Many Christians upset with media references to gay rights are even more upset over the issue of gay marriages. Certain clergymen are, in their condemnation of homosexuals, threatening schism in the Episcopal Church.

Yet others are adopting a pastoral approach based on research and biblical inspiration. For

example, Michael Guinan, a Franciscan, has been a major influence in helping his brother clerics

understand and reach out to homosexuals. Guinan has been forbidden to speak and write on this

topic by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict. (The following comments are based on

his and those of others who have also been silenced).

Obviously, the homosexual question has many unsolved problems and areas of

confusion. The question has been only recently formulated and addressed to the

various fields of inquiry, e.g., psychology, sociology, biology, theology,

biblical studies, etc. Each field has its own methodology and resources, and we

are far from clear-cut answers to many aspects of this question. Yet we need to

be concerned with a Christian, pastoral response to homosexuals now….. Because we

Christians are bound, by the Commandments and by the example of our Lord Jesus,

to the following:

1. Love of neighbor, with no exceptions;

2. Speaking the truth;

3. Avoiding judgment of others,

for Jesus says: “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart, with all thy

soul, and with all thy mind. This is the FIRST and great commandment, and the

SECOND is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ON THESE TWO

COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” Can

anything be more clear? Yet many Christians disobey that Word when dealing

with homosexuals. I believe we Christians need to follow four guidelines:

1. We must avoid religious arrogance and self-righteousness, setting

us over against our gay neighbor in violation of his/her common humanity.

The first step of prejudice and persecution is the denial of the common

humanity of gays. We are the “good people”; they are “queers, perverts, fags”.

We will not admit we are all equally human beings, sharing the same basic

needs, desires, hopes and life. The second step is to quote the Bible to

support this, ignoring the many interpretations of any given text to bolster their

particular stand in disobedience to the mandate of Jesus to love one anther, on which

“hang all the law and the prophets”. In the Gospels we meet religious “Bible-quoting”

people who provided the norm against which others are judged. The Gospels characterize

them as Pharisees who “lay heavy burdens on other peoples' shoulders not

lifting a finger to help”, Mt. 23:4. Note how our Lord deals with them: Mt

23: 27-28. We can identify modern Pharisees by their phraseology: “We are

decent people, we will not put up with…..We should love the sinner, but hate

the sin.” Evil thus committed in the name of decency is worse than that which

is being opposed. In practice it is the “sinner” who is hated and violated.

Perhaps the basic underlying problem has to do with faith. For all their

“religious” talk, such self-righteous people really do not have faith in God

as much as faith in their own faith. The God of the Bible is a God of

surprises, a God who calls us forward to new depths and new understanding. We

need as an integral part of our faith, a healthy sense of doubt, a doubt in

our own faith. The guideline is this: We must not be deceived or misled by

the religious veneer on so much talk about gays. When we encounter attitudes

such as this we should pause, be suspicious, and have some reservations. Such an

approach often masks something not only un-Christian but even anti-Christian.

We can never appeal to self-righteousness to condemn, harm, or deny rights to

our neighbor.

2. We must not bear false witness against our neighbor. The homosexual

IS our neighbor. In debates over homosexuality, a standard set of phrases and

accusations are used: “Gays are sick; They are responsible for their condition and

can change it at will; They molest children and recruit the young”. These statements

betray a kind of self-assured simplistic evaluation of the causes of homosexuality.

Gays are not recruited from the young or from anywhere else. Were that true,

heterosexuals also would be created by recruitment. The clichés involving children

(e.g., Save Our Children) are geared to evoke such an emotional response that the

issues seldom can be discussed in a reasonable way.

The evaluation of empirical data is important. So-called “Good Christians”

ignore the empirical evidence, established by research, which disproves the

above statements. The latest brain studies focusing on the structural

differences of the corpus callosum, the hypothalmus, the splenium and the

isthmus size between men and women plus the prenatal hormonal exposure provide

evidence of a neurobiological basis to sexual orientation. Researchers at

McMaster Univ. Hamilton, Ont., state: “Our results suggest that homosexual

orientation is not unnatural to the homosexual. It is as natural to them as

heterosexuality is to the heterosexual. The way the brain develops

anatomically then functionally has a large early hormonal component. Among

the things the brain develops is sexual orientation. This is one of the many

variations within each genetic sex.” Anatomically we move from female to male as

hormones effect this transitional phase. Current research on the effect of hormones

during gestation points to this as the primary cause of homosexual orientation.

