Thursday, June 18, 2015

How We Christians Make the Issue of Homosexuality an Olympian One

1. We treat it as a moral issue rather than as a spiritual one. Jesus did not come to get us to conform to some new moral code—not even one based on the Bible. Instead, he came to free us from any and all moral codes. The question, then, is not one of morality. The question is one of spirituality. In our way of living, are we devoting ourselves to the six rather dull Olympian gods of power? Or are we witnessing to the one true god of freedom?

2. Our politics drive our theology. Historically, there have been three political attitudes, inspired by Jupiter, that embarrassingly enough have driven Christian theology. We may call the first conservative. Conservatives believe that the golden age is now. They value stability, or the maintenance of this best of all possible worlds, most of all. This attitude, wildly popular only a short time ago, is largely being abandoned in favor of the next two.

Progressives believe the golden age is in the future. They most value peace and justice. If we work hard for social change now, our children will enjoy a more peaceful and just future.

Progressives believe we must fight hard now not just for a toleration of homosexuality but for its celebration. They also regard the Democratic Party as the heroic alternative to the Republican Party or at least as the lesser of two evils.

Restoratives believe the golden age was in the past. They believe we can restore it only through moral purification. If we don’t morally purify our church and nation, then God will continue to punish us with increasing severity. If we do purify it, then God will restore to America the position of global dominance that it enjoyed immediately after World War II. God will also restore the dominance which Christianity once enjoyed in America.

Restoratives believe that they must force immoral progressives to accept their point of view. If progressives don’t, then restoratives must force them to leave the church. If that doesn't work, then restoratives must separate themselves. Restoratives regard the Republican Party as the bulwark of morality against decadent secular-humanist Democrats.

3. Our delirium betrays our devotion to the gods. One conspicuous sign of the presence of the Olympian gods in any discussion, and of our devotion to them during the course of it, is delirium. We may define delirium as stubborn irrationality combined with emotional intensity. So, during discussions on the issue of homosexuality, whether between two friends or between speakers at large church assemblies, if there is only the stubborn repetition of one’s point of view, a great deal of yelling, attacks on the character of one’s opponents, and a sense of martyrdom when one’s opponents respond in kind, then the gods are fully in control. We’re showing nothing but our wholehearted devotion to them no matter how many times we mention the name of Jesus and quote the Bible.

We may be even more specific. We show our devotion to Jupiter, god of politics, when we try to control the situation to attain our desired goal. This is true whether we try to control it by force, by loudly attacking others verbally, or by conspiring with our political bedfellows to manipulate the debate procedurally.

We show our devotion to Venus, goddess of sex, by the way we treat not just the issue of homosexuality but the whole subject of sexuality. I’ve already mentioned delirium: we either talk about nothing else or we never mention it at all. Sexual intercourse is either the meaning of life or it’s at best a necessary evil or at worst an expression of our fallen human nature.

Jupiter drives Christian Olympians, whether progressives or restoratives, to fight each other for control of denominations and churches. Venus defines homosexuality as the decisive issue determining unity or division. The Devil (which means “the spirit of division”) stands behind both Jupiter and Venus laughing at the self-deception of both progressives and restoratives. He delights in the otherwise sorry spectacle of “Christians” savaging one another—especially when we do it in public and in the name of Jesus.

Copyright © 2015 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved.