Homosexuality

Homosexuality I. homosexual: Pertaining to or characterized by sexual propensity for one's own sex. Also, sb. one who has such a propensity. II. Observations. A. Same-sex intercourse is practically as old as the human race. B. Certain cultures throughout history have glorified it. C. In Western culture, homosexuality has historically been viewed as aberrant or deviant behavior. 1. It was condemned as such by moralists, theologians and health professionals but the shift from condemnation to toleration to approval to legal protection has been profound. 2. “What do we know about this disorder? Well first, it is a disorder, despite the denials by professional organization by gays and lesbians (some of whom are psychiatrists) to declare homosexuality to be 'normal.' The debate went on for years. Finally, a decision was made in 1973 to remove this condition from their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). It was made not on the basis of science, but was strongly influenced by a poll of APA members, which was initiated and financed by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. The vote was 5,834 to 3,810. The American Psychological Association soon followed suit. Today, psychologists or psychiatrists who disagree with this politically correct interpretation, or even those who try to help homosexuals change, are subjected to continual harassment and accusations of malpractice.” (Dr. James Dobson, June 2002 newsletter) D. In the last fifty-plus years, homosexuality has been steadily “coming out of the closet” and forcing itself into the mainstream of society. 1. It is romanced in movies, television, magazines and books. 2. Disneyworld dedicates special seasons as Gay Days. 3. It has openly worked its way into U.S. Politics. 4. It has sought special recognition under “hate crime” and “civil rights” laws and gained such. It certainly has the protection of being politically correct. 5. Same-sex partner benefits are becoming normal in corporate America. 6. Legal recognition of same-sex “marriage” has been established by the Supreme Court. (Obergefell v. Ohio et. al., 2015) 7. It is increasingly promoted to children in public schools. 8. It has found a haven in practicing Christianity, even in the clergy and certain modern bibles. 9. Opposition to homosexuality is now branded as ignorance, intolerance and hatred in most Western culture. 10. Essentially the same arguments used to justify and mainstream homosexuality are also now used by the pedophile class, even to the word game of rebranding pedophiles/pederasts as Minor Attracted Persons. Bestiality is likely to follow in this path, as recent Spanish law has demonstrated. III. Word games. A. Homosexuality is a relatively new word in English, first appearing around the end of the 19th C. Homosexuality 5-2-24 Page 1 of 6  1. Historically, same-sex intercourse has been known as sodomy. 2. sodomy: An unnatural form of sexual intercourse, esp. that of one male with another. 3. Homosexuality is a value-neutral term which sidesteps the negative connotation associated with sodomy. B. Euphemisms such as gay, alternative life style and life partner are further efforts to distance this perversion from its obvious stigma. IV. Myths. A. “Homosexual communities are no more perverse than heterosexual communities.” Reality: There is a higher incidence of pedophilia, child abuse, incest, bestiality, drug usage, etc. in homosexual communities. B. “Studies show that at least 10% of Americans are practicing homosexuals.” Reality: The “studies” usually are based upon a now-debunked study done years ago by Alfred Kinsey whose research was conducted with prison inmates, criminals, gay activists, etc. Kinsey's “research” included the sexual violation of children. The actual percentage of the population that are homosexual is closer to 1% - 3%, a figure confirmed by certain large corporations' health benefits statistics for their employees. C. “With condom usage, homosexuality is safe.” Reality: The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in 2001 declared that there is absolutely no evidence that condoms protect against virtually all sexually transmitted diseases. D. “Homosexuality is a genetic condition.” 1. Curiously, this is the opposite of the homosexual agenda's tactic of the 1970's. Then, their approach was to convince the public that humans are born sexually- neutral, but society's bias for heterosexuality “teaches” children to become heterosexual. Thus, sexual orientation was promoted then as being a learned behavior. 2. A few years ago, there was an infamous research paper which declared that a “gay gene” had been discovered. It was later proven that the research was a fraud perpetrated by person(s) who were themselves homosexual or had homosexual sympathies. 