"Choose quickly therefore, so that I may kill you for making the wrong choice."
Everyone who knows that 8+5=13 also knows that 13-5 better equal 8 and that 13-8 better somehow come out to 5. Later we learn that if A=B and B=C then by definition, A=C.
The entire platform of conservative Christian condemnation of homosexuality is based on the premise that homosexuality is sin. Sin is always a choice. Therefore every homosexual must have chosen to be gay. This is nonsense.
The premise implies that people who are not gay made the choice to be straight. I've never heard any straight man stand up and say, "I looked at my options, and chose to be heterosexual on such and such date." The premise doesn't work backwards.
Nobody chooses their sexual preference. Some bat for both teams, and one could argue that they choose every time they step up to the plate. I think that could be called a talent or a gift, but even that is not a choice, it's just how things are for those people. (Sometimes I wish I could do that.)
Gay=Sin=Choice fails the math test.
I think that's all I have to say about that.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A Gay Christian's Math Part 2
"It is not good for man to be alone."
Before one can learn that 8+5=13, he must first learn what a number is. (Note 'learn', not regurgitate what someone else says - you don't have to learn anything to do that.)
In biblical math, just like arithmetic, a priority of learning is required. Priority usually means first in order, but also means most important, or highest level. You have to start at the right place to get to the right answer. This whole line of thinking by conservative Christianity about marriage, family values, etc. starts someplace. Where?
It starts with the first thing that God said was not good when he created the heavens and earth.
God solved the problem (his math) by creating Eve for Adam. Yes, I know it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. My point is that it's also not Adam and Twila or Don and Eve or John, Dick, Harry and Eve, or any other combination. Eve was God's gift to Adam and vise versa. A specific, intentional and perfect gift from a loving father who intended "very good".
Eve was a help mate, a soul mate, a part of Adam and a completion of him. Eve to Adam shows us a picture, an arch type, of God's remedy to a problem he called "not good". This arch type is so important the the Church made it a sacrament. A holy thing. A very good thing.
Adam's Eve couldn't have been another man (if that were true, Eve might have been Steve). My Eve cannot be a woman. What am I supposed to do? Fake it? Live a lie with a girl that I promised to become one with? Many gay men have tried this answer. It doesn't work, and the fallout is disastrous for all involved.
Or am I supposed to be alone? We already know that God himself said this was not good.
Hence the rock and the hard place that gay men who love God are caught in. I lived there for many years, thinking that it is better to be alone (not good) than to sin against God (not good). Who will rescue me from this conundrum? Sound a little like Romans 5?
Then my own arch type showed up. A guy I worked with was in a gay relationship that went south after many years. I've never seen anyone hurt so bad. And (unlike straight couples) there were no resources available to him for help. The church, the God ordained source for godly wisdom, counseling and help, offered only condemnation. I wanted to help. With a pure heart, I sought God about how to help. I used the biblical concepts that I learned over the years at church. They worked well, and my friend's relationship was restored.
(It didn't last, though. My friend turned into a bitter old man, and a creep at that. I'm genuinely sorry to have lost him. But I'm more sad that I lost the only arch type I had ever seen of what a real relationship between two men could be. )
Before one can learn that 8+5=13, he must first learn what a number is. (Note 'learn', not regurgitate what someone else says - you don't have to learn anything to do that.)
In biblical math, just like arithmetic, a priority of learning is required. Priority usually means first in order, but also means most important, or highest level. You have to start at the right place to get to the right answer. This whole line of thinking by conservative Christianity about marriage, family values, etc. starts someplace. Where?
It starts with the first thing that God said was not good when he created the heavens and earth.
God solved the problem (his math) by creating Eve for Adam. Yes, I know it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. My point is that it's also not Adam and Twila or Don and Eve or John, Dick, Harry and Eve, or any other combination. Eve was God's gift to Adam and vise versa. A specific, intentional and perfect gift from a loving father who intended "very good".