Previous research has shown that Homosexuality is established at an extremely early

age, from conception to 3-5 years as is heterosexuality.

Child molestation occurs more so statistically among heterosexuals. If a

parent is really worried about sexual molestation of their children, they

should demand only homosexual teachers since the incidence of same-sex

molestation is dramatically lower than that involving opposite sexes. The

Christian Century magazine reviewed ten “Christian” books on homosexuality

and all but two were extremely criticized for misrepresenting scientific data,

using concepts incorrectly and were described by the reviewer-psychologist as

“especially insidious.” All of the clichés noted above as characteristic of

gays are demonstrably false. That they continue to be used in debate is the

result of prejudice, bigotry, and demagogic sloganeering in violation of the

Biblical admonition: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”,

Ex.20:16.

3. We must seek to understand the experience of our gay neighbor even

though it questions some aspect of our “certain” theories, lest we close

ourselves off, as did Job's friends, to a meeting with the living God calling

us to a new and fuller life.

As a test of Job's faith and righteousness, he is despoiled of everything

he holds dear. From the start we know he is innocent and his protestations

are sound. Three friends come to console him. They criticize him, presume

his guilt and convict him of sin. Their ears are deaf to his pleas. They are

so sure of what God does (their theology admits no doubts) that they are

unable to share or even become aware of Job's experience, which does not fit

into their neat theory.

As Christians, we find ourselves in a similar position regarding gays.

We have a theory about homosexuality and because of it we are unable to hear

or understand the experience of gays, which calls that theory, in some or all

of its aspects, into question.

Biblical texts quoted against gays do not apply to our understanding of

homosexuality today as a permanent, a given, psychological condition which

simply did not exist in the ancient world. It is unfair to expect

biblical texts to provide detailed answers for all our modern problems,

problems which either did not exist in that world or which were understood in

quite a different way. Just as we should not read all our problems and

preoccupations back into the texts, we have to be careful not to carry

ancient cultural characteristics over into our present time.

We are not considering here the experimental sexual activity among the

young or those heterosexuals who engage in occasional same sex activity,

but are focusing on gay orientation. Many statements regarding the ability to

change one’s sexual orientation come from those heterosexuals who have had

same-sex experiences, for whatever reason, arises from their subsequent guilt,

shame or fear. If they choose only heterosexual activity, they reason anyone can.

It is becoming obvious that such behavior can change, whereas one’s sexual

orientation cannot. Inappropriate behavior by a heterosexual or homosexual

is never to be condoned but must be met with concern and pastoral guidance.

If we are to relate to gays in a truly Christian way, we must try to

share, in some way, the deep human experiences of gay men and women. We

should not understand this sharing only in an abstract, watered-down sense,

i.e., we read books and articles about homosexuality, its causes, problems,

etc. This is not unimportant, and it should not be overlooked, but it is too

cerebral. Human beings are more than minds; they are thinking, feeling,

sharing, loving, suffering, embodied individuals. We must somehow share this

level as well.

Harvard biblical scholar Paul Hanson focuses the problem: “Job describes

a pernicious kind of idolatry, frightfully common among religious people today

and yet is seldom recognized as such. Humans conceptualize God, lay claims to

the infallibility of their image, buttress their claims by arguing that their

concept of God is proven by divine revelation objectively drawn from the Bible,

and then appoint themselves as God’s envoy to proclaim divine judgment on all

who differ. Thus the religiously elite bring about the breakdown of community

and increase intolerance and human misery, all as a means of safeguarding

their own vindictive sense of moral and spiritual superiority. Job has little

patience with such self-appointed spokespersons of `god`. Living religiously

is not a question of constructing and defending a definitive theological

system but of responding faithfully, at the intersection of religious heritage,

contemporary existence and experience, to an encounter with the living God.”

The point is clear: If we are to relate to gays in a responsible, Christian

pastoral way, we must begin to relate to the gay question with intelligence,

understanding, sympathy and compassion without condemnation. We noted

earlier that the first step to bigotry is the denial of our common humanity.

Gays are human beings just like all of us. We must keep Job and his friends

in mind. His friends held their theory with great conviction and no room for doubt.

The best comment on this comes near the end of the book of Job: “When the

Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, the Temanite, `I am

angry with you and your friends because you have not spoken rightly

concerning me, as my servant Job has done.”

