To that extent, I encourage everyone who is reading this, whether you are of Christian or homosexual (or Christian homosexual, though I will explain why this is not in the list) bent, to please take all information (and to submit new information and perspectives) into account as best you can. This is a groundbreaking situation which has potential to translate into something in which NOBODY wins.
Also, please understand that this is an editorial, personal as it may be. I do not claim to represent any particular group; though I like to think of myself as a Christian, I am woefully lacking in the necessary wisdom and patience to speak on behalf of the Christian community. Neither do I care to represent the homosexual community. I do not claim to be unbiased; as a matter of fact, I would be inclined to call any person who claims to be so a liar at best. (in line with my proof addiction, maybe I should work on a proof of the inability of humans to be unbiased) I do not claim to know everything that's going on, nor the people involved.
What I do bring here is several years of journalistic and logical experience, as well as the fact that yes, I am Christian. And yes, I feel justified in allowing room for homosexual perspectives; we are not called to hate or hurt, but to love. Especially those who disagree, passively or actively, with us.
Please familiarize yourself with the resources listed above to get a grasp of the situation. With that said, time to get going.
This is a particularly fine mess people are embroiled in once again. In the drive to "eliminate discrimination" and "allow diversity to prosper", a homosexual was forbidden from a Christian leadership. She consequently filed a complaint which led to the Christian organization's derecognition from Tufts University. Please try to stay with me as I dive into this.
For starters, I want to approach the idea of the "Christian homosexual." Intuitively, that should make no sense. I'm saying this straight out because there are those who believe that it is possible. The primary argument is that "oh, we can be both because Christianity allows for homosexuals." To further their case, they usually add "oh, nothing is in the Bible that says homosexuality is a sin."
Besides, doesn't the fact that the so-called "open" meeting was in fact a midnight secret meeting, held hush-hush, cause any suspicion in anyone as to what their true intent was? That one complaint against an organization (funny, isn't it, that she decided to cause an issue because she couldn't be a leader. She did not meet the qualifications for leadership. However, she was quite welcome to continue attending) was enough to cause the first derecognition in the history of that university?
Tufts ain't the only one. Middlebury is also calling for the figurative head of the Christian fellowship. And there are many others which don't get the dignity of even being mentioned in some sort of news outlet. Quite frankly, I'm in disbelief and quite irritated at the riot mentality of the people who are protesting them. You don't want your funds supporting them? Tough. Do you think I put up money each year so that I can indirectly support the gay and lesbian promotion groups? Or how about the political groups? Or the numerous booze parties that some groups wind up spending their fees on?
And strange, I hear NO protests at all about any other religions on any campus. Why is that?
The group I attend, though recognized by the SA, is not sponsored. I have issues with this, in that the SA clearly and readily sponsors other religious groups. However, by the grace of God we've always had someone who had the funds to help keep us going; we are that much more reliant on the generosity of His blessings. But honestly, I have a feeling something like this will happen here soon as well. Someone who is just a little confused will step up, pull in some out-of-context principle, and the next thing you know this school will be up in arms. That's fine by me; I'm not incompetent when it comes to dueling, both verbal and physical. But just look at the sheer stupidity of the situation.
What I think you should do: (opposing party)
I cannot help you if your desire to see TCF turned into an example. A right tolerance is best defined as knowing what to take for how long, and when not to. After all, do you preach tolerance if your best friend gets mowed down in a drive-by? Or when someone sprays a swastika in a Jewish neighborhood? (freedom of expression, I hear some cry) Because they did not allow her into a leadership position does not mean that they do not love her; it is simply that they could not tolerate someone openly embracing a sinful lifestyle leading other people, possibly astray. Christians are not told to hate people. We are a people called first and foremost to love. (see I Corinthians 13:13 and Galatians 5:22-26. If you don't believe that, then I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do.
Hope you got something out of that. Got something to bite me? Lemme have it. puredragon@koreamail.com is the e-mail. Going back? Okay.
Romans 1:21-28, Leviticus 20:13, Matthew 5:17-18. A quick glance at those should show you that the act of homosexuality was outright despised in the Old and New Testaments. It's rather tough to take those verses any other way (I've done my best to try to keep it small and in context simultaneously). With this in mind, I can only deduce:
Note that I used willful all over the place. If you must, interpret willful as "with desire, and with no inhibiting objections or hesitations." So I ask, then... how can a willful homosexual Christian exist?
What got into the student government at Tufts that they felt they could supercede religion? Some things they apparently missed:
Just read through it again to make sure I get my facts right. Don't want to go off and find out I went off on something that doesn't exist.