Eve was a help mate, a soul mate, a part of Adam and a completion of him. Eve to Adam shows us a picture, an arch type, of God's remedy to a problem he called "not good". This arch type is so important the the Church made it a sacrament. A holy thing. A very good thing.
Adam's Eve couldn't have been another man (if that were true, Eve might have been Steve). My Eve cannot be a woman. What am I supposed to do? Fake it? Live a lie with a girl that I promised to become one with? Many gay men have tried this answer. It doesn't work, and the fallout is disastrous for all involved.
Or am I supposed to be alone? We already know that God himself said this was not good.
Hence the rock and the hard place that gay men who love God are caught in. I lived there for many years, thinking that it is better to be alone (not good) than to sin against God (not good). Who will rescue me from this conundrum? Sound a little like Romans 5?
Then my own arch type showed up. A guy I worked with was in a gay relationship that went south after many years. I've never seen anyone hurt so bad. And (unlike straight couples) there were no resources available to him for help. The church, the God ordained source for godly wisdom, counseling and help, offered only condemnation. I wanted to help. With a pure heart, I sought God about how to help. I used the biblical concepts that I learned over the years at church. They worked well, and my friend's relationship was restored.
(It didn't last, though. My friend turned into a bitter old man, and a creep at that. I'm genuinely sorry to have lost him. But I'm more sad that I lost the only arch type I had ever seen of what a real relationship between two men could be. )
A Gay Christian's Math Part 1
"Math always works...but you have to do it right."
I am a man of faith. Faith in God. Faith in math. 8+5=13 always. If this isn't true, everything from music to space travel is undone. God loves us and wants us to know him. If this is not true, life is undone
I say I have faith in math, It doesn't sound like faith. It sounds like fact. But whenever I use my ATM card to take $80 out of my bank account, knowing that there is $100 in the bank, I use faith. Fact doesn't happen until the bank does what banks do and now I have a $20 balance. People don't think of this as faith, but it is. If I didn't have faith in the math, I couldn't withdraw $80 until after I see the $20 balance (which makes no sense because at that point I could not withdraw $80). Life without faith makes no sense at all.
Error doesn't come from a lack of faith in math. Error comes from doing math poorly. If my math tells me that I can withdraw $120 from my account with a balance of $100, I need to learn to do math better. Math has not failed. I have failed to do the math.
The same concept holds for biblical faith. How many times has someone lost her faith because she didn't do the biblical math properly? Believing God because of a half sentence someplace in the bible taken out of context and applied to a random situation is always erroneous, and generaly leads to failure. Believing in God's character, his motives and his ability is much less prone to error, and leads to a much happier, more fulfilling, more abundant life.
The more complex the math, the more opportunity for error. God's promises are all interrelated, almost always conditional, subject to his sovereignty and fall under a system of priority. The math can get complex, but that shouldn't cause us to lose faith or trust him less. It should motivate us to know the math better; to study his word, character, motivation and priority more.
As a gay Christian, I really had to work hard on the math. Straight people don't face this challenge. There are several easy answers that work well for them concerning homosexuality. They just don't work for me. Over the next few posts, I want to try to lay out the math I used to find my way through the presumed mutual exclusivity of a gay Christian.
Maybe I am not the oxymoron my previous pastor (who ran off with the choir director, destroyed his church and now works at a liquor store) told me I am.
I am a man of faith. Faith in God. Faith in math. 8+5=13 always. If this isn't true, everything from music to space travel is undone. God loves us and wants us to know him. If this is not true, life is undone
I say I have faith in math, It doesn't sound like faith. It sounds like fact. But whenever I use my ATM card to take $80 out of my bank account, knowing that there is $100 in the bank, I use faith. Fact doesn't happen until the bank does what banks do and now I have a $20 balance. People don't think of this as faith, but it is. If I didn't have faith in the math, I couldn't withdraw $80 until after I see the $20 balance (which makes no sense because at that point I could not withdraw $80). Life without faith makes no sense at all.
