An impartial examination of the Christian “holy” book, the history of Christianity, and its Hebrew origins, should remove any illusions which lesbians and gay men may have about the tolerance of Christianity towards homosexuality.
History attests that the Church has been the foremost persecutor of gays for almost two thousand years. During the Dark Ages, they were punished, if they were lucky, by excommunication, denial of last rites and burial in unsanctified ground. But many, not so lucky, were submitted to torture, mutilation and death by burning. The very term “faggot” refers to the bundles of sticks over which known and suspected gays were burned alive by Church authorities. Such barbaric treatment is comparable to that perpetrated by the Nazis who incarcerated gays in their concentration camps where they were brutalised and subjected to medical experiments.
All this is of course in the past and best forgotten as far as the Christian Churches are concerned (as is their persecution of the Jews, “witches” and other “heretics”) but that does not mean that gay people – whether Christian or not – no longer suffer at their hands. The feelings of guilt experienced by some can be so corrosive that they lead to suicide.
At its General Synod in 1987, the Church of England voted overwhelmingly to condemn homosexual acts and called on gays to repent, and this remains its official stance. After a debate on homosexuality at the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops worldwide, the overwhelming majority of delegates (including the Archbishop of Canterbury) voted for a motion that rejected homosexual practice as incompatible with the Bible and rejected same-sex unions. After the debate the Archbishop of Canterbury commented: “I see no room in scripture for any sexual activity outside matrimony for husband and wife. I believe this says what we have all held Anglican morality stands for.”
The Roman Catholic Church has always taken a hostile stance on homosexuality. A Vatican document issued in 1986 states that by choosing a partner of the same sex “homosexuals are annulling the rich symbolism and meaning of the Creator’s designs”. Another document issued in 1997 described “the particular inclination of the homosexual person” as “a more or less intrinsically moral evil”. The Roman Catholic 1994 Catechism (summary of doctrine) announces to the world: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, Tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are ‘intrinsically disordered’.”
The Salvation Army is equally convinced by Biblical pronouncements, declaring in its most recent policy statement: “Same-sex relationships which are genitally expressed are unacceptable according to the teaching of Scripture and attempts to establish or promote such relationships as viable alternatives to heterosexually-based family life do not conform to God’s will for society.”
Then there are those evangelical Christian groups (the Courage Trust, Exodus, the True Freedom Trust, etc.) which seek to “cure” or “heal” homosexuals by persuading them to “follow Jesus” – a futile exercise which can cause immense psychological harm.
Given this appalling record – past and present – it is very hard to understand why even the most masochistic of lesbians and gay men can happily adhere to the Christian religion and its institutions, let alone seek moral guidance from them. However, many must find it extremely difficult – indeed painful – to make an honest appraisal. They have often been immersed in the dogma and teachings of organised religion from earliest childhood. To question these, much less abandon them, seems tantamount to renouncing parents, society, even truth itself.