The hardest thing for me to do at times when I write is to keep my focus on any one topic, but I will try to remain consistent and break this into two separate blog entries -- the first being about gay rights.
Growing up, I never really had any close "gay" friends -- at least, none that I knew about at the time. As I got older, I was very privileged to have known and grown close to a woman who had a gay brother. I remember speaking with her about the issues and problems that he faced -- she had to defend him in front of his own mother (she did not at first accept him because of the fact that he was gay). She also stood by him through all the abuse and internal loneliness that he had to endure throughout high school when he made the decision to come out and make it publicly known that he was gay. Knowing her taught me two things and reminded me of a third. First, that family love is so important in this world. Second, that when the entire world wants to come down to destroy someone's will, all it takes it the sincere love of another to make the fight worthwhile, bearable and, in the end, winnable. The third thing that I was reminded of was that I had always wanted a sister!
What I remember most from many of our conversation about him was that it was never his personal choice to become gay. That decision was made for him in the womb -- it was a biological condition within his brain that designed him to associate more easily in sexual relationships with a same-sex partner.
What of the religious implications of being gay? The Christian bible has various verses against homosexuality in general. The most direct and straight-forward comes from Leviticus 18:22 and reads, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Since this is written in Leviticus, it applies to both the Christian Old Testament as well as the Jewish Torah. In Hebrew this verse reads, "V'et zachar lo tishkav mishk'vey eeshah toeyvah hee." When the original scriptures from the Torah were translated from Hebrew into other languages such as english, the word toeyvah was often written as the English equivalent "abomination" or "detestable." These words represent a moral sin from the two types of sins as defined by the Mosaic Code. A Moral sin is a sin directed towards G-d. It is a form of rebellion slated right at him. The other type of sin is Ceremonial uncleanliness, which is contact with forbidden objects (such as a Jew eating shellfish, birds of prey, working on the Sabbath, etc.)
The exact meaning of this verse has been debated by both Rabbis and priests, but the general consensus is that a man is not to have anal sex with another man. However, is this a directive merely at physical intimacy between homosexuals or is it a directive for a man not to engage in *any* type of loving relationship with another man? Of course, Leviticus is not the only place that speaks against homosexuality -- there is also the story of Sodom and Gomorrah within the book of Genesis. Many believe that the destruction of the Sodomites (from which the word sodomy was born) was directly linked to homosexuality.
This has always been a big problem for me -- the reconciliation of two very opposing viewpoints. On one hand, I do believe in G-d. On the other hand, I realize that homosexuality is anything but a conscious decision that one undertakes when discovering his sexuality. When one is faced with a such a dichotomy of moral and religious views, there are a few options:
1. Accept that the written words and translations of G-d are correct and change one's views accordingly to respect G-d's wishes.
This ultimately would be an orthodox viewpoint, but I have always been one to believe that one of the principle reasons that we exist on Earth is to learn and grow -- and that includes discovering new ways of thinking and to renounce our previously held conceptions that were born only out of customs from both our society and family. This could easily lead one to become an outcast to both, but that is often a prerequisite to growth -- pain and isolation.
2. Realize that the written words and translations of G-d may be incorrect, mis-translated and tainted by the pen of man.
Anything written by man is subject to imperfection. We are, naturally, imperfect beings in what may be a perfect world for us to realize our own imperfections (I will not say that this is an imperfect world since I believe anything created by G-d has elements of his perfection). Further, if this is the case, then many of the verses against homosexuality could be a result of man's own fear towards the unnatural and perverse. Generally speaking, if most of the world is doing one thing and a few decide to do another, the world will come down upon them with great force brought about by fear. Simply put, fear of the unknown is the first natural reaction that most people share.
3. There is no G-d, religion is obsolete in our world and the atheistic interpretation of the universe is the correct one.
Again, this is certainly a valid possibility but everything that I am tells me that this is incorrect. This is simply a matter of "faith" and faith is a very personal thing for each person.
Of the three, I'd have to say that the second one is probably more likely than the others. Why? If homosexuality were a "choice" and not something born of nature, I would be inclined to say that it should be possible for one to renounce that belief. However, homosexuality is not a choice. I cannot accept that G-d would create a world where a man is predispositioned to love another man before he is even born and then receive punishment for it.
Since I grew up in a more conservative family, for a long time I wasn't sure about my views on the subject until I looked deep within myself and realized that a lot of my attitudes and opinions on gays were the result of my nurture and not nature. Whereas gays do not have the power or ability to change who they are, I have the power and ability to change my perception of them and all gays in general.
In life, I find it slightly amusing that people are so able to hold strong convictions towards others until they are forced to confront it firsthand. What if one of my future children turned out to be gay? Would I have a choice to love them any less? The world already has too much hatred, anger and tightly held negative biases that lead to unwarranted bigotry -- why add to that?
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