4. The Society of Jesus' time, just as now, had its marginal people,

Those others looked down upon, despised, and denied basic justice:

Samaritans, prostitutes, publicans, Lepers. Wherever there was oppression,

suffering, denial of justice, Jesus faced a choice. He could have said, “If

I go to these people, work with them to put an end to their oppression, the

injustice they suffer, I may be accused of agreeing with them in every detail;

I may be identified with them. I'd better stand aside and criticize them, and

people will see how religiously correct I am.” Or he could have said, “I will

be present to them in mercy, healing, compassion and strength.” He was there

with them and he was roundly criticized for it. “He eats with publicans and

sinners.” Mt. 2:16; Lk 5:30; Mt. 9:11; Mt.11:19. He was there. “You are a

human being; you have dignity, you count. I treat you with respect and call

you to grow to the fullest humanity you can, to a life of peace and love and

justice. And I expect my followers to do the same. The Gospels can be no

clearer. Religious arrogance, self-righteousness, hard-heartedness are much

greater obstacles to the kingdom of God than human weakness or sin. When

religion is used to deny life, oppress the outcast, and despise the marginal, do

Violence to others, we are not dealing with Christian behavior.

We need to apply these four principles now, for in reaching out to share

compassionately with gays, work for justice for them, we are following the

example of Jesus who did the same in his society. To challenge, critique,

educate, comfort, console in the light of the Gospels is essential to and

common to all Christian ministries. But if we do not, in some way,

incorporate these four guidelines, the other aspects of ministry will not,

in fact, cannot be heard.

Dom Fidelis, OPR

Many Christians upset with media references to gay rights are even more upset over the issue of gay marriages. Certain clergymen are, in their condemnation of homosexuals, threatening schism in the Episcopal Church.

Yet others are adopting a pastoral approach based on research and biblical inspiration. For

example, Michael Guinan, a Franciscan, has been a major influence in helping his brother clerics

understand and reach out to homosexuals. Guinan has been forbidden to speak and write on this

topic by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict. (The following comments are based on

his and those of others who have also been silenced).

Obviously, the homosexual question has many unsolved problems and areas of

confusion. The question has been only recently formulated and addressed to the

various fields of inquiry, e.g., psychology, sociology, biology, theology,

biblical studies, etc. Each field has its own methodology and resources, and we

are far from clear-cut answers to many aspects of this question. Yet we need to

be concerned with a Christian, pastoral response to homosexuals now….. Because we

Christians are bound, by the Commandments and by the example of our Lord Jesus,

to the following:

1. Love of neighbor, with no exceptions;

2. Speaking the truth;

3. Avoiding judgment of others,

for Jesus says: “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart, with all thy

soul, and with all thy mind. This is the FIRST and great commandment, and the

SECOND is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ON THESE TWO

COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” Can

anything be more clear? Yet many Christians disobey that Word when dealing

with homosexuals. I believe we Christians need to follow four guidelines:

1. We must avoid religious arrogance and self-righteousness, setting

us over against our gay neighbor in violation of his/her common humanity.

The first step of prejudice and persecution is the denial of the common

humanity of gays. We are the “good people”; they are “queers, perverts, fags”.

We will not admit we are all equally human beings, sharing the same basic

needs, desires, hopes and life. The second step is to quote the Bible to

support this, ignoring the many interpretations of any given text to bolster their

particular stand in disobedience to the mandate of Jesus to love one anther, on which

“hang all the law and the prophets”. In the Gospels we meet religious “Bible-quoting”

people who provided the norm against which others are judged. The Gospels characterize

them as Pharisees who “lay heavy burdens on other peoples' shoulders not

lifting a finger to help”, Mt. 23:4. Note how our Lord deals with them: Mt

23: 27-28. We can identify modern Pharisees by their phraseology: “We are

decent people, we will not put up with…..We should love the sinner, but hate

the sin.” Evil thus committed in the name of decency is worse than that which

is being opposed. In practice it is the “sinner” who is hated and violated.

Perhaps the basic underlying problem has to do with faith. For all their

“religious” talk, such self-righteous people really do not have faith in God

as much as faith in their own faith. The God of the Bible is a God of

surprises, a God who calls us forward to new depths and new understanding. We

need as an integral part of our faith, a healthy sense of doubt, a doubt in

our own faith. The guideline is this: We must not be deceived or misled by

the religious veneer on so much talk about gays. When we encounter attitudes

such as this we should pause, be suspicious, and have some reservations. Such an

approach often masks something not only un-Christian but even anti-Christian.

