Thursday, June 11, 2015

Why Are So Many "Christians" Supporting Same-Sex Marriage?

There have been a number of supposedly Christian leaders who have come out in favor of same-sex marriage recently. This has really been an on-going phenomenon, but only recently have we seen many from the evangelical camp jumping on the bandwagon to redefine marriage and to claim that homosexuality is not sin.

In most cases, the rationale given for the switch is something about people who have unchangeable same-sex attraction and shouldn't be hated or that Jesus would be more understanding of the desires people have.

The problem with this issue is that nobody takes the time to differentiate between same-sex attraction and same-sex sexual acts. It isn't necessarily a sin to be attracted to the same sex. It can be caused by sin, for sure. People who get into certain kinds of sin will just get deeper and deeper in until it affects their desires more and more to make them want to sin in even more harmful ways. But I do think some people were abused or confused about sexuality and thus have feelings of attraction to the same sex through no fault of their own.


The problem is when people lump the attraction in with the sin of acting on that attraction. Temptation is not sin. Having a feeling of attraction towards someone of the same sex is a temptation. When that thought is indulged in, it becomes lust, which is a sin. When it becomes acted upon in a same-sex act, it is sin. But merely having the attraction is not necessarily sinful.

The homosexual activists have been very clever at trying to remove the distinction between the desire and the action. They call all people who have same-sex attraction "homosexuals" - whether or not they actually engage in homosexual acts. With only one label for the desire and the action, they confuse the issue greatly in several ways.

1) They set up homosexuality as a way of being instead of a temptation to sin. This not-so-subtly encourages people with these attractions to sin because the idea is that if this is the way you are, you should indulge.

2) They pretend that people cannot deny their desires and should not deny them. The idea that someone could have a desire to do something and choose not do it is a foreign concept to them. Even crazier, in their minds, is trying to fight it on a continual basis for a lifetime. Their message is that if you have a desire, you must act on it - it's just who you are.

3) They make homosexuality sound like a special case where the usual rules about morality don't apply. After all, if it's just an in-built desire, how could we so mean as to say that it's wrong or that those people shouldn't be able to "love" like we can? They want it to sound like an exception to Christianity morality that isn't covered in the Bible because people back then didn't understand that some people are just made differently.

4) They cause people to identify with their sin rather than with Christ. Someone saying they are a homosexual is no different than someone saying they are a liar or an adulterer or a thief. But most people don't go around calling themselves these labels or using them to justify their sin. Can you imagine a perpetual liar claiming that being a liar is just who they are and you should accept them that way and not try to change them and that Jesus would be okay with it because they've been that way as long as they can remember? But people do exactly that sort of thing with homosexuality because they have confused the desire with the action and because they call it a "lifestyle" instead of just a sin. In so doing, people indulging a same-sex desire now see their sin as inherent part of them rather than a cancer that will destroy them spiritually.

5) They confuse Christians who might not be very informed on the issue into supporting homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Because same-sex attraction often begins at a fairly young age and because it is very difficult for many with same-sex attraction to eliminate those attractions, many people have believed that it is a "natural" thing that people cannot help. I do think many with same-sex attraction can be helped, but it is difficult and many will continue to struggle in this area. But because people conflate the attraction and the action, their acceptance of a deep-seated attraction in some people that may not be their fault often leads to an acceptance of the actions as being not their fault either - or perhaps not being a fault at all.

Thus, because we have conflated temptation with sinful actions in this area, we have allowed many to become confused and to fail to call sin sin or to uphold Biblical morality.

Of course, such people should have known better. They should have been studying deeper. They should have been distinguishing truth instead of falling for the smoke and mirrors. They should have been standing on what the Bible says instead of giving in to peer pressure and political-correctness. So, yes, they are at fault.

But given the society-wide and cleverly-marketed deception, it's not exactly surprising that so many have believed a lie. We haven't done a good enough job combatting the lies about homosexuality in the culture and now they have wormed their way into so many churches and hearts. We forgot that defending the faith means not only standing firm in our own convictions, but destroying the deceptions that would lead others astray. We have to do better.

15 comments:

  1. Great balanced article. Hope we can do a better job of making the Word clearer to our generation without dumbing it down and compromising its message.

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  2. I think further to your point 2) above, I want to say that the Bible also teaches that those with heterosexual attractions have to deny those as well, until they get married. And if they never get married, then that means they will be refusing to turn attractions into sinful actions for their entire lives. Which is exactly what is being asked of those with homosexual attractions. Since I am one of those people who has chosen to be chaste for a long time, I don't see why people with same-sex attractions cannot do the same as me. We don't have a right to be happy, we have an obligation to be good.

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  3. I think identity in particular is an exceptionally crucial roadblock. It reminds me of one homosexual christian online chastising a traditional christian, saying (paraphrased) "You cannot possibly love me if you believe homosexuality is sin, because in doing so you deny who I am and my very ability to give this love I have to others." Rather than finding their identity in Christ first and foremost ("There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.") and at least acknowledging our concern, some instead seek to deny us entirely, making us objects of their rage which they justify because of wrongs (many real) they have suffered. Yet we are not allowed to speak because we are, in their words, "privileged oppressors."

