Gays and Jesus: the Gospel According to Elton John
Greg Clarke and John Dickson
It’s the time of year to make the claim that Jesus is gay. It
seems to happen semi-annually. A few years back, a Queensland academic
made the claim that Jesus had sex with his male disciples and a special
relationship with ‘the beloved’ disciple, John. This year it was the
turn of another John, Elton John, to raise the topic of Jesus’
sexuality, adding the new element that Jesus was a “super-intelligent”
gay man.
The famous singer’s admiration of Jesus extends beyond his claim that
Jesus was gay and smart: Elton admires Jesus’ compassion, naming the
forgiveness of sins that Christ achieved on the cross as a key element
of the Christian message, and something worthy of emulation. |
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We might disagree with Jesus, but we should at least deal with what the man actually said
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This is encouraging news for those who understand that Christianity is first and foremost about forgiveness of sins, turning back to God and attempting to live in the manner that Christ exemplified.
However, the claim that Jesus was gay stretches the biblical and historical data too far. Unless we rely on the conspiracy-style argument (which runs: Jesus’ gayness is suggested by the Gospels’ suppression of any mention that he was gay), we just have to accept that a first-century Jewish teacher who spoke against porneia, the catch-all biblical term for all sexual acts proscribed by the Jewish law, could not have accepted homosexuality as a moral good. We might disagree with Jesus, but we should at least deal with what the man actually said rather than what we’d like him to say (the church, as much as anyone else, needs to remember this).
Christians do feel the pressure to adopt the emerging majority view on this—who wants to be the nay-sayer?—but they cannot bring themselves to reject 2000 years of utterly consistent Christian tradition going all the way back to Jesus for the sake of this particular cultural moment.
However, it’s blindingly obvious that the Church overall, and many Christians individually, have made a complete mess of their relationships with gay people. Let’s say it more constructively: Christians have a lot to apologise for to the gay community. Too often, Christians have hidden behind biblical texts about homosexuality in order to express their own personal homophobia and hatred. They have allowed their biblically informed views to promote unbiblical rhetoric and behaviour.
In all honesty, Christians rarely relate to gay people with anything like love, kindness, gentleness, patience and peace—the very things that are considered ‘spiritual’ in the Christian faith.
Surely it is possible for a mainstream, orthodox Christian to hold his or her view that homosexual behaviour is not encouraged in the Christian way of thinking, while at the same time being loving, kind and peaceful towards those who identify as gay. We are not talking about condescension — “Oh, I’ll be nice to you even though I think you are of the devil” — but genuine human connection with someone who lives differently from the way you yourself support.
It was the genius of Jesus that he could flex two mental muscles at the same time: he could have deep convictions about right and wrong yet extend love and friendship to all regardless. This is a lost art. Nowadays, we either stop loving those we disagree with, or in the name of love, adjust our own moral convictions.
The approach of biblical scholar Professor Robert Gagnon is the
sort of thing we would like to see more often. In his landmark book, The Bible and Homosexual Practice
(Abingdon Press, 2001), Gagnon summarised his 500-page study, saying,
“The church should reject the notion that the only alternatives are to
affirm homosexual behaviour or to hate and harass homosexuals” (p.485).
It will be a sad day for pluralistic democracies when a
Christian has to claim to support homosexual behaviour in order to be
thought of as loving; likewise, a Christian should hear the criticisms
of the gay community in a spirit of friendship. |
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Christians have a lot to apologise for to the gay community
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Gay and lesbian people are often so hurt by churches or Christians that it may take a very long time before any agreeable dialogue on the matter is possible. Elton John’s claim that Jesus is gay may not cope with much historical scrutiny, but that might be irrelevant at present, until we can find a way to acknowledge the damage that has been done and recover the art of friendly disagreement.
This article first appeared on The Punch
Dr Greg Clarke and Dr John Dickson are the directors of publicchristianity.org.
| 01-Mar-2010 05:40 PM Pontifical |
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| 01-Mar-2010 06:49 PM Pontifical |
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May I friendly disagree? -at least when it comes to commending Professor Gagnon’s Bible and Homosexual Practice as an example of walking this fine line. Gagnon proclaims his love of gay people, but conveys precious little of that in his work.
To begin with, Gagnon’s language is perjorative. He prefers the term “homosexual” to describe gay people, and the tawdry “pro-homosex” to describe opponents. R.K. Harrison, for one, suggested that evangelicals muster the decency to use gay people’s self-designation when they speak about them, at least as a way of recognising their personhood (when disagreeing).
Gagnon’s term, “prohomosex” depicts gay advocates in a crude, sexually neurotic mode which is not merely misguided, it plays into degrading stereotypes which lead to real harm. In the same vein, Gagnon demeans and distorts gay people’s lives by obsessing over intercourse in his book (relevant to lesbians, how?). What heterosexual couple would like their relationship to be as defined by sexual activity as Gagnon constantly does with gay people?
There is just as much disrespect of gay people in what Gagnon doesn’t say, as what he does. He begins the book with a note on the personal risks he suffers for his views. But he thinks it too trifling to discuss the pervasive suffering of gay people; today in Iraq they are being brutally tortured and murdered; in Uganda capital punishment laws are being tabled; in his own country ‘Matthew Shepard’ events still happen. Gagnon’s silence on gay harrassment speaks volumes about his understanding of “respect”. There are plenty of Christian reviews which raise these issues and many more. One hardly needs such reviews to realise that Gagnon is seriously demeaning of gay people. One just needs to actually get to know gay people properly.
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| 02-Mar-2010 09:50 PM Dan |
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| This is a wonderful and difficult issue to have appoached. I feel strongly about it having a number of 'Gay' friends that I feel very strongly about. I am not homesexual though and I find it hard to express to these friends of mine the Christian stance that we love homosexuals and hates homosexuality. I guess gently and with love.
(I also wish we could have the word gay back in our vocab without fear of evoking homosexuality as there aren't many other words quite like it that satisfactorily describe this outwards kind of joy.) |
| 16-Mar-2010 11:03 PM Trav |
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| Great article guys. |
| 24-Mar-2010 01:55 PM Anonymous |
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| 11-Apr-2010 11:58 PM Steve |
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| Indepth social psychology research tells us that humans are naturally prejudice against out-groups. In the perspective of evolutionary psychology, prejudice was what kept us away from harm and a crucial adaptation for the survival of the fittest. The truth is that we are just not as accepting as we want our selves to be when it comes to differences. Prejudice is automatic and uncontrollable but because of the social expectations we attempt to control our thoughts and suppress our subconcious. (If you are interested in how "thought suppression" works, you can check out the "White-bear experiment" in google.) "01-Mar-2010 06:49 PM Pontifical's" reply pointed out that Gagnon's use of language showed prejudice, however I would like to defend Gagnon by saying his "trying" not to be. Everyone is prejudice against something whether you admit it or not. A simple prejudice test used in a social psychology experiment will show you just how prejudice you really are. What I believe, is that the bible is how it suppose to be and Christians are people trying to be what it suppose to be. |
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