Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994 TAG: 9404120009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cody Lowe
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When you asked a month ago if I would try to find out what churches in the Roanoke Valley would welcome you into their Christian fellowship, you said it might be a controversial task. I'd say you have the gift of prophecy.
About 60 people took the time to call or write to respond to your letter. Most of them were not extending an invitation - at least not on your terms.
A handful - we'll get to them later - said you'd be welcome at their churches. Most of the others said they'd be glad to have you - if you'd admit the sinfulness of your homosexual behavior and pledge to give it up forever. A few doubted the sincerity of your query and figured you are bound for hell anyway.
I bet the responses won't be any surprise to you. You've heard it all before. There are a few specific references condemning homosexual acts in the Bible, and most of them were quoted in the letters. Several of the letter writers seemed to think you might be involved in cultic temple prostitution, since they quoted Bible verses condemning that.
As far as I can tell there aren't any references that specifically address the issue of whether one man can love another man or one woman can love another woman in the same way husbands and wives can love each other. They address only the sexual act - and that in some context other than a loving, monogamous relationship.
Several letter writers figure I have some sort of hidden gay agenda I want to advance, that maybe I am a closet homosexual, that I'm just a stupid patsy of the international gay/lesbian conspiracy.
Quite a few of the writers went to some pains to point out that while they don't want you in their churches, they don't consider you any worse than any other sinners - including, among others, adulterers, fornicators, wife beaters, liars, drug abusers, thieves and drunks.
I wonder how many of them would confront someone caught in a lie for the umpteenth time and order that person out of church? Or if they'd decide that all obese people - including those at the pulpit - would have to leave the church until they lost weight and demonstrated they were not gluttons? Or that smokers - guilty at least of defiling the temple of God in their own bodies - would have to stay away until they quit?
Of course, one of the beauties of Christianity has been its ability to thrive by adapting to history and geography and secular culture. After the Reformation, at least, it became the original Rainbow Coalition - fragmenting into scores of denominations each suited to a particular people or place or time - but all still claiming to be part of the universal family of God.
That means that there are some places where, frankly, you should not be welcomed. Denominations or congregations that interpret the Bible to condemn your lifestyle ought to be free to avoid associating with you.
But it also pretty much guarantees that there will be somewhere you will be welcomed. Places where people will ask you to join them in the quest to understand God's will for them, imperfect as they are.
The reality is that a lot of churches include some members who will welcome you and others who would drive you away. The question then becomes one of whether you and your partner can persuade the doubters that you can, indeed, be gay and Christian.
A few of those who responded would like to make a personal invitation to talk or worship together. If you'd like to contact them, write me again and I'll put you in touch.
Attached are some representative responses we got, abridged for space purposes. While many were anonymous, as was your letter, many writers signed their names and many callers identified themselves.
``We, too, spent a great deal of time ... looking for a Christian congregation that would be accepting of the fact that we are gay. We found that church here in Roanoke and are very happy. The ministers of the church are fully aware of our relationship and to them, it makes no difference. We have already called upon them in helping us deal with the illness and death of a friend, and the support and love was overwhelming. In any group of people there are some who will not fully understand nor accept. But as a whole, we are fully accepted as members and Christians by the congregation.''
Anonymous
``The Bible reads flat-out in black and white, it is a sin for a man to lie with a man or a woman to lie with a woman. It is a sin once and for all.''
Anonymous
``You must not hate the person who is homosexual, but what he's doing is sin, it is wrong. The reason churches are not letting them in is because they are not trying to repent from their sin. ... a Bible-believing church should not accept homosexuals.''
Eric Roberts
Liberty University student
``I can't say how displeased I am that you would print an anonymous letter like that. An anonymous letter is from nobody. All these gays are trying to do is gain acceptance - moral acceptance for a deviant lifestyle.''
Robert Young
Homosexuals are ``defiling God. . . . The Bible says to be separated people. If you associate with them, it dampens your religion if you take part in that knowingly. ... I believe this is one of the lowest forms of sin.''
Linda Pierce
``Who are we to withhold Christ from someone if don't agree with their sexual preference? If Jesus were walking today, he would embrace gays. ... the whole thing is monogamous vs. promiscuous behavior. ... The bottom line for Christians is we are to love as God has loved us.''
Anonymous
``Homosexuality is no greater sin than adultery or fornication. ... [but] The words Christian and gay just do not go together. ... I am appalled at those who would condemn without compassion in their hearts. ... What would Christ do? Eat with sinners, [but] not expect us to condone sin.''
The Rev. Randy Garner
Pastor,
Valley View Wesleyan Church
``In the first place, there is no such thing as a gay Christian.
Christian means Christ-like. Gays may become Christians if they humbly and seriously repent, ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and mind, and ask him to give them faith to follow him. ... I have no objection for a gay attending the church that I attend if they sit quietly and keep their mouth shut. Just maybe they will come under conviction from a Christian message and see their sin and repent.''
Edwin R. Robertson
Pearisburg
``I can't speak for the congregation of our mainline Protestant congregation of between 500 and 1,000 members in a small town in Southwest Virginia, but as the parent of a young adult who told us of being gay within the past couple of years, I can tell you of the hurtful and hateful comments we hear from our fellow church members regarding gays. They are not aware (as far as I know) that we are the parents of a gay. We dare not reveal that information because we fear unknown reaction and implications and complications.''
