Truth vs. Convenience

It is truly a "David vs. Goliath" situation for the truth to take on the traditional Christian worldview, particularly in regards to certain social and political issues, in which they are very invested in their belief in their correctness. As I have stated in all of my addresses thus far, I am not referring to the simple belief that homosexuality is wrong, and that same-sex relationships are unacceptable in God's eyes. Everyone is entitled to hold their own belief on the issues, and my mission was never to invalidate anyone's right to their own opinion or treat their belief as invalid, as they do to those who believe differently from them. I will also say that their belief is not entirely unfounded, and can easily appear to be the case in Scripture...if reading Scripture in a selective and non-discerning manner in my view.

This being said, what this project is devoted to is bringing out the prolific set of evidences—seen in both the Bible and in the natural makeup of humanity—which show that the belief that same-sex relationships are wrong and forbidden by God, in an inherent sense and in any context, is not the open-and-shut case that these believers have made it out to be. What they have done in their arguments is build a case upon many untruths and distortions, as opposed to keeping their argument limited to only what can be said honestly and truthfully, and leaving the rest in God's hands, which would be a practice of faith. They have no concept of a commitment to this integrity, and confidently believe they have a lock on the mind of God, on this and other issues. It is not a belief that possesses humility and integrity. This would not serve their cause, and would limit them and make their argument appear to be "weak."

Here are four examples of the many untruths that are spoken for God:

(1) It is not enough for them to speak of the passages of Scripture which they believe can be used in a face-value manner—it is necessary for them to speak untruthfully when directly asked about other passages of Scripture, which would call upon them to simply think further about what they are believing, without necessarily proving that their belief on this issue is incorrect. (2) It is not enough, for example, to speak about "promiscuity" as endangering the well-being of people—it is necessary, in their view, to make the same-sex relationship, in itself, the culprit in the detrimental effect that many homosexual people are dealing with. It is of no concern or interest to them that their argument on this point doesn't work, as a detriment is present for the heterosexual person, and sexually transmitted diseases are common for the heterosexual person who engages in a promiscuous lifestyle. (3) It is not enough to say that they believe the laws of the land should not sanction these relationships, which is a belief that they are entitled to hold—they feel a need to claim that "our laws are based on the Bible," which I will say is actually a laughable assertion..not because I don't believe it should be the case in light of our Constitution, but because it is provably untrue. They have no problem with the indiscriminate sanctioning of remarriage after divorce, which is forbidden in the Bible. (4) They are unable to admit that the God of the Bible established strict laws in the Old Testament, attaching the word "abomination" and the "death penalty" to them, and in the New Testament these laws were rendered to be "not the essence of righteousness," and are not laws in the Christian faith today. They confidently claim that, if God set up a law forbidding homosexuality, and subsequently this is rendered to be acceptable within a particular context—with a view to quality of the relationship, a clear conscience before God, and the absence of the rebellion, idolatry, and violence that established the history of what was called "wickedness" in the Bible—"this would make God a liar," and "God cannot change." Certain laws were specifically spoken of in the N.T. as subject to "liberty," which I agree is not the case here, but their statement that "setting up a law and then rendering it obsolete would make God a liar" speaks of a patently false premise in principle. God did not change in rendering the Sabbath laws and dietary laws "obsolete" under the new covenant—He established a new system of laws, and a new relationship with His people, and stated that the entirety of His law is "love." A highly provable concept in God's Word. And the list goes on.

The result of their undying commitment to maintaining their belief—at all costs—is that "truth" does not serve their cause, and is not a priority in their address of the issue. This is seen in many ways, which I have brought out through several years of discussions with individuals about many indisputable truths of the Bible and the issue. I have engaged in extensive dialogs, including one that went on for a full year with a minister, intensive dialogs in the former comment section of this blog, a recent discussion with a New Testament theologian, and various other "ordinary" individuals over these years, who argued their case for God's condemnation of same-sex relationships.

You may say that I am asserting my opinions as truth, and I am the one who is closed-minded and self-assured. Of course people have varying opinions, and no one individual knows the mind and truth of God fully and completely. That is why we as human beings attempt to discuss the issues, in order to arrive at the truth, and hopefully bring out the facts for consideration and to provoke thought. In the midst of this discussion, however, some things are provable and verifiable and are not a matter of "opinion."

My contention—and I believe this is not something that we do not all know to be true—is that when people are heavily invested in a belief, and their very social and religious identity seems to depend on their particular belief...human beings can tend to lie and distort for their beliefs. Dare I say this: Christians are not immune to this flaw, and are possibly more susceptible to this tendency than are non-believers, because they are so heavily invested in their belief as being "the truth of God." Who would disagree with this? (As we all know, although this is a different manifestation of the discussion, this is something that we also see on a personal level in some individuals, who have a need to align themselves in their political and religious affiliation with what they do not live by in secret.) This is why I have been careful to present what I have to say as "my belief," and not as the mind and truth of God Himself, and to respect the beliefs of others. However, whether I want this to be upon me or not, it has been laid upon me to bring out the components of the Bible and the issue, with a view to speaking the truth in all points of our address of the issue, which is sorely lacking in the church in the sight of all. I am not speaking about the ultimate conclusion of our beliefs—I am speaking about the foundation upon which our beliefs are built, and of verifiable truths. On an issue that is, whether some people want to admit this or not, questionable and certainly controversial, it is of utmost importance to speak only the truth, in addressing this issue in the name of our great God of love and truth. It is a difficulty that has been laid upon me, because how dare I boldly expose the lies of people? Everyone lies at one time or another! On an important and controversial issue, which is being explored and questioned by thinking people everywhere—no one has the right to distort the facts of the issue, and to depend on a simple take on the Bible as justifying this practice, as though you have the endorsement of God in this practice. You can rely on your take on the Bible to support your belief, but not to distort the issue, make brazenly generalizing statements about people, and speak out-and-out lies about particular facts of the Bible and the issue.