We can never appeal to self-righteousness to condemn, harm, or deny rights to

our neighbor.

2. We must not bear false witness against our neighbor. The homosexual

IS our neighbor. In debates over homosexuality, a standard set of phrases and

accusations are used: “Gays are sick; They are responsible for their condition and

can change it at will; They molest children and recruit the young”. These statements

betray a kind of self-assured simplistic evaluation of the causes of homosexuality.

Gays are not recruited from the young or from anywhere else. Were that true,

heterosexuals also would be created by recruitment. The clichés involving children

(e.g., Save Our Children) are geared to evoke such an emotional response that the

issues seldom can be discussed in a reasonable way.

The evaluation of empirical data is important. So-called “Good Christians”

ignore the empirical evidence, established by research, which disproves the

above statements. The latest brain studies focusing on the structural

differences of the corpus callosum, the hypothalmus, the splenium and the

isthmus size between men and women plus the prenatal hormonal exposure provide

evidence of a neurobiological basis to sexual orientation. Researchers at

McMaster Univ. Hamilton, Ont., state: “Our results suggest that homosexual

orientation is not unnatural to the homosexual. It is as natural to them as

heterosexuality is to the heterosexual. The way the brain develops

anatomically then functionally has a large early hormonal component. Among

the things the brain develops is sexual orientation. This is one of the many

variations within each genetic sex.” Anatomically we move from female to male as

hormones effect this transitional phase. Current research on the effect of hormones

during gestation points to this as the primary cause of homosexual orientation.

Previous research has shown that Homosexuality is established at an extremely early

age, from conception to 3-5 years as is heterosexuality.

Child molestation occurs more so statistically among heterosexuals. If a

parent is really worried about sexual molestation of their children, they

should demand only homosexual teachers since the incidence of same-sex

molestation is dramatically lower than that involving opposite sexes. The

Christian Century magazine reviewed ten “Christian” books on homosexuality

and all but two were extremely criticized for misrepresenting scientific data,

using concepts incorrectly and were described by the reviewer-psychologist as

“especially insidious.” All of the clichés noted above as characteristic of

gays are demonstrably false. That they continue to be used in debate is the

result of prejudice, bigotry, and demagogic sloganeering in violation of the

Biblical admonition: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”,

Ex.20:16.

3. We must seek to understand the experience of our gay neighbor even

though it questions some aspect of our “certain” theories, lest we close

ourselves off, as did Job's friends, to a meeting with the living God calling

us to a new and fuller life.

As a test of Job's faith and righteousness, he is despoiled of everything

he holds dear. From the start we know he is innocent and his protestations

are sound. Three friends come to console him. They criticize him, presume

his guilt and convict him of sin. Their ears are deaf to his pleas. They are

so sure of what God does (their theology admits no doubts) that they are

unable to share or even become aware of Job's experience, which does not fit

into their neat theory.

As Christians, we find ourselves in a similar position regarding gays.

We have a theory about homosexuality and because of it we are unable to hear

or understand the experience of gays, which calls that theory, in some or all

of its aspects, into question.

Biblical texts quoted against gays do not apply to our understanding of

homosexuality today as a permanent, a given, psychological condition which

simply did not exist in the ancient world. It is unfair to expect

biblical texts to provide detailed answers for all our modern problems,

problems which either did not exist in that world or which were understood in

quite a different way. Just as we should not read all our problems and

preoccupations back into the texts, we have to be careful not to carry

ancient cultural characteristics over into our present time.

We are not considering here the experimental sexual activity among the

young or those heterosexuals who engage in occasional same sex activity,

but are focusing on gay orientation. Many statements regarding the ability to

change one’s sexual orientation come from those heterosexuals who have had

same-sex experiences, for whatever reason, arises from their subsequent guilt,

shame or fear. If they choose only heterosexual activity, they reason anyone can.

It is becoming obvious that such behavior can change, whereas one’s sexual

orientation cannot. Inappropriate behavior by a heterosexual or homosexual

is never to be condoned but must be met with concern and pastoral guidance.

If we are to relate to gays in a truly Christian way, we must try to

share, in some way, the deep human experiences of gay men and women. We

should not understand this sharing only in an abstract, watered-down sense,

i.e., we read books and articles about homosexuality, its causes, problems,

etc. This is not unimportant, and it should not be overlooked, but it is too

cerebral. Human beings are more than minds; they are thinking, feeling,

sharing, loving, suffering, embodied individuals. We must somehow share this

level as well.