Error doesn't come from a lack of faith in math. Error comes from doing math poorly. If my math tells me that I can withdraw $120 from my account with a balance of $100, I need to learn to do math better. Math has not failed. I have failed to do the math.
The same concept holds for biblical faith. How many times has someone lost her faith because she didn't do the biblical math properly? Believing God because of a half sentence someplace in the bible taken out of context and applied to a random situation is always erroneous, and generaly leads to failure. Believing in God's character, his motives and his ability is much less prone to error, and leads to a much happier, more fulfilling, more abundant life.
The more complex the math, the more opportunity for error. God's promises are all interrelated, almost always conditional, subject to his sovereignty and fall under a system of priority. The math can get complex, but that shouldn't cause us to lose faith or trust him less. It should motivate us to know the math better; to study his word, character, motivation and priority more.
As a gay Christian, I really had to work hard on the math. Straight people don't face this challenge. There are several easy answers that work well for them concerning homosexuality. They just don't work for me. Over the next few posts, I want to try to lay out the math I used to find my way through the presumed mutual exclusivity of a gay Christian.
Maybe I am not the oxymoron my previous pastor (who ran off with the choir director, destroyed his church and now works at a liquor store) told me I am.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Moving of Mountains
"Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea."
So far, 2010 has been a year to remember for me personally. I started off the year with four major, deep seated issues I needed to resolve. Three of the four are under control. The third 'mountain' hit the sea last week, and I am overwhelmingly thankful, a little bit proud of myself and completely drained by the process.
The issue I refer to is an IRS audit of the company I work for. It covered three years, and took almost that long to complete. At the end of the day, the IRS said we owed $270,000 for the income adjustments they proposed during the audit. I was finally able to find the problem (which was a big deal), and we finally closed the audit only owing a fraction of that. And it's done. I can think about somethig else now. God, I hope I never have to do that again!
So far, 2010 has been a year to remember for me personally. I started off the year with four major, deep seated issues I needed to resolve. Three of the four are under control. The third 'mountain' hit the sea last week, and I am overwhelmingly thankful, a little bit proud of myself and completely drained by the process.
The issue I refer to is an IRS audit of the company I work for. It covered three years, and took almost that long to complete. At the end of the day, the IRS said we owed $270,000 for the income adjustments they proposed during the audit. I was finally able to find the problem (which was a big deal), and we finally closed the audit only owing a fraction of that. And it's done. I can think about somethig else now. God, I hope I never have to do that again!
Upside Down Circles
"Turn a circle round and round; Even turn it upside down; It's still a circle"
I guess it's appropriate to add a post about my political point of view. I'm neither liberal nor conservative. I generally think that the world would be a better place without any politicians or government for that matter. (No, I'm not a libertarian either!) We have to have government, and a democracy seems like the best available choice. Government has to interfere with things, but the less interference the better.
Political Science is a disingenuous affair at best. Elections are the issue, not quality government. The will of the masses is what a democracy should represent. Therefore, the will of the masses has to be manipulated by politicians and campaigns to favor or disfavor a particular candidate. The whole things a farce. Quality government is unimportant to the process of government. Besides, there really doesn't seem to be much difference between the two camps anyway.
I think this 21st century round of government will come to a fairly abrupt end sometime soon. The writing is on the wall in western Europe and the U.S. already. The governments that are so important now will spend themselves into bankruptcy. The question is whether they will do it quickly and suddenly (like Greece) or whether they will drag out the process by monetary tricks and slight of hand (like the U.S.).
I believe I think the best course is to elect politicians who promise to spend lots of money regardless of the deficit (Hell, it's already out of manageable control anyway, the government just won't fess up to it). Let's borrow all we can, get all we can get with this non-existent money, then bankrupt the damn thing and start over with something smaller. Whether it's quick or slow, the process will be painful to all and fatal to some. So let's get it done quickly and get on with life.
