Quote:
Originally Posted by awareness
Jesus doesn't 'cure' sexual orientation; almost like it doesn't need to be cured.
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I'm not sure that 'cure' is the right verb here. I don't think Jesus addressed the issue. But there's probably a lot of stuff Jesus didn't address. So maybe we shouldn't read too much into it, either way.
Certainly Paul addressed the issue, unequivocally. And the OT record is likewise clear. But as
awareness says, this was in the days of animal sacrifice, human slavery, etc. Certainly the world has changed a lot. Even the past 15 years we have seen huge changes in attitudes, publicly.
The LC position, of unwavering fundamentalism (no sex outside of marriage, no homosexuality) has its attraction. I remember going in, and leaving my former "inclusive" church, and being relieved that someone had drawn the proverbial line in the sand and said "Go no further". The problem with an inclusive church is that everything becomes relative: "I'm ok, you're ok" is the norm. But at some point we have to draw a line. Going into a movie theater with a gun and blasting people is not ok. So there's a line. The fundamentalist church makes this formalized, and explicit, and my view of the "inclusive" church was that they tried to pretend that the line doesn't exist. Everybody's fine, everyone's ok. Do whatever makes you feel good. It's all good.
So it can be comforting to be in a situation where it's rigid, formalized, and explicit: "This is good; this isn't good." I know that initially I liked fundamentalism for that reason (among others). But the world has changed, as I said, and the fundamentalist position becomes increasingly challenged to remain attractive, relevant, and valid.
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Last night, for no reason, two songs came to my mind. One was "He stopped loving her today" by George Jones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R2F9f2Cl6Y
Actually it's a song about faithfulness. The guy stopped loving his girl when he died. He pledged love until death and he kept his word. But when I was growing up, I was into Led Zeppelin and Hunter S. Thompson. My dad used to play this music in the living room so I remember it well. But I despised it, really - "Square".
The second song is "Another somebody done somebody wrong song" by B.J. Thomas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym_mJokfTQg
Not a particularly great song, but I remember it because it was on the radio a lot. Kinda sappy, though.
But both songs came to my mind last night, for some reason, and I bring them up here because they're part of culture, specifically my culture (my growing up, hearing them on the radio, etc). But they maybe aren't terribly relevant to the younger writers and readers of this forum.
Now to my points: first is that 30 or 40 years later I find comfort in hearing songs that I initially despised. Now I listen to my "daddy's music" and I like it, while Led Zeppelin usually sounds frantic, distorted, and unhappy. So my tastes have changed. But more specifically, I'm strangely drawn to the known and the familiar, even though I never liked it in the first place! I think our views on sexuality and sexual expression may be strongly colored by these kinds of early experiences. Sex is clearly a deep issue, and within us there's a matching, deep program: "This is how my daddy raised me" may have its good points, and its not so good points, and we may accept our daddy's view, or reject it, but either way it strongly shapes our ability to grasp at such a fundamental issue.
Secondly, the young people growing up today didn't get taught by my daddy. George Jones probably means nothing to them. So I should be wary of imposing my comfort zones on others, whatever my comfort zone is, today. It's mine and it's not yours.