As I've mentioned in previous posts, Christians conveniently justify their condemnations of homosexuals by insisting they are always "hating the sin but loving the sinner." What this double standard ultimately boils down to is a Christian insisting that their own "belief" about homosexuality is necessarily the right one, and therefore trumps any and all beliefs about homosexuality that happen to be held by homosexuals.
The sin of this double standard comes from Christians who refuse to practice what they preach. That is, the Christian insists that homosexuals can be separated from their homosexuality, even as they deny that a "Christian" can ever be separated from their Christianity. Instead, any challenge to the belief system of Christianity eventually results in Christians insisting that their "Christian faith" is their identity, and as such, the two cannot be separated. Hence, as the Christian separates homosexuals from their "homosexuality" with all the ease of Moses parting the Red Sea, they likewise insist that separating the Christian from their Christianity is like separating the body and blood of Christ.
So despite the fact that "loving the sinner and hating the sin" is necessarily fraught with the all too familiar assumption of Christian moral superiority (despite the growing mountain of anthropological, biological, neurological, and zoological evidence to the contrary - all of which the Christian denies with the ease of quoting an antiquated Bible verse), it also illustrates just how brazen Christians can be in refusing to practice what they preach.
This is true, by the way, even if - hypothetically speaking - all possible evidence that humanity could discover, somehow "proved" that homosexuality was an incredibly rare occurrence, limited to and only practiced by a small segment of human beings. For even in that case, such "proof" would do nothing to prove that homosexuality itself, or even homosexual behavior, was in anyway necessarily a "sin," as Christians call it, or in anyway a "behavior" that necessarily leads to the great many "evils" that Christians insist that it does.
In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis argued that those who refuse to accept Christianity are essentially refusing to accept reality itself. In truth, however, given the ever growing amount of evidence for the 'normalcy' of homosexuality as being just another expression of the incredibly dynamic nature of our human sexuality, and the fact that, however rare or regulated such behaviors have been in certain societies throughout history (most probably "rare" because, in the most intolerant societies of all, it necessarily had to be 'kept in the closet,' so to speak, and most probably "regulated" or "illegalized" out of the only all too natural sense of fear people have of anything they fail to understand), there is still no evidence to prove that it should be seen as necessarily "sinful" or in anyway "evil" or "harmful" to those consenting individuals who engage in it, or as a necessary moral threat to the societies where it is accepted.
That such Christians simply refuse to accept any of this, out of a preference for the ancient writings of people who clearly shared the same fears and prejudices that they do today, only proves that it is Christians who are actually "refusing to accept reality;" and all out of a preference for the prejudices of the past, and how they chose to believe sex and sexuality should be understood today.
'But to persever in such obstinate condolment" for one's naive beliefs, to borrow a line from Claudius, "is a course of impious stubbornness." Indeed, as he continues, "it shows a will most incorrect to heaven," and "an understanding simple and unschooled." In short, it proves that "the only good is knowledge," as Socrates wrote, "and the only evil is ignorance."
Of course, one has to wonder, if these Christians were themselves homosexuals, would they really still hold such views? And more importantly, given the horrendous treatment of homosexuals at the hands of religion over the centuries, and indeed even by science, from at least the 16th century until even today, one has to wonder if it is really better for people, or a society as a whole, to "believe" that homosexuality is something wrong that needs to be corrected, or something normal, that should simply be accepted? And if you were "gay," which "belief" do you think you'd prefer?
The sin of this double standard comes from Christians who refuse to practice what they preach. That is, the Christian insists that homosexuals can be separated from their homosexuality, even as they deny that a "Christian" can ever be separated from their Christianity. Instead, any challenge to the belief system of Christianity eventually results in Christians insisting that their "Christian faith" is their identity, and as such, the two cannot be separated. Hence, as the Christian separates homosexuals from their "homosexuality" with all the ease of Moses parting the Red Sea, they likewise insist that separating the Christian from their Christianity is like separating the body and blood of Christ.
So despite the fact that "loving the sinner and hating the sin" is necessarily fraught with the all too familiar assumption of Christian moral superiority (despite the growing mountain of anthropological, biological, neurological, and zoological evidence to the contrary - all of which the Christian denies with the ease of quoting an antiquated Bible verse), it also illustrates just how brazen Christians can be in refusing to practice what they preach.
This is true, by the way, even if - hypothetically speaking - all possible evidence that humanity could discover, somehow "proved" that homosexuality was an incredibly rare occurrence, limited to and only practiced by a small segment of human beings. For even in that case, such "proof" would do nothing to prove that homosexuality itself, or even homosexual behavior, was in anyway necessarily a "sin," as Christians call it, or in anyway a "behavior" that necessarily leads to the great many "evils" that Christians insist that it does.
In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis argued that those who refuse to accept Christianity are essentially refusing to accept reality itself. In truth, however, given the ever growing amount of evidence for the 'normalcy' of homosexuality as being just another expression of the incredibly dynamic nature of our human sexuality, and the fact that, however rare or regulated such behaviors have been in certain societies throughout history (most probably "rare" because, in the most intolerant societies of all, it necessarily had to be 'kept in the closet,' so to speak, and most probably "regulated" or "illegalized" out of the only all too natural sense of fear people have of anything they fail to understand), there is still no evidence to prove that it should be seen as necessarily "sinful" or in anyway "evil" or "harmful" to those consenting individuals who engage in it, or as a necessary moral threat to the societies where it is accepted.
That such Christians simply refuse to accept any of this, out of a preference for the ancient writings of people who clearly shared the same fears and prejudices that they do today, only proves that it is Christians who are actually "refusing to accept reality;" and all out of a preference for the prejudices of the past, and how they chose to believe sex and sexuality should be understood today.
'But to persever in such obstinate condolment" for one's naive beliefs, to borrow a line from Claudius, "is a course of impious stubbornness." Indeed, as he continues, "it shows a will most incorrect to heaven," and "an understanding simple and unschooled." In short, it proves that "the only good is knowledge," as Socrates wrote, "and the only evil is ignorance."
Of course, one has to wonder, if these Christians were themselves homosexuals, would they really still hold such views? And more importantly, given the horrendous treatment of homosexuals at the hands of religion over the centuries, and indeed even by science, from at least the 16th century until even today, one has to wonder if it is really better for people, or a society as a whole, to "believe" that homosexuality is something wrong that needs to be corrected, or something normal, that should simply be accepted? And if you were "gay," which "belief" do you think you'd prefer?
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