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The question of whether or not homosexuality is part of God's original plan is still part of a mindset that only recognizes part of the question. And even though many Gay people and their straight allies shy away from religion and lean toward Darwinist science as if it were "safer", the same prejudiced way of viewing the world exists in Darwinist science.
"Christianity" says that God only created heterosexuality, because that's what Adam and Eve were and He told them to go off and create new human beings through sexual reproduction, so any sex that doesn't mimic that isn't "godly".
"Science" says that since the reproduction is required to keep a species going, then only sex that allows reproduction (even if we're using human-created chemicals to prevent reproduction at the same time), is "natural".Same bias. Same lack of looking at the issue any way but one way, because one has been taught there is no other way to see this issue and so doesn't or won't look further.
But there are obvious flaws in "God only wants straight people because Adam and Eve were straight", and there are obvious flaws in "Beings exist to reproduce to increase their species, and any who don't aren't natural".
For example, God obviously created Adam and Eve of one "race" (or mix of same), whether we'd now call that "African" or "Asian" or "European" or whatever. So by the same mainstream "Christian" logic that means if God's original people were African (for example), or even some mix of "races" (say, for example, of all races), then all Asians, Europeans, etc. are just as "ungodly", "unnatural", "against God's plan", etc as Gay people are said to be. And since God said to go forth and multiply, that means He wanted just that original race to increase - but not all the races that showed up with later generations.
Now, to prove God doesn't condemn or think poorly of all but one race we'd simply point to those parts of the Bible that indicate that God loves all human beings, and we'd point to those parts of the Bible and to the record of normal, moral, godly behavioral history by people of other races (understanding that all people of all races have the same sin nature, but that that sin nature in no way means a whole race is bad), and point out that there's nothing REALLY there to indicate that God condemns certain races. But to do so we'd FIRST have to get past our mental block and prejudiced (even if loving) heart and be willing to see God's Big Picture. God would have to heal us of our human-only ways of viewing other people.
Well, the same issue exists for those among us who still need to be healed of not seeing the world through God's eyes (rather than their own nearly-blind human ones) regarding Gay people. There's nothing in the Bible that truly condemns the Gay people we see around us in the world today. And there's nothing in the historical record to indicate that Gay people have been any more OR less normal, moral, or godly in their behavior (there's nothing Gay people are said to do, for example, that straight people don't also do. Like people point to immoral things that go on during Gay Pride events, for example - but by the same logic straight people are all immoral based on what goes on during Mardi Gras). While we still see those things there, we are no different than those who see God-ordained moral differences between the races ("Gays live immoral lives" is no different than "Black men are in violent gangs", and no different than "Mexicans are illegal aliens", because it takes the few examples that "match" our prejudice and proclaims them over the top of all Gay people, and over all Black men, over all Mexicans, etc). In such a case, we just haven't yet accepted Holy Spirit teaching that would help us understand we've learned to live a very wrong - and, because it bears false witness against God Himself and against our Gay neighbors, very ungodly and unbiblical - way of being in God's world. And living in that ungodly way of living, we simply help maintain the illusions that block us (and our children, etc) from seeing that Gay people - when allowed to be who they are, rather than living under the horrors of homophobic oppression and even tyranny, are only different from straight people in who their hearts bond with and who their lives meld with.
And what's called "science" today (which I list in quote marks because real science uses various ways of thinking and examining the natural world to eliminate human prejudices - not "prove" them) is just as wrong-thinking as religion - despite those who move to its quarter, thinking they will escape the biases of religion. Because to argue that only reproductive sexual behavior has a healthy, normal place in the natural world completely ignores or writes off all the NON-reproductive sexual behavior that goes on in every species on the planet - including the human species all the time. I'm reminded of a "scientist" I read once who'd spent years studying a certain kind of male wild sheep, watching the rams at times having sex with each other (so not just with the females), but never writing about it or including it in his "work". When asked why, he sputtered, "Because I just couldn't accept that there would be f*ggot* rams!" So, all those years, instead of being a REAL scientist and saying, "I see this same-sex behavior going on in this species - what purpose does it serve these rams and the sheep population?", he just published reports that made it appear that his prejudices were correct: rams are always heterosexual, except for a tiny few instances where there are "deviants". And that's no more real science than anti-Gay theology is real Jesus-following.
If we were really looking at God's natural world, we'd see the miracle of God's "programming" for natural balance everywhere - and we'd even see the many quite natural and healthy variations from what we'd expect to see that seem to have no real "purpose" at all.
For example, based on our scientific observations (which wouldn't have to be at odds with our spiritual understandings), we'd realize that many species have homosexuality programmed into their genetics, so that when populations or crowding starts to get beyond a certain limit (also set within their God-given "programming"), homosexuality increases within that species, in that area - and we'd realize what a marvelous and perfectly natural way of preventing starvation, disease, and therefore even species-death in that area homosexuality really can be. And then we'd have to wonder at our own human cultures, which force people God-programmed to be Gay into straight marriages and more reproduction, and which therefore act COUNTER to the natural world God created.
We'd also full examine and admit that many "higher" species in the world do not just have sex to reproduce. We'd have to admit that oftentimes for such species, sex is just for fun, or for status, or for life-mate-bonding, or even for overall community bonding. Then we'd realize what a marvelous thing, this God-programmed way to feel good within ourselves and to share that good with another, is - just as good as our being able to enjoy listening to a baby giggling, or enjoy seeing a sunset, or enjoy tasting a warm apple pie, or enjoy touching a soft puppy, or enjoy smelling a pine forest. None of those things are required for our Darwinian survival - they're just "for fun". They're just something that uses a part of our natural bodies that COULD be used for a survival function, and ALSO using them for something "just because". And then we could thank God for giving us natural parts of our created bodies that are positive, enjoyable, healthy, and "just for fun", because they are part of what helps make it possible to still thrive in a world otherwise so full of human negatives, horribles, unhealthies, and "because you have to's".
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"See" you again Thursday, when we'll continue our chronological walk through the Gospels, using them to understand the REAL Jesus mainstream "Christianity" (in all its forms) doesn't allow us to see.
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This article written by Lynne at No Junk. Just Jesus. You can always contact me (Lynne) at NoJunkJustJesus@gmail.com.
