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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Orthodoxy Sez!


God doesn’t make
anything that isn’t
perfect,

and God
made people who are
homosexual,

therefore,
homosexuals are included in
God’s perfect creation.

However,
orthodoxy sez
the act (!) of homosexuality
is a sin.

Some Christians,
attempting to reconcile
their values of
compassion and judgment,
point to celibacy
as the way forward
for these people.

If these perfect creations
of God
do not choose
to deny themselves
that most basic
and essential of all human
experiences,
to love
and to be loved in return
in love’s many forms,
orthodoxy sez
they are damned.

So, then
because of their sacrifice,
the most holy and sanctified one
in the Christian church
must be the homosexual
who doesn’t engage
in sexual relations.

This is the person,
nay, the saint!
deserving of our respect
and veneration!

So,
now I ask you,

which proposition
is easier to believe:

that the Christian leaders
of this sin-ridden world
will call for the beatification
and sanctification of the
Christian Homosexual Celibate
as the paragon of virtue
and holiness,

or

that the
orthodox Christian interpretation
of human sexuality
based on Biblical principles
is inherently incorrect?

(Written for #OpenLinkNight at dversepoets.com, where people like me are not only tolerated, but loved!  Come on along!)

45 comments:

  1. i think you touch a very difficult question here with no easy answers..what i know for sure is that god loves everyone of us - no matter what we've done or haven't done

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    1. Exactly! This is less a poem than a rhetorical polemic, sez Moskowitz the Christian Universalist/Humanist.

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  2. Very thought-provoking questions being posed by the hour everywhere. I agree that God is love, and he loves us all.

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    1. Yes, and you are one of His strongest arguments. Thanks.

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  3. Interesting theorizing here. I believe God loves all. I also believe in "Judge not, lest ye be judged." I believe that oftentimes those who are the most judgmental are not looking into their own heart, soul, actions.

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    1. You're right on the nose, Mary. Research shows that most people who live in houses without mirrors are happier than those who can see reflections of themselves. Narcissists are the only exceptions to the rule.

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  4. I am so with you on this--walk a mile in someone else's shoes

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    1. Compassion and empathy, those will go a long way.

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  5. Right on the nail with this one.
    My argument has always been, homosexuality exits both in human, animal and plant life. Certain creatures have sex (dogs, chomps to name two) with their own sex. Certain creatures and plants included change sex as and when natures dictates the need for them to do so. None of these have ever read a Bible to know that it is considered against God's law and therefore, they are not committing any known 'sin.' One day maybe humans will wake up and smell the roses but, I have to say with so much hatred and self righteous bigotry, I doubt it.

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    1. Thanks - yes, it is an uphill climb, but I have hope for the human race, rationality and ethics.

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  6. I don't believe in religion. I believe in love, kindness, compassion, acceptance. These are the big questions of our times, and it seems like the answers should be so simple.

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    1. Once I heard the Dalai Lama say that there was no dogma to his faith, only love and compassion - it should show in one's actions. I tell the Christians "don't tell me what you believe, tell me what you've done amd I'll tell you about your belief."
      Thanks!

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  7. and that is love isnt it...ugh...def a prickly topic for some but i know many homosexual couples that stand a far better chance of staying together than married couples ....you know...and is that not love?

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    1. Yes it was a prickly topic, but I'm trying to work out what my "church" tells me what I should believe and still be a follower of the Christ. I almost quit my church earlier this month, but realized Jesus would probably want me to stay and try to change their minds with love. Thanks for your kind comment, you're right on.

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  8. Anonymous2:54 PM

    The answer should be simple

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    1. Yes, I hate all the contortions my church has me make in order to stay a "believer". I tried to make a consistent argument, too bad no one in my church will hear it. Thanks for commenting.

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  9. Anonymous4:31 PM

    It is right we are all part of God's plan each and everyone of us. Blessings

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    1. Yes, all means all. I always wonder which of my sinful children would I turn away. Thanks.

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  10. The institution of marriage, which I and my agenda-pushing inverted ilk are said to be threatening, was a compromise to begin with. St. Paul recommended celibacy across the board, including for married couples. When some wives adhered to this teaching, their husbands became unaccountably disagreeable and churlish. God knows why! And so, the compromise of marital sex was arrived at.

    Leviticus, so often trumpeted as evidence that God hates gays, and such similar hogwash, is not only an ancient laundry list of now nutty seeming prohibitions, but it was never intended as a general guide. It is a purity code for priests, created in response to a pissing contest between Italian and Greek clergy over which were purer. I report this with a straight face.

    Anyway, I love your poem, Mosky, and I love you. But I will refrain from acting on it. I'm ready for my beatification, Mr. DeMille!

