A Letter to a Fundamentalist Homophobe

Dear Fundamentalist,

Please stop sending me passages of Scripture that you think are applicable to my life, in an effort to vent your homophobia upon me, and sit in judgment of me or of things about my life that you couldn't possibly understand. I've read the Bible throughout the entirety of my life, and have studied at length the handful of statements made by Moses and Paul that people like you continually use to try to manipulate people like me, and I understand them in their proper context, so your efforts to rebuke me are in vain.

I am a Christian, and I know that Jesus was completely silent on the subject of sexual orientation, so don't even try to go there with me, because what matters most to me as a follower of Christ is what He said.

Don't tell me about Sodom and Gomorrah, because the weird account in Genesis of those ancient, barbarian people wanting to gang-rape angels ("strange flesh") in the streets has no more relevance to my life than it does to yours. Besides, according to Ezekiel (16:49), the "Sin of Sodom" was arrogance and indifference to the poor.

Read your Bible.

And don't quote me the two statements Moses made in Leviticus about two men lying together. You don't live by Levitical Law, so don't try to impose it upon me, either...unless you also think it's wrong to eat shrimp, lobster and pork, shave, wear blended fabrics...or you stand for a law that says that kids who have bad attitudes should be stoned to death by the elders of the city, or believe that when your wife is on her menstrual cycle she should sleep outside, or that if your daughter is raped you should be able to sell her to the rapist at a reduced price. If you're going to play the Moses card, then play the whole deck!

And please don't cut and paste the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans to me. Whatever rites of pagan temple worship involving prostitute-priests that is described there is no more applicable to me than it is to you. Besides, I do retain God in my knowledge, I am very thankful, I do worship the Creator, and believe that He is the Creator of all things, and I certainly have not been "turned over to a reprobate mind". People like you really like to use that one because it can be so intimidating to people like me, but I assure you that I know I have the Mind of Christ, and my knees bow and my tongue confesses to the glory of God that Jesus Christ is Lord! You should read the rest of the chapter and look at all the kinds of people who are listed there, and you may find that YOU have, in fact, been turned over to a reprobate mind! Then go read the first part of the next chapter and see what it says about the people who judge the people mentioned in the first chapter! You may be surprised.

Paul I know...

And I know what he said to the Corinthians in his first epistle to them (Chapter 6). Don't try to keep me out of heaven with that one because he was talking about who he personally thought would not inherit the kingdom, and it wasn't just people with same-sex attraction. And, by the way, if you're such a devotee of Paul's, then you better have short hair if you're a man, and long hair if you're a woman (and cover your head in church and submit to men), you better be cool with slavery, and you better not get married for any other reason than to keep yourself from burning with lust!

Paul was a great man who was mightily used by God, but even he himself said that some of his words were just his opinion, and not the commandment of the Lord. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but it was written by straight men to straight men, and is therefore limited in its scope of understanding of the issues of same-gender loving people.

And don't call me a "dog"...I am a Son of God, and that word (translated into Elizabethan English) was used for any one who was perceived to be "different". And in the last chapter of Revelation, John says that the Spirit and the Bride say "Come" to all who are outside the City of God, including the "dogs"!

And don't cite stupid platitudes to me like "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve", or tell me that you "Love the sinner, but hate the sin", because I know the Genesis story, and I know that you don't love me, or people like me, you just have a need to mind the business of other people for some reason, or you fear what you don't understand. Perhaps you are dealing with your own sexual orientation issues and need to deflect on people like me. Whatever the case, you're wasting your time in trying to clobber me with the same 5 or 6 Bible verses. I wear the helmet of salvation, and am immune to your silly mind games!

And I've heard it all before.

The bottom line is that you don't own God or Jesus or the Bible or Christianity. He's my God, too, and I am fearfully and wonderfully made in His image. He's my Jesus, too, and He is my Lord. It's my Bible, too, and I love it as much as you do, even though I know that it must be rightly divided, because the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life! I've always been gay because I was born gay, and I am fine with who I am, just as I am ("Can the thing formed say to Him that formed him, Why did you make me thus?"). I am God's workmanship!

How about just minding your own business, and try concentrating on doing what JESUS actually said...and what He didn't say. He didn't say a thing about homosexuality, but He did say a whole lot about walking in LOVE!

Oh, one more thing...King James, the one who authorized the version of the Bible you like to quote so much was an openly gay man.

Just thought you should know.

Sincerely,

A Gay Christian