From: chrisn+@cmu.edu (Chris Newman)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Homosexuality and the so-called "Christian biblical
Date: 30 Jul 92 08:02:14 GMT

In message <Jul.28.02.24.03.1992.24521@dartagnan.rutgers.edu>, 
 ricko@ee.uts.edu.au (Rick Jelliffe) writes:
>Lets distinguish the various things (I think wrongly) 
>lumped together and called Gay:
>
>1/ Emotional love of the same sex. ...
>2/ Lack of emotional love for the opposite sex. ...
>3/ Desire for physical closeness with the same sex. ...
>4/ Lack of desire for physical closeness for the opposite sex. ...
>5/ Sexual temptation about the same sex. ...
>6/ Lack of sexual temptation about the opposite sex. ...
>7/ Willed sexual activity relating to the same sex. ...
>8/ Lack of willed sexual activity with the opposite sex. ...

I would define "being gay" as having the majority of one's physical
and emotional attraction directed towards the same sex.  I believe in
an attempt to destroy gay people (starting somewhere around the 13th
century), the church and society have slowly outlawed or made
unacceptable those things which are common amoung gay people that you
listed above.  I find it very sad that good friends who are the same
sex can't hold hands or hug in public any longer.  I hope the gay
movement succeeds in making such things acceptable again, as it will
benefit all.

I guess the best answer I can give for what it means to be gay is
personal testimony:

As an adolescent, I experimented with my male friends -- the emotions
and desires involved with sex were not there -- mainly a desire to
experiment, and the pleasure of touching someone I cared about.
Starting around 7th grade, I began to notice that I was attracted
physically to my male classmates.  I had a crush on a really nice,
handsome classmate of mine from 7th grade to the end of high school.
During this period, I realized that I was gay, and misread the bible
as condemning gay people (I had a new American version which had a
mistranslation in Corinthians specifically directed at hurting gay
people).  I spent two years preying to God to change me.  I went to
church youth groups and had friends prey for me (although I didn't
tell them why -- I was too frightened).  God never changed me -- after
all I was the way he created me.  So my only choice at that point was
to dump God, as my misreading of the bible led me to believe he didn't
want me.  So I hid my feelings for 5 more years, and slowly worked out
in my mind how I could live my life without harming others, how I
could live with myself as I was, and how I could make the world a
better place.  A year and 1/2 ago, I came out publicly as gay and now
am happier than I have ever been before.  I'd eventually like to find
another man to love both emotionally and physically and to live with,
for that is the most fulfilling option available to me.

Here's a few points people might bring up:
1) Did someone "recruit" or molest you as a child?
No.  I was never molested as a child.  My parents loved me and are
Christian.  In fact I only knew of two gay people personally before I
came out, and never talked to either of them.

2) God can "cure" you.
I am the way I was created and God chose not to change that when I
asked him to.  I now would perfer to worship God by accepting myself
as he created me.

3) You can become celibate.
I can, but I choose not to.  There's really no point in me supressing
my feelings or actions when I can express them without harming anyone
or anything, and perhaps making life better for another person as
well as myself.

4) The bible says it's wrong for men to have sex with men.
Any bible scholar can tell you that it's not that simple.  Looking at
the original language rather than an English translation leads to
different meanings (e.g. temple prostitution is wrong).  Even if I
were to take this point as a given, I still wouldn't follow it.  There
are a lot of things that the bible says to do that people don't follow
for good reasons (e.g. the bible says it's wrong for a woman to go to
church without her head covered, or a man to go to church with his
head covered).  Most of the rules from the bible that are generally
accepted have good reasons to be obeyed (e.g.  Adultery is clearly
wrong because it is a violation of a trust between partners to be
monogamous).

Finally, I can give numerous good arguments for why
rejecting/condemning gay men and lesbians is wrong.  Can anyone come
up with a good argument (other than "the bible says so") for why
responsible homosexual activities are wrong?  I've never heard one.

		Peace be with you,
		- Chris Newman
--
"Here is one of the supreme ironies of history: for thousands of years
 in the Christian West, homosexuals have been the victims of
 inhospitable treatment--the true crime of Sodom--in the name of a
 mistaken understanding of Sodom's crime." - John McNeill