3. “Third, there is no evidence to indicate that homosexuality is inherited, despite everything you may have heard or read to the contrary. There are no respected geneticists in the world today who claim to have found a so-called 'gay gene' or other indicators of genetic transmission. This is not to say that there may not be some kind of biological predisposition or an inherited temperament that makes one vulnerable to environmental influences. But efforts to identify such factors have been inconclusive...According to a Harris Poll in February 2000, 35 percent of the people polled believed homosexuality was 'genetic.' There is further convincing evidence that it is not. For example, since identical twins share the same chromosomal pattern, or DNA, the genetic contributions are exactly the same within each of the pairs. Therefore, if one twin is 'born' homosexual, then the other should inevitably have that characteristic too. That is not the case. When one twin is homosexual, the probability is only 50 percent that the other will have the same condition. Something else must be operating. Furthermore, if homosexuality were specifically inherited, it would tend to be eliminated from the human gene pool because those who have it tend not to reproduce. Any characteristic that is not passed along to the next generation eventually dies with the individual who carries Homosexuality 5-2-24 Page 2 of 6  it...Finally, if homosexuality were genetically transmitted, it would be inevitable, immutable, irresistible, and untreatable. Fortunately, it is not. Prevention is effective. Change is possible. Hope is available. And Christ is in the business of healing. Here again, gay and lesbian organizations and the media have convinced the public that being homosexual is as predetermined as one's race and that nothing can be done about it. That is simply not true. There are eight hundred known former gay and lesbian individuals today who have escaped from the homosexual lifestyle and found wholeness in their newfound heterosexuality.” (Dr. James Dobson, June 2002 newsletter) E. “Homosexuals do not enjoy the rights that other citizens do and therefore are societally/economically restricted due to discrimination.” 1. Homosexuals have equal status in law as heterosexuals. What they were really seeking is special status and protection under civil-rights legislation. 2. Civil rights are meant to protect a person for who he is (immutable characteristics), not for his behavior. 3. Statistics show that (compared with black men in America) homosexual males have a median income over 4 times higher, a college graduation rate 12 times higher, and management positions in business 10 times higher. (2003 figures) F. “Same-sex intercourse is a fact in the animal kingdom and therefore should be considered as moral among humans.” 1. Animals sometimes also abandon their young, kill their mates and their young, cannibalize their mates and their young, breed with their offspring and have intercourse with other species. The animal kingdom is not a valid basis of human morality. 2. Same-sex intercourse among animals can happen, but it is rare and its occurrence is often incited by pack frenzy or forced segregation from females of the species. 3. If there were genetically predisposed homosexual lions cruising the Serengheti, you can bet we would have seen them in action on public television for decades. G. “Homosexuals are monogamous.” Reality: Studies show that the average male homosexual has 24 partners in a year. A major “gay” magazine's own poll showed that only 17% of all respondents had maintained a monogamous relationship for over a year. H. “Homosexuals are not a threat to minors.” 1. The CDC reports that 73% of adult male homosexuals admit to having sexual relations with minors. 2. The Journal of Sex and Marital Relations reports that adult male homosexuals account for 40% of all child molestations. This is done by a group which is only 1% - 3% of the entire population. I. “The Bible does not condemn homosexuality.” Reality: Yes, it does. V. The notoriety of Sodom’s sin and its judgment is well known. GEN 19:1-11, 23-28. A. The lesbian Virginia Mollenkott, language stylist for the New International Version (NIV) translating committee, spins the story thus: “...the Sodom story seems to be focusing on two specific evils: (1) violent gang rape and (2) inhospitality to the stranger.” (Is The Homosexual My Neighbor?, p. 57) B. Her sentiments parallel that of a 1973 report by the Christian Reformed Church. Its committee included Dr. Martin Woudstra, a homosexual who also was the Chairman of the Old Testament translating committee of the NIV. In summation, the CRC report concludes the sin of Sodom was not homosexualism, but sexual assault. The report speaks Homosexuality 5-2-24 Page 3 of 6  throughout of “Christian homosexuals.” C. Scripture plainly teaches that the sin which moved God to destroy Sodom was not inhospitality or a random attempt at group sexual assault. JUDE 1:7. 1. 2PE 2:7 notes their sin as “filthy conversation.” Conversation means “manner of living, lifestyle.” The scenario in GEN 19 was not an isolated case. a. The Greek word translated filthy in 2PE 2:7 is aselgeia (SRN G766), which means “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence.” b. It is elsewhere translated as “lasciviousness” and “wantonness.” 2. God did not destroy Sodom because of the inhospitality in GEN 19. The inhospitality shown the angels was not even really a factor. Sodom was slated for destruction for its great sin before the angels arrived. GEN 13:13; 18:20-23. D. Some have tried to use EZE 16:49 to show that homosexuality was not a concern in Sodom’s overthrow. 1. EZE 16:49 may not even be referring literally to the city in GEN 19 which was utterly destroyed. It contextually appears to be a symbolic reference to the spiritual/moral heirs of Sodom, perhaps the Ammonites and Moabites who descended from Lot and bore the stigma of the name of that infamous city. vs. 44-48 c/w ISA 1:9-10. 