians–the
handful, for example, who have waved placards reading “God hates
fags”–have expressed inexcusable enmity toward gays, undoubtedly
providing a basis for gays to use the term “homophobia.” It is also
true that most Christians simply don’t believe homosexual behavior to
be “natural,” but this attitude is equally true in societies where
there are few if any Christians at all.
The overwhelming majority of Christians I have met all over the
world don’t “hate” gays or wish them any harm whatsoever. But they do
believe the Bible emphatically prohibits all sexual acts outside of
marriage, including–but not singling out–homosexual activity, and
they clearly do not believe there is any notion whatever in the Bible
of a gay “marriage.”
So why is the gay perception that Christians “hate” them so
widely held? Why, for example, are Christians not assumed to “hate”
bank robbers, forgers, adulterers, even murderers?
One reason is that very few churches have learned how to live out in
practice, in relation to gays, the principle of loving the sinner but
hating the sin. Evangelical Christian churches, by and large, have
failed to reach out effectively to the gay community.
This, in part, is due to sheer fear. If they exhibit grace and openness
to gays, will this be seen either by gays or other Christians as
“tolerance” of the gay lifestyle?
Alternatively, many churches would like to pretend the gay
phenomenon simply doesn’t exist. If they have to express a biblical
position on sexuality, they may run the risk of the dreaded accusation
of “homophobia.”
Some of the fear is based on ignorance. The fact is, the gay
lifestyle can be physically very dangerous. Medical studies galore have
confirmed this.
Life expectancy can be up to 20 years shorter than for the heterosexual
population, almost entirely as a result of sexually transmitted
diseases. Depression, attempted suicide and drug abuse are
significantly higher among gays and lesbians. This is true even in the
Netherlands, where 77 percent of the population fully accepts
homosexual behavior, and so it cannot be attributed to traditional
“homophobia.”
By their own admission, gays are far more likely to be sexually
unfaithful–even to partners with whom they claim to be in a “loving,
committed, consensual relationship”–than heterosexual couples, hence
more vulnerable to sexual disease than the general population.
In short, is this something Christians should encourage, regardless of moral attitude? Of course not.
