Sexuality
It is reasonable to suggest that most people want a better, fairer, nicer world for humanity.
Sexuality has become one of the most divisive elements in western society today. It is highly emotive for some. In a few short decades we have gone from a fairly straightforward view of sexuality, i.e. essentially that people are born either male or female and that’s that, to one where apparently one can choose one’s orientation and gender. For anyone who holds more traditional views, perhaps because of religious convictions, this is at least disturbing if not indeed simply not right.
Even in living memory homosexuals, for instance, were more “tolerated” than accepted. But in a very short time all that has changed radically. Homosexuals can now “marry” in law. But for some it seems that is not enough, they want more than just acceptance. A few have become what I would describe as “evangelical” in their desire to convert the world and turn everything “rainbow”. This is but one element in a world where much is spoken of being tolerant, but so often it is a one way street where people of one view who want acceptance, do not accept others.
It is probably least controversial simply to state here what I see as the traditional Christian view of sexuality and you can draw your own conclusions as to why modern society is problematic for a believer. In common with modern day Judaism and Islam in particular, people are viewed as the creation of God. He created them male and female. He decreed that the act of sex was to be reserved for marriage between one man and one woman, primarily aimed at procreation.
The western world has long since accepted, indeed promoted, the idea that sex is recreational. “One night stands” are not unusual. Certainly sex on a first date is seen as quite normal. Unmarried couples living together is quite the norm and marriage has become a strange institution that is a sort of second level of commitment in a relationship. To the believer that is all foreign and simply wrong. Indeed the Bible has a number of words for misplaced sexual activity, fornication, promiscuity, adultery, perversion and homosexuality being among them.
The only way a Christian can get away from the plain teaching of scripture is either to simply argue that the writers got it wrong, or that God has changed and “moved on”, or by linguistic gymnastics to twist the clear meanings to something else. It is so divisive that it even threatens to divide the Catholic Church.
For the believer, staying true to God whilst not alienating those with different beliefs is an extreme challenge.
One huge issue is the proposition that if a person wants to “come out” and declare their sexuality in one direction, that is apparently fine. But if they then decide that it was a mistake and they want to go back, or want to change, that apparently is evil, wrond and to be made illegal. Please explain the logic of that to me. So it is that conversion therapy has become condemned, as if people are forced into it rather than requesting help. Here’s an interesting BBC comment on “conversion therapy”
I’ll finish where I began by saying that it is reasonable to suggest that most people want a better, fairer, nicer world for humanity.
The challenge for us all is how to live alongside people who see the way to achieving a “better” world very differently.