Harvard biblical scholar Paul Hanson focuses the problem: “Job describes

a pernicious kind of idolatry, frightfully common among religious people today

and yet is seldom recognized as such. Humans conceptualize God, lay claims to

the infallibility of their image, buttress their claims by arguing that their

concept of God is proven by divine revelation objectively drawn from the Bible,

and then appoint themselves as God’s envoy to proclaim divine judgment on all

who differ. Thus the religiously elite bring about the breakdown of community

and increase intolerance and human misery, all as a means of safeguarding

their own vindictive sense of moral and spiritual superiority. Job has little

patience with such self-appointed spokespersons of `god`. Living religiously

is not a question of constructing and defending a definitive theological

system but of responding faithfully, at the intersection of religious heritage,

contemporary existence and experience, to an encounter with the living God.”

The point is clear: If we are to relate to gays in a responsible, Christian

pastoral way, we must begin to relate to the gay question with intelligence,

understanding, sympathy and compassion without condemnation. We noted

earlier that the first step to bigotry is the denial of our common humanity.

Gays are human beings just like all of us. We must keep Job and his friends

in mind. His friends held their theory with great conviction and no room for doubt.

The best comment on this comes near the end of the book of Job: “When the

Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, the Temanite, `I am

angry with you and your friends because you have not spoken rightly

concerning me, as my servant Job has done.”

4. The Society of Jesus' time, just as now, had its marginal people,

Those others looked down upon, despised, and denied basic justice:

Samaritans, prostitutes, publicans, Lepers. Wherever there was oppression,

suffering, denial of justice, Jesus faced a choice. He could have said, “If

I go to these people, work with them to put an end to their oppression, the

injustice they suffer, I may be accused of agreeing with them in every detail;

I may be identified with them. I'd better stand aside and criticize them, and

people will see how religiously correct I am.” Or he could have said, “I will

be present to them in mercy, healing, compassion and strength.” He was there

with them and he was roundly criticized for it. “He eats with publicans and

sinners.” Mt. 2:16; Lk 5:30; Mt. 9:11; Mt.11:19. He was there. “You are a

human being; you have dignity, you count. I treat you with respect and call

you to grow to the fullest humanity you can, to a life of peace and love and

justice. And I expect my followers to do the same. The Gospels can be no

clearer. Religious arrogance, self-righteousness, hard-heartedness are much

greater obstacles to the kingdom of God than human weakness or sin. When

religion is used to deny life, oppress the outcast, and despise the marginal, do

Violence to others, we are not dealing with Christian behavior.

We need to apply these four principles now, for in reaching out to share

compassionately with gays, work for justice for them, we are following the

example of Jesus who did the same in his society. To challenge, critique,

educate, comfort, console in the light of the Gospels is essential to and

common to all Christian ministries. But if we do not, in some way,

incorporate these four guidelines, the other aspects of ministry will not,

in fact, cannot be heard.

Dom Fidelis, OPR

The root here isn't the experience or awful memory of the sexual abuse as a child, but the heart issues
within Ted Haggard himself.

His lack of integrity to uphold his committment to the restoration process; his lack of responsibility in
casting blame on his abuser as well as attacking ministers for not “spreading the gospel through Haggard's fall”
(a very unique take on preaching the gospel I might add); and the lack of humility and repentance which has been
evident from the very first…..all these are the true indicators of whether this man is ready to get up again and lead
others or not.

And he obviously isn't ready, although he continues to appoint himself to this task.

At far greater risk here is the dispersion to the character and name of Christ. THAT should be Haggard's first concern.
His second concern should be for the welfare of his family and flock……all which were blatantly disregarded during
the years of his transgression…….all blatantly disregarded now as he seeks to promote himself despite the
many controversies this instigates, or how hard this hits those who knew him, loved him, and were most
personally affected by his fall.

If Ted were truly repentant, humbled, and contrite, then he would stick to the word he gave and submit himself
to the authority of the true leadership in the church, instead of trying to solicit (no pun intended) funds and build up
yet another following for himself.

We can forgive Haggard, but only the Lord can restore him……and his arrogance gives no indication that such
true restoration of heart has occurred.

Seems to me that doing nothing is immoral, not fighting to defend freedom!