    I am sorrowful to live in a time that I see people who claim Christ for themselves engage in dialogue this demonizing (certainly not unique to this time or this issue, but sad nonetheless).

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  4. I'd also like to bring to your attention the growing problem of unbalanced hormones leading to unnatural sexual attraction. I've had PCOS pretty much as soon as I hit puberty. My testosterone has been way high as well as other male androgens in my body. My sex drive was through the roof, to the point that I remember punching my vagina at night so I could get some sleep. I've found other women attractive for as long as I can remember. But since I'm a Christian, I don't assume I'm bisexual. And in fact getting diagnosed with PCOS and getting natural treatment for it has significantly lessened my feelings towards women. Yet so man people walk around with hormone disorders and never link them to these attractions. Did you know you have a much higher risk of PCOS if you're a lesbian? Doctors are trying to figure out why that is, when they should be asking, "Why are do so many women with PCOS have unnatural attractions to women?" The answer would be obvious.
    Just my 2 cents. ;)

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  5. I support legal marriage in no cases.

    I support Homosexuals because God via His Word told me to.

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    1. God's word never says to "support" homosexuals. Pray for them, witness to them, and love them by telling them the truth, yes. But we should not encourage them to live in rebellion against God's moral law.

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    2. The Holy Spirit has lead me to correct the Errors that came from Augustine and other early heretics canonizing Plato.

      Plato's Laws not the Bible is the origin of Conservative sexual morality.

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    3. Wow. I guess I can now completely ignore everything you have to say. The Holy Spirit never leads anyone to "correct" errors in the Bible. If there's a spirit leading you to reject the text of the Bible in order to make up a new belief or interpretation, it isn't the Holy Spirit - that's for sure. The Bible we have today is the same as was originally written, and there is plenty of evidence from manuscript copies and other historical documents, including the writings of early church fathers who were disciples of the apostles that the doctrine is the same then and now. You either accept the Bible and live accordingly, or you reject it and do your own thing. If you do the latter (as it sure sounds like you are doing), you cannot be termed a Christian.

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    4. What you Believe are the Errors, Tradition has taken verses about very specific things and applied them far more Broadly then they were intended, just as the Phrasiees did in Christ's Day.

      If you read my study on the Subject on my Sola Scirtura blog with an Open mind you would see that.

      Your attitude toward Sex and Marriage comes from Plato NOT The Bible.

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    5. Seeing that I have never read Plato, but I have read the Bible and I take what it actually says over any other writings or interpretations, I can say quite confidently that you are wrong. Your idea that it's all a misunderstanding and that pagan writings have twisted the interpretation is quite a laughable conspiracy theory. I hope your tin foil hat hasn't sprung a leak.

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    6. Show me the verse that says Tow Men or Two Women can't love each other? You can't.

      Here is a tip, if the word Abomination is in the verse, you know it's talking about a Pagan ritual, not regular sex.

      Plato has influenced Christian tradition through Augustine and others.

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    7. Two men or two women can love each other. But they can't love each other by having sex together (because it isn't loving to do things that harm the other person's soul) and they can't make a marriage together.

      There is no reason that "abomination" has to do only with pagan rituals. You just made that up.

      Your conspiracy theories are really contorted and unsubstantiated.

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  6. You do a fabulous job of sharing biblical truth Lindsay. It is a gift and I appreciate your writings. This is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church, my church, teaches about the sin of homosexual acts. Thank you and keep up the good job.

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    1. This is precisely why I, as a Messianic believer in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah for all of us do so admire the Catholic Church and those who uphold its traditional ideals, i.e. that all life is sacred, and homosexual relationships are still and always against G-d's will for our lives...just as with adultery, fornication, etc.. G-d does not change His mind. Neither should his "church" - those who wish to honor Him and His Word.

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  7. There was recently an article (forget now the name of the online publication...?!) in which the usual LIES about why homosexual marriage and homosexual attraction are not wrong, are OK with G-d,the whole demon-inspired meme. By casually throwing out the very same comparisons with other Biblical admonitions (i.e. the eating of pork, wearing clothing with mixed materials, etc.) also cited as "abominations," that somehow neutralized it all for "modern" believers. I think not. None of those actions constituted the same category of abomination as homosexual relations, and while some say Jesus said nothing about homosexual marriage, He did very clearly refer to the original (and only) plan G-d set forth for marriage, bet. a man and a woman, as the construct for ALL of us, a sacrament that prefigures our relationship with Jesus Himself, and thus to G-d as well. SO easily we are lied to-therefore it is GOOD to hear the truth! Now, how does one get a copy of this to answer those who think thousands of years of Biblical tradition, as very clearly (most of us think) stated by none other than the Creator of the whole wide universe, is suddenly overturned...?

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