Romans 6:23, King James
Version (KJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Consequence”
is a term of logic, that reminds me of the inevitability of death for sinners
as stated in the above-cited Biblical quotation. This often repeated phrase
always bothered me. It was used as an excuse to persecute heretics and gay
people. It reminds me further of the so-called “clobber passages” often cited
from the Bible. Homophobes use this phrase not only to persecute gay people and
other non-conformists, they use it to justify their internalized irrational
hatred of all non-conformists and people who are different.
Most gay
people accept the basic premise of the homophobic version of Christianity and
become atheists or agnostics or adopt earth-oriented spiritualties. Personally,
I side with Lesbian and gay male positive interpreters of Christianity. In
refuting the homophobic version of this Biblical citation, I would remind the
homophobe that God did not ordain that majorities get the moral right to define
“sin”. Well, MCCR is doing a good job in refuting homophobic prejudice in Bible
studies.
My parents
were non-conformists and had a negative view of Christian churchdom.
Presbyterians (our ancestral denomination) consisted, according to them, of
hypocrites who go to church and worship the almighty dollar and call it God.
The Catholic Church has a history of sympathizing with Hitler and Mussolini and
then makes the dubious claim of being the ultimate moral authority for their
believers and for everyone. What a joke!
Personally,
I would not go as far as my parents. But we should be on guard for hypocrisy in
the Church and for intolerance for non-conformists, but give gay and Lesbian
Christians the opportunity to construct a more tolerant, a more enlightened
version of Christianity.
© 11 Oct 2016
About the Author
I was born in 1944, I lived most of my life in New York City,
Queens County. I still commute there. I worked for many years as a Caseworker
for New York City Human Resources Administration, dealing with mentally
impaired clients, then as a social work Supervisor dealing with homeless PWA's.
I have an apartment in Wheat Ridge, CO. I retired in 2002. I have a few
interesting stories to tell. My boyfriend Kevin lives in New York City. I
graduated Queens College, CUNY, in 1967.
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