The Christian Right interprets the bible at face value they insist by
cherry picking the bible to find clobber verses against gays. Yet, those
with a good Christian conscience guided by the Holy Spirit would be
troubled by the inconsistency of using these verses alone against gays.
If we were to be consistent, then we are also sinners by not following
the many more remaining Jewish laws however ritualistic they may be.
The Jewish commandments have 613 laws or Mitzvot. When we accuse gays
using a few clobber verses, we should feel guilty for not following the
rest of the 600 laws. We don't sacrifice a gentle lamb for our sins, nor
released a scapegoat into the wilderness to bear our sins at the St.
Andrews Cathedral in Singapore. If we had released a scapegoat in
Singapore, it would have likely be killed by traffic! before reaching
the Bukit Timah reserves.. What about the many foods that the bible
outwardly condemned, yet few would mention it!
The problem with Christianity today is that we have little
conscience. Organizations such as Focus on the Family, and Exodus have
no qualms on spinning the truth against gays. All is fair play. The
Pastor Rony Tan interviewed a Lesbian and then somehow used her
testimony as an example about gay men seducing young boys! They don't
mind repeating the Christian Right aggenda against gays as if Gospel
truth.
The assertions of the Christian Right against gays could not be
supported, but yet they peddled it as pseudo science because the
annectodal evidence that gays are born as such are beyond a reasonable
doubt. As more gays come out of the closet at a younger age in a more
open society, the stronger the annectodal evidence becomes across
culture, race and religions.
The Christian Right were trying to help "God" because their
interpretation of the bible says that homosexuality was a sin so they
take it upon themselves to spin stories to support and rationalise their
"biblical" position. We try to help God fearing that if we can't blame
gays for being the worst sinners, the bible may condemn our own sins. We
have to lie to cover a mis-interpretation of the bible, and another lie
to cover up a lie. Are we deliberately mis-interpeting the bible out of
context? when the historical facts of these pagan religions are no
secret!
The bible was never meant to be stand alone. It spoke to a people, and
assumes quite rightly that it need not give a detailed account of the
pagan religious background of the ancient world. The meaning of the
bible is always based on the context and circumstances.
One of the religions that was dominant in ancient times was the worship
of the goddess Cybel, the goddess of fertility. Her consort was a
handsome young men who dies after castrating himself and is resurrected
annually. The worship was a celebration with drums, flutes and cymbals
celebrating the return. We are reminded that when Moses went up in the
mountain of God, he heard a loud commotion at the Jewish base camp
worshiping the idol. Indeed, the goddess Cybel had many names and
appearances in different cultures since the ancient of times:-
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Babylon - Ishtar
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Ashtoreth/Baal in Canaan
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Greece, Rome - Cybele
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Asia Minor - Aphrodite
The priests of Cybele were Eunuchs. The young men who wanted to avail
themselves to the goddess would castrate themselves at the height of the
celebration and dressed with women's clothing. The worshippers would
have anal sex with the priests to join themselves spiritually to the
goddess. They were men having anal sex with the Eunuch priests but they
were defintely not gay nor motivated by same sex love. In Romans, when
Paul talked about exchanging the natural for the unnatural, he was
talking about the pagan priests who had unnaturally changed their sex to
become a woman by castrating themselves.
Therefore when Jesus said in Mat 19:12 of those who make themselves
"Eunuchs" for Kingdom sake, all would have known that these were priests
of Cybele who has castrated themselves to worship the goddess. Jesus
clearly distinguished these counterfeit straight eunuchs with eunuchs
that are born as such from their mother's womb ie naturally without an
attraction to women. Some have tried to spin it as celibacy but I don't
see many catholic priests castrating themselves.
Imagined if we have in Singapore, a religious sect where the men have
mass sexual orgies with anal sex in public with the priests with bloody
scenes of new priests castrating themselves in a frenzy of gross
religious worship. These would not have been gay men, who would truly
have treasured their sexual organs.
Yet, the Christian Right "ex-transexuals" such Sy Rogers who once had
desired to castrate themselves just like the priests of Cybele kept on
insisting that they were gays! trying to force gays into a historical
and religious framework that never existed.
Few Christians would attempt to understand ancient religious practices
and their context to the bible.
a) As these violent and sexually charged religions were widespread in
ancient Rome and Israel, it would have meant that these gods were truly
contradictory to their universalist approach to faith. How can these
major religions practised then by so many be "about love"! or different
shades of the same God. For example, Pastor Jay Bakker had no choice but
to declare that at face value the bible is against homosexuality, for to
say otherwise is to acknowlege the existence of demonic entities being
worshipped by men as part of their religious faith which put into doubt
his universalist beliefs. Some kept insisting that the bible have
mistakes, are inconsistent, and are written based on men's construction
because the demonic spiritual reality in the bible is inconsistent with
their theological construction.
b) As these religions were so widespread, it would have been straight
people committing it out of religious duty and not because of sexual
orientation. It therefore speaks to the religious fundamentalism - how
lawless they could have been even under the religious laws. This was
Paul's arguments in Romans on how they had worshipped the created rather
than the creator even under the Torah. For the conservatives who had
insisted on following the religious laws, this revelation would be
frightening because it speaks of walking by faith where there is no
fixed journey rather than following blindly a simple set of religious
laws to obtain our salvation. There are no absolutes other than Christ
for all are to be led by the Spirit of God.
It is said that there are few thinking Christians, but the reality may
be that most are thinking Christians but do not want to reflect too much
and check their theological constructions for inconsistencies and
ulterior motives which may open up a can of worms and stumbled their
faith. The reality of faith for many is not strong as to be easily
stumbled just because two men or two women are in love with each other,
or when the sacraments and religious laws are taken away.
They are not really against gays nor were homophobic! but just like the
worship of Cybele they make lots of sounds and noises against the basic
rights of gays - not to protect marriage but to protect their faith
theological constructions. Their faith is not strongly based on a
relationship with the Holy Spirit but on religious laws, or intellectual
reasoning and justification. Few would read the bible in the
pagan religious context, lest the devil be released in the details to
consume our predictable faith.
Christ calls us today to wholeness and a clear conscience before God and
men. We are to reflect the integrity and purity of Christ. The Christian
Faith is at a cross road. Whilsts we hear the sounds of loud worship at
the mega churches, God is calling us to a simple, quiet and humble walk
abiding with the Holy Spirit. There is a sweet and quiet voice of the
Holy Spirit pleading with us to cause no more harm lest we quench the
Holy Spirit in the church leaving us a loud band but no active move and
presence of God in our midst.
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