2. Even if EZE 16:49 is referring to the literal Sodom of old, it does not cancel out the statements of 2PE 2:7 and JUDE 1:7. a. Scripture teaches that vile affections like same-sex intercourse deteriorate from“simpler” sins. ROM 1:21-27. b. If the literal Sodom of old is under consideration, it is to show Jerusalem that the wretched end of Sodom’s slide into perversion started out with sins that Jerusalem had trivialized and of which she was very guilty. Hence, she was really no better than the Sodom from whose sodomy and notoriety she historically had distanced herself. E. Sodom was not just characterized by “closet” sodomy; they were brazen about it. ISA 3:9. 1. They were well out of the closet. 2. A similar brazenness met with God’s judgment in JDG 19:22-20:48. VI. The law of Moses flatly proscribed against sodomy/homosexuality. DEU 23:17-18; LEV 18:22; 20:13. A. Clearly, this was not a limited censure which only addressed excesses or abuses of homosexuality. B. The NIV changes “sodomite” in DEU 23:17 to “shrine prostitute,” in an attempt to buffer the condemnation of the act of sodomy as it has historically been understood. C. Some (like Virginia Mollenkott) try to relegate LEV 18:22; 20:13 to the category of Old Testament Jewish ceremonial laws now abandoned. 1. The proscription against sodomy preceded the Mosaic Law and was obviously a general law for all men. The warnings to Israel in LEV 18 & 20 were in view of the sins for which God was already holding the Canaanites accountable. 2. Whereas Israel would merit judgment and potential dispossession of their land for abandoning the distinctively Jewish ceremonial laws of Moses, no such demand was placed upon the Gentiles. EXO 31:16-17; LEV 26; DEU 28. 3. The Gentiles were held accountable for such things as idolatry, fraud, murder, and sexual perversion such as sodomy. LEV 18 c/w HAB 2:15-19. Homosexuality 5-2-24 Page 4 of 6  4. Such censures as sodomy were/are universal to Jew or Gentile of any era. VII. The New Testament continues God’s rejection of homosexual behavior. A. ROM 1:24-27 is a clear indictment of same-sex intercourse. 1. This cannot be restricted to God’s judgments against ancient kingdoms who mingled male prostitution with their idolatry (per Mollenkott, Is the Homosexual My Neighbor, p. 62). 2. Paul’s warnings were meant to apply to New Testament people in any context of their lives. ROM 1:32-2:3. 3. ROM 1:26 underscores why sodomy is such a particularly noxious sin in God’s eyes: it violates not only the revelation of God in the word, but also His revelation in nature. Such things men may know naturally. JUDE 1:10. a. The general observation in nature is of male-female intercourse and rare exceptions to this rule do not nullify it but rather prove it to be the rule. b. “Long before this chapter was penned, the Lesbians and others throughout refined Greece had been luxuriating in such debasements; and as for the Romans, Tacitus, speaking of the emperor Tiberius, tells us that new words had then to be coined to express the newly invented stimulants to jaded passion.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary on ROM 1:26) B. 1CO 6:9 denounces sodomy by the proscription against “abusers of themselves with mankind.” 1. This text also condemns effeminacy, a common characteristic of homosexualism. 2. effeminate: Of persons: That has become like a woman; a. Womanish, unmanly, enervated, feeble; self-indulgent, voluptuous; unbecomingly delicate or over- refined. 3. enervated: That is deprived of nerve and strength; lit. and fig.; effeminate, weakly. 4. God is against blurring the lines of distinction between the sexes in lesser areas like clothing and hair length (DEU 22:5; 1CO 11:14-15). How much moreso in greater areas like sexuality? 5. The NIV changes this text to condemn only “male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders.” This implies again that only abuses or excesses of homosexuality are condemned, not the behavior itself. C. 1TI 1:10 concurs with 1CO 6:9. 1. The phrase, “defile themselves with mankind” translates the Greek arsenokoites (SRN G733), which means, “one who lies with a male as with a female, sodomite, homosexual.” 2. Only the blind or the wilfully ignorant could not see the obvious here. D. JUDE 1:7 exposes the sin of Sodom for what it became notorious: brazen homosexuality. E. The Lord Jesus Christ appealed to the model of human relationship given at the very beginning. MAT 19:4-6. 1. It was Adam and Eve. 2. It was NOT Adam and Steve. 3. It was NOT Madam and Eve. VIII. Christians must be careful to avoid arbitrary condemnation of sodomy while ignoring or glossing over other sins. MAT 7:1-5. A. How many deem fornication [Voluntary sexual intercourse between a man (in restricted use, an unmarried man) and an unmarried woman. In Scripture extended to adultery] to be Homosexuality 5-2-24 Page 5 of 6  insignificant or even expected and acceptable when that also was Sodom’s condemnation? JUDE 1:7. B. Those who reject the true gospel are deemed in worse straits than Sodom. MAT 10:14-15; 11:20-24. C. God’s children are subject to the temptations of this sin. ROM 7:8. D. Some of the saints at Corinth had been delivered from this sin. 1CO 6:9-11. E. The blood of Jesus Christ can wash away all sins. COL 2:13. F. In Christ, there is hope for the homosexual, the fornicator, the porn star, the prostitute and many other confusions and distortions of the image and order of God. There is a way of escape and deliverance from the power of Satan and there is forgiveness for the humbled penitent. 1CO 10:13; ACT 26:18-20. Homosexuality 5-2-24 Page 6 of 6