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    1. Thank you for the early church lesson.I am presently reading "Jesus Wars" which is about the political fighting that went into the creation of the orthodoxy. As for gay marriage, I see it purely in terms of civil rights. If this were 50 years ago this Mexican would have been prohibited from marrying his white wife in certain parts of America, and I can't stand by and let that happen again. Much love, el Mosk

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  11. The sarcast in me wants to take the tone of the holier than thou unfettered with doubt and say something...but this sounds like a true existential journey so all I will say is that the whisper, that sometimes becomes a shout inside probably is the right path to take. The way I believe is that if god has a issue with this, he is spending way too much time thinking on what is going on in people's pants and not enough time in their board rooms...

    Wander

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    1. Well I certainly hope I didn't come off as holier than thou. I just think it's disingenuous to tell Christian gays to abstain and not give them a special place in the body of Christ. I still think deep down they're mostly homophobes. Thanks for your comment.

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    2. No you didn't come off as holier than thou at all, not in the least. I think it has to do with fear thsn with god...

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  12. Anonymous6:17 PM

    If humanity was made in the image of God, then the answer is not that hard to find, if we are really looking. If God loves us all, then we are bound to love and accept one another. Is man then competing with God?

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    1. You bring up some very interesting questions, which, of course, I have no answer. And, yes, we are always competing with God, and always losing. Thanks for your comment.

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  13. seems like everyone's taking on deep stuff tonight. uff. your logic is smart here. strong write.

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    1. Thanks for your kind comment on my logic. Coming from you Dr. Poetessa, I is complimented. Much gratitude, Mosk

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  14. Too many contradictions in the great book, inspired by God, but written BY man. And then at the Council of Nicea, the elders and powers that be of the time decided what books to keep and which to throw out. Seems each religion takes what they want from it and puts their own spin on the words. I tend to go with the belief that Jesus walked with the sinners, the downtrodden, the poor, the homeless, the ill (aka the "common" man). Would he have judged people by their personal preferences, or embraced them as God's children and rejoiced that their hearts knew love? I like to believe the latter, and always go on the premise, "Judge not, lest we be judged."
    Sorry for the rant. Got the "religious righteous" alive and well in my own extended family, but also gays among cousins and friends, whom I love dearly. Great write, Buddah. A lot of food for thought!

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  15. Thank you and I love your impassioned response. As you can probably tell, I'm with you.

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  16. POINT!
    ALthough you had better answer your own question because irony is so lost on those who really need it.

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  17. Good write Buddah - was probably the main thing that drove me away from organized religion. That and not being able to pick one God ... it seemed an impossibility when I began to research world religions in earnest to put one above another - and when I imagined trying to explain to a child why one was more worthy of worship than another, I knew I was never going to be able to ... hence my agnostic soul rose up and said, "then don't" and at about the same time coincidentally I literally fell in with some Unitarians who were just officially blending with the Universalists here in Canada. More research. But finally, my agnostic soul had found a home and a place to be as spiritual (or not) as I please. It's not for everyone but it is for me ...
    Did I mention I like your poem? Good. I do.

    http://seingrahamsays.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/every-now-and-again/

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    1. Thanks for the kind words. I agree, the search continues, and there may not be any one answer. As a former atheist, I'm very accommodating to wherever anyone is on the continuum. I'm a Christian universalist mostly because I think Jesus was one too.

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  18. nothing like religion to take the H off homosexuality and put the H in hypocrisy



    fruit essence facial mask

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    1. Thanks for your comment - yes, lots of hypocrisy in the Christian church - almost kept me away, but then I remembered that Jesus wasn't one of them.

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  19. the thing most Christians (and I call myself one) need to remember first and foremost is that they are commanded to love (2nd greatest commandment if I recall) and forgive. Leave the judgement of others to God and worry a bit more about your own salvation and transgressions.

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  20. This reminds me what Jesus said about homosexuals -- absolutely nothing. Because Jesus was cool that way and loved everybody.

    xo

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  21. If God created everything, then He must have created homosexuality too... and evil, for that matter. So what's His beef then? (I think it's OUR beef, not His!)

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  22. thanks for the bday wishes man....would def hit you up for a cup of joe...smiles....have a wonderful rest of the day!

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  23. I was about to write, "What would the Master do (or say) about this?" That seems to give answer to lot of my questions.

    Then I read Jannie's comment (above), and totally agree with her.
    You've done the topic a justice which many would not.

    OFF TOPIC:
    Preachers say to us, "You must put God into your life."
    Master says: "He is already there, I need but to recognize Him!"

    PEACE!

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  24. Bruddah, you know where I stand. Firmly. On solid ground, daring anybody to cross this PFLAG mom! Your logic is plain, and the poem itself held me all the way through.

    Jesus said LOVE, and as a Christian who accepts many paths, I don't even feel the need to be commanded to love everyone. It's difficult to pray for the Westboro people, but I do, because it's cleansing to rid myself of the distaste I have for homophobes.

    Love from your sistah, Ameleh
    http://sharplittlepencil.com/2012/08/26/screwed-over-again-a-shadorma/

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