I do, however, love the passion of those who take stands on political issues. I very much enjoy hearing their arguments, dissecting their positions (and motives), and I appreciate the fervor of it all. I'm not cynical about politics, I just think it's a big game that has nothing to do with life. Nintendo should figure out how to make it run on the Wii.
I guess it's appropriate to add a post about my political point of view. I'm neither liberal nor conservative. I generally think that the world would be a better place without any politicians or government for that matter. (No, I'm not a libertarian either!) We have to have government, and a democracy seems like the best available choice. Government has to interfere with things, but the less interference the better.
Political Science is a disingenuous affair at best. Elections are the issue, not quality government. The will of the masses is what a democracy should represent. Therefore, the will of the masses has to be manipulated by politicians and campaigns to favor or disfavor a particular candidate. The whole things a farce. Quality government is unimportant to the process of government. Besides, there really doesn't seem to be much difference between the two camps anyway.
I think this 21st century round of government will come to a fairly abrupt end sometime soon. The writing is on the wall in western Europe and the U.S. already. The governments that are so important now will spend themselves into bankruptcy. The question is whether they will do it quickly and suddenly (like Greece) or whether they will drag out the process by monetary tricks and slight of hand (like the U.S.).
I believe I think the best course is to elect politicians who promise to spend lots of money regardless of the deficit (Hell, it's already out of manageable control anyway, the government just won't fess up to it). Let's borrow all we can, get all we can get with this non-existent money, then bankrupt the damn thing and start over with something smaller. Whether it's quick or slow, the process will be painful to all and fatal to some. So let's get it done quickly and get on with life.
I do, however, love the passion of those who take stands on political issues. I very much enjoy hearing their arguments, dissecting their positions (and motives), and I appreciate the fervor of it all. I'm not cynical about politics, I just think it's a big game that has nothing to do with life. Nintendo should figure out how to make it run on the Wii.
Friday, June 18, 2010
My Grandfather's Best Quote
"How do I know what I think about something until I hear what I have to say about it?" [my late Grandpa Jones]
I know what I think about a lot of things. This blog (if it actually is a blog) is about all of the things I don't know what I think about. Believe me, it's gonna be a long blog.
I'm gay. I'm Christian. I'm relatively smart for a complete idiot. I'm a good friend but I'm pretty much a social recluse. I have better conversations with the lake, the stars and a bottle of booze (although I don't drink much) than I do with most people. Basically, I'm your average train wreck, but you would never know it we met. My life is very organized, categorized, locked and loaded for a totally disorganized, mixed up, uneventful guy.
I think in circles, and it sometimes takes years to get out of the circle on a particular issue. I journal pretty regularly, but there is no possibility that someone else will ever read it so what's the point? So I'm gonna try this blog deal and see if, by pretending that someone else may actually see it, I can make myself say what I think so I can know whatever it is.
If that makes sense to you, please explain it to me. In the mean time, I'll try to write something that perhaps someone else will enjoy.
I know what I think about a lot of things. This blog (if it actually is a blog) is about all of the things I don't know what I think about. Believe me, it's gonna be a long blog.
I'm gay. I'm Christian. I'm relatively smart for a complete idiot. I'm a good friend but I'm pretty much a social recluse. I have better conversations with the lake, the stars and a bottle of booze (although I don't drink much) than I do with most people. Basically, I'm your average train wreck, but you would never know it we met. My life is very organized, categorized, locked and loaded for a totally disorganized, mixed up, uneventful guy.
I think in circles, and it sometimes takes years to get out of the circle on a particular issue. I journal pretty regularly, but there is no possibility that someone else will ever read it so what's the point? So I'm gonna try this blog deal and see if, by pretending that someone else may actually see it, I can make myself say what I think so I can know whatever it is.
If that makes sense to you, please explain it to me. In the mean time, I'll try to write something that perhaps someone else will enjoy.
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