[Vision2020] Homosexuality

[Aaron Rench]

Joan Opyr wrote:

> On 7 Nov 2005, at 21:31, Michael wrote (among other things and in 
> response to Melynda):
>
>     We may be as wounded in our heterosexuality as we are in our
>     homosexuality, but it is incoherent and unfaithful to Jesus not to
>     accept his own words about the kingdom of Heaven.  He claimed to
>     be God.  He claimed to be the Messiah.  He loved the Old Testament
>     Law of God.  He loved Jerusalem.  He honored his Father in Heaven
>     and saw all goodness springing from Him; He never speculated or
>     went along with the politically correct, easy relativism of his
>     own time or the traditionalism of his elders.  He spoke truth in
>     love, never abrogating or taking issue with the Hebraic Christian
>     understanding of sexual morality.  He rather upheld it. 
>
>
> I am not a Christian; neither am I a theologian. I do know one or two 
> things about the teachings of Jesus. The most important thing I know 
> about Jesus is that he drew a strong distinction between the permanent 
> and the transient in the teachings of Torah. Jesus summed up the whole 
> of Hebrew scripture in two commandments: “Love the Lord God with all 
> your might,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22.)
>
> I realize that I’m stepping out on a limb here, but it seems to me, 
> Michael, that you and the architects/theologians of Christ Church, 
> Doug Wilson and Doug Jones, have made a fetish of the Trinity. In the 
> hands of Doug and Doug, Trinitarianism has become something akin to 
> the Ronco corporation – it’s a pocket fisherman; it’s a marital aid; 
> it’s federal husbandry; it’s the model for all poetry, all song, all 
> laughter and all joy. A joke isn’t funny if it isn’t Trinitarian. (Try 
> telling that to Henny Youngman.)
>
> Doug and Doug – and you, Michael -- are skating perilously close to 
> idolatry in the claims you make regarding the Trinity. This was 
> especially evident in the Trinity Fest this summer in the Feast of St. 
> Brigid. Do you know who Brigid was? Maiden, mother, and crone. She was 
> a Celtic goddess; she made the crops grow, she was called upon to aid 
> in childbirth; the Irish still put out bowls of milk on St. Brigid’s 
> Day. Why? Because Brigid the Goddess had a bit of a nasty streak – she 
> needed to be appeased.
>
> Incorporating Brigid into your worship (or your Trinity Fest) is 
> syncretic, Michael, but it’s bad Christian theology. It’s heresy. As 
> long as you Celt-ify your worship with eyes wide open, fine, but I 
> don’t think your eyes are wide open. I believe that you view Doug 
> Wilson with your eyes squinted up and your head tilted to one side 
> (the right). You are theologically inconsistent, and, as a Christian, 
> this puts you in peril. Know this; think about this; be clear about 
> this. You believe the God I worship is “sexless” and “masturbatory.” I 
> believe the God you worship is a confused mess, an unsavory mixture of 
> rank Anglophilia, sophomoric bigotry, and sexist convenience.
>
> Now, if that hasn’t completely turned you off to the rest of what I 
> have to say, then here’s a question for you: where does Jesus 
> _himself_ condemn homosexuality or homosexual behavior? I’ve done a 
> search of the New Testament (using my handy dandy Oxford concordance) 
> and can find references to homosexuality only in Romans 1:24-27, 1 
> Corinthians 6:9, 10, and 1 Timothy 1:9, 10. What I find Jesus speaking 
> of is unconditional love; in Greek, “agape.” And, of course, I find 
> Jesus’ distillation of the whole of Torah into the two commandments of 
> Matthew 22.
>
> As a Jew, I can agree with that distillation. In fact, I believe it’s 
> especially insightful and apt. As Rabbi Hillel wrote, “ What is 
> hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the Torah. All the 
> rest is commentary.”
>
> Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
> _www.joanopyr.com_
>
> PS: I recognize that I'm well over my two-per-day posting limit, and I 
> apologize. Elections make me nervous -- even when I'm not allowed to 
> vote in them. Especially when I'm not allowed to vote.
>
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Joan,

Just a quick correction for you. I'm sure there was a Brigid who was a 
Celtic goddess, but if you recall the name of the feast at Trinity Fest 
was *Saint* Brigid's Feast. That's because we were not naming our feast 
after Brigid the Celtic goddess, but after a Christian medieval nun who 
was known for her hospitality and looked forward to serving beer to King 
Jesus in heaven. In fact, she probably heard St. Patrick preach at least 
one sermon, and she was also known for giving away milk to the poor. You 
should ask Rose, I gave her a copy of the poem written by St. Brigid 
where some of this is mentioned.

So, no, Michael doesn't need to worry about syncretism or heresy. St. 
Brigid is just one of our sisters in the historic Christian faith, and a 
good example of what it means to be hospitable. No nasty streak here.

Cheers,
Aaron

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