I would like to address the four points that I made in a previous paragraph, in stating that certain Christians speak provable falsehoods about the issue for God, and the question of truth vs. opinion.

(1) Regarding speaking untruthfully about thought-provoking aspects of the Bible: One example of many, is the passage in 1 Corinthians 11 concerning the wearing of head coverings. Is it a matter of opinion for me to state that the apostle Paul stated, in no uncertain terms, that this is to be carried out by believers, and that this is a liberty in the church which has no direct biblical substantiation? Christians have made this out to be a "culturally-based" law—and I do not disagree that it has the appearance of being this type of instruction, considering how we see the practice of wearing head coverings in the world today and how we understand its meaning—but the problem with this belief, is that this is absolutely not how Paul presented this instruction to the church! (a) He stated that "nature teaches that this is what is appropriate," and the Greek word that he used for "nature" is the same word that he used for "nature" in the passage in Romans 1, regarding same-sex intimacy. (b) He said that it is a "disgrace" for believers to not abide by this practice, i.e., "a person, act, or thing that causes shame, reproach, or dishonor or is dishonorable or shameful." (c) He related the meaning of this practice to consideration for angels, not cultural propriety. (d) He made it clear that, while some believers were questioning this practice, there is no place for contention on this issue in the church of God.

One argument is that Paul was referring to "hair" in his address of this instruction regarding women, in a specific reference to "long hair." Not only was he clearly not speaking about hair in all circumstances, as was explicitly revealed in verses 4 and 5, but even if you believe that he was, it is not a teaching in the church that it is a disgrace for women to wear their hair short! So there is no place to even make that particular argument.

Again I ask: When Christians see nothing thought-provoking about how God established His Word in this area, in the sense of what constitutes the true essence of righteousness—which is something that is paralleled in a very significant and prolific doctrine of Scripture—and they casually write this instruction off as culturally-based...are they speaking truthfully about the Bible and about liberty in the church?

(2) Regarding the convenient use of AIDS as supposedly being "evidence that homosexuality is wrong": Is it a matter of opinion for me to state that this is a deception in the Christian church? Do the facts of human sexuality and STDs not bear out that heterosexuals face significant risk in engaging in promiscuous sexual activities, and that two men who are HIV negative, and who are engaged in a faithful and committed relationship with each other, will not contract the disease? As I stated in my ebook: "This is a common and convenient deception of the Christian church." "Lies are not for the protection of people—lies are for the control of people." It is not a matter of opinion.

(3) Regarding the absurdly false statement that "our laws are based on the Bible," which is another common statement in the church: One doesn't have to bring out all of the many laws of the Bible that we do not find in the laws of the land to make this point—the marriage laws are the laws that they are purporting themselves to be upholding as central to both the church and society, in their mission to exclude the same-sex relationship from legal recognition. Do we find the strict, biblical marriage laws in the laws of the land, which forbid remarriage in cases other than where infidelity has taken place? Is divorce and remarriage called "adultery" in the church, or is there compassion, reason, understanding, and respect for those who find themselves in this situation in the Christian church? I do believe these principles are taught in the Bible, by Jesus Christ Himself, but where is there any honesty in how this is spoken about in the church? They must think God is not listening when they make such patently false statements. Have I spoken an opinion here too, or is this the truth? They are incapable of considering or admitting any of these compelling truths, because it may suggest that there may be more to the issue than what they have been willing to consider.

(4) Regarding the idea that the changing of the laws that were placed upon God's people would make God a "liar": Let me just add to what I already said, by saying that there does not need to be a specific mention of particular laws in Scripture, as related to liberty—there are many, many laws of the Old Testament that have no place in the function of the Christian faith today, as all Christians know to be true. God is and always will be true. He established a complex religion in the old covenant, and then He simplified His religion in the new covenant, for the sake of His love and glory, and for the fulfillment of truth. John 1:17.

I do believe I have personally exhausted the exciting world of debating and discussing this issue, particularly with intensity and depth. This exercise was important for making the book all that it was meant to be, in considering with a great deal of depth the argument of the opposing view. I did propose a broader concept for this blog, which I have decided to put on hold at this time to focus on this message of God's love and truth, and this will be the singular and final post here. I believe it is very clear, that there is indeed an issue in what I will call the "mainstream" Christian church, in regards to speaking truthfully and fair-mindedly on this issue—though thankfully there are many believers in the Lord who would not align themselves with what those who embrace a blanket condemnation have engaged in for their cause. I encourage all who have come across this message, particularly young people and individuals who are new to the Christian faith, to use your own reason and judgment, and be aware of the "agenda" of those who have made "heterosexuality only" an essential and defining attribute of the faith, at the expense of many in the church and society today. I would ask and encourage readers of this website to purchase my ebook and contribute to the promotion of this message, which will only be seen by others in accordance with your response. I believe you will find it to be a compelling and enlightening experience, and unlike anything you have ever read before on the subject.