Anonymous
``I don't think the person who wrote to you is gay. If a person is gay, a church is the last place you can find him: homosexuality, like adultery, is all-consuming. You could do it till you die ...''
Marshall Tackett
Buchanan
``I am a practicing, mid-20s, female Catholic. ... I do not know how my fellow parishioners would react, but I'll tell you how we all should react - as Christians, we are supposed to love all human beings, no matter what color, no matter what sexual preference. God made all of us, and we should treat each other as such. Homosexuality is not a disease, it's something you are born with. You cannot `cure' it or change it. I feel very sad for gay partners who are searching for a faith to follow only to find supposed `followers of God' turning them away. I wish I could invite this gay Christian couple to my church, and I wish they could celebrate Mass with me. ... I do want to also say that if they cannot find [a church], God will always be with them, no matter if they go to church or not.''
Anonymous
``The command `Thou shalt not commit adultery' is a sign to heterosexuals that we, too, are restricted in our sexual behavior. Priests, nuns, widows, unmarried men are forbidden sexual indulgence. Many married couples also are celibate for their own reasons. I myself have not savored the pleasure of sexual union for many years, but I remain married and true to my wife. I make no claim to being ``better'' than others. ... The point is, regardless of our sexual orientation or sexual drive, celibacy is an alternative. ... As for the two men about whom you wrote, there seems to be a simple solution. Attend any church you like, keep your private sexual orientation to yourselves (as most of us do) and become contributing members of a congregation and the wider community. Your private lives are between yourselves and God. Perhaps if you look inward for resources instead of outward for criticism, your lives will work better.''
Anonymous
``Our small Methodist church has had a homosexual couple in attendance for well over a year now. Our pastor and a number of members are aware of their homosexuality, and the couple has felt welcomed. Probably 10 to 20 percent of our congregation would be angry if they realized the situation. Because of them, my church and I must remain totally anonymous.''
Anonymous
``Dear Searching Sodomite: I feel so sad for you. I am a member of a Baptist Church who believes the Bible is God's word to man. They would be very concerned for your soul. They would love you and pray that you would repent of this rebellion against God's word. You would not be allowed membership privileges while in blatant rebellion against him. ... Satan will no doubt say in his own defense on judgment day: `God created me this way, therefore I am not evil in and of myself. I deserve to go to heaven.' We all know where the Bible tells us that Satan will spend eternity.''
Anonymous
``In effect, what your writers are doing is giving God the `bird' and then expect to be accepted. Pigs and dogs don't do this `gay' thing, for you see, there are some things that a pig will not do!!!''
Gene Hartsell
Troutville
``General Convention [of the Episcopal Church] resolutions state pretty clearly the position of the church. We affirm the homosexual person as a child of God, with a full and equal claim with all other persons for the love, acceptance and pastoral concern of the church. ... The question remains whether to ordain an avowed, practicing homosexual with a partner and whether to recognize a union [marriage].''
The Right Rev. A. Heath Light
Bishop
Episcopal Diocese
of Southwestern Virginia
``There's no such thing as a `gay [homosexual]' Christian - they are contradictions in terms, diametrically opposed to one another. If men had any regard for what the Scriptures said, we wouldn't have to debate these matters; nor answer such `challenges' as you've put it.''
L.S. Powell, Roanoke
``The challenge then for the churches is to evangelize; to bring homosexuals to faith; to give them the opportunity to repent for forgiveness of sins. Then and only then can they be a part of the blood-bought fellowship of Christ's church.''
Daryl Alba
Roanoke County
``Although I am not an active member of my church, I know that if every person would follow one rule, we could all have a healthy and happy world to live in: `Judge not, lest ye be judged.'''
Amy Martin
Fairlawn
``If what they really desire is for a church to sanction their immoral behavior, then they have deluded themselves. Even a sanction by a church would not make their behavior any less detestable in the eyes of God.''
Thomas Spraker
New Castle
``If one was a child molester or an abuser of women, would you expect any church to accept them without repentance on their part? ... Those young men need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He will accept them right where they are and will help them turn away from this sinful and prideful behavior.''
John C. LeDoux
Blacksburg
``I was brainwashed about the `Thou shalt nots' at the age of 12. I felt that I should become a preacher, but I discovered sex and realized I was gay. I thought of suicide, abstaining and eliminating my religion. So I hid and became a closet case and married. Now I'm divorced and dislike gay bars and gay lifestyles and gay churches that can not justify all this. To become just an animal is too much, so I withdraw from the world.''
Anonymous
Christiansburg
``Jesus said: `neither do I condemn you.' This is our biblical underpinning. We as a Christian community ... and Healing Center welcome most graciously the anonymous gay who wrote. ... Jesus himself had to repudiate, rebuke and disassociate himself from his own disciples and their `wrong spirit' ... After all, Jesus did not pussyfoot with his very closest: `He turned and said to Peter, ``Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are not thinking as God does, but as human beings do.'''''
The ``anonymous'' staff of Healing Light Center
Roanoke
Cody Lowe writes about religion and ethics for the Roanoke Times & World-News.
by CNB