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Welcome to CityofGod.net!

 

Thanks for dropping in.

Homosexuality is one of the most controversial issues facing Christians today, stirring up a tremendous amount of hostility on both sides.

For more than a decade, I’ve been trying to articulate Christian teaching on homosexuality more clearly, and to bring a more respectful, Christ-like attitude to the discussion. Along the way, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to gays and lesbians, to ex-gays, to confused college students, to concerned parents, and to anyone else who is interested in the issue and wants to learn more.

I’m an orthodox Catholic. My sexual ethic is found in Humanae vitae and the Theology of the Body. However, I am also deeply committed to healing the current divisions within the Body of Christ. There are men and women whose faith I deeply respect who disagree with me on various questions of sexual ethics—divorce and remarriage, contraception, homosexuality.

In the Decree on Ecumenism, the Second Vatican Council said:

While it is true that many Christians understand the moral teaching of the Gospel differently from Catholics, and do not accept the same solutions to the more difficult problems of modern society, nevertheless they share our desire to stand by the words of Christ as the source of Christian virtue, and to obey the command of the Apostle: “And whatever you do, in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). For that reason an ecumenical dialogue might start with discussion of the application of the Gospel to moral conduct.

The resources on these pages—video clips, essays, speech transcripts, letters—all stem from the desire to engage the difficult questions surrounding homosexuality as respectfully as possible. The largest essay on this site, the Great Debate, came about because I was invited to explain my beliefs to a largely gay-affirming audience.

I pray that you will find the materials here helpful, whatever perspective you are coming from.

I should make a brief comment about why I have included two speeches on abortion. I do not like some of the harsh political rhetoric surrounding gay issues, and so I had and have no desire to participate in the similarly harsh political rhetoric on abortion. With the exception of attending the March for Life in 2004 (just before going to speak at Georgetown), my prolife activism had been entirely confined to making generous donations to help provide shelter and services to poor women who chose to keep their child.

When the Knights of Columbus asked me to give a brief reflection on abortion at their memorial service for the unborn, I wasn’t sure what to say. As I reflected on the issue, however, I began to realize just how critical male chastity is in building a culture of life. Often, the burden of saying “no” to sex is placed on women. Although the double standard is fading, women usually face more stigma for sexual activity then men do.

In ministry dealing with homosexual men, however, women are not part of the equation. One must either learn something about teaching men to be chaste, or else pack up and go home. So I talked a bit about the role of male chastity and the culture of life. A few days later, I got a call inviting me to give a keynote speech on the same theme at a pro-life conference.

We often talk about homosexuality as though it is radically foreign; in fact, it is a part of the human condition, and Christians should approach it with the same love and grace that Christ applied in his encounters with others. I hope the reflections I have offered here will help you to understand the issues surrounding homosexuality better, and to approach discussions of these questions with greater respect and sensitivity.

When the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery before Him, and asked Him what to do with her, Jesus said to them, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Although I argue in the essays and speeches collected here that homosexual acts are a sin, I do not pass judgment on those who disagree with me. I believe I am called to bear witness, but I do not believe that I am called to judge others: that task I leave in the merciful hands of God. All of us fall short of God’s commands, and I would rather gently encourage others in their efforts to obey than condemn them for their struggles and failures, for I have struggles and failures of my own, and need encouragement, as well.

Politics deals primarily with how we use the coercive power of the state to regulate the lives of citizens; I have said little about politics here because I am wary of coercion. My own focus has always been on appealing to people’s free decisions, not advocating State compulsion. (I was deeply opposed to sodomy laws long before the Supreme Court overturned them in Lawrence v. Texas.) As I point out in Sections V and VI of my GCN Keynote, I am suspicious of the over-emphasis on politics and under-emphasis on ministry found in most conservative Christian responses to homosexuality.

I have tried to live my life in accord with what I believe about God. I believe it is important that I be free to share, in appropriate ways, my reasons for belief with others. Nevertheless, having shared my reasons, I believe that others should be free to judge those reasons for themselves, and to live their lives in accordance with their own convictions.

In Christ,

 

Bridging the Gap: conversations on befriending our gay neighbors


Bridging the Gap is a four part documentary produced by New Direction Ministries of Canada. It is intended to help Christian small groups facilitate discussion about how to respond to our gay friends and neighbors with greater love, respect, and understanding.

Along with about a dozen other contributors, I was invited to talk about my own journey, and to share some of the insights and experiences I’ve gained in over a decade of reaching out to the gay and lesbian community.

New Direction made a deliberate decision not to focus on the theological arguments about homosexuality: there are already a wide range of resources dealing with those debates (including some here at CityofGod.net). Instead, the producers chose to focus on issues of the heart, asking how our attitudes and relationships should embody the fruits of the Spirit in the midst of this contentious topic.



Many of the participants in the project come from theological perspectives that differ significantly from my own orthodox Catholic beliefs. For example, Tony Campolo is an American Baptist pastor, Brian McLaren is one of the leaders of the Emergent Church movement, and Justin Lee is the founder of the Gay Christian Network. While I do not agree with everything said in the course of the interviews, I appreciate the depth and seriousness of the discussion, and think Bridging the Gap can play an important role in improving Christian discussions of gay issues. I know of many better resources for addressing the theological issues surrounding homosexuality. But I know of no better resourse for helping Christians to understand what it is like to be gay and encouraging us to show love and respect in our interactions with gay friends and neighbors.



Justin and I have known each other for more than a decade, and over the years we have often argued about the theological legitimacy of same-sex unions. In the next clip, Justin and I join several others to discuss some of the pitfalls of online interaction. Internet discussions of controversial issues easily descend into unproductive “flame wars.” Here, we focus on the importantance of trying to understand the other person’s perspective. Face-to-face interaction with those with whom we disagree will not solve all disagreements, but it can often be a helpful way to overcome misunderstandings and move the discussion to a more productive level.



New Direction has made these and a number of other clips from the documentary available on their YouTube Channel. For more information and to join in ongoing conversation about the project, visit the Bridging the Gap blog. Or, you may order the DVDs through the New Direction website for CAN$32.99.

Bridging the Gap was made possible in part by a generous donation from the Bridgeway Foundation; however, donors are still needed to ensure BTG reaches a wide audience and meets its goal of equipping Christians to share the love of Christ with their gay neighbours. If you would like to consider partnering with New Direction on this project, visit their Donations page for more information.

 

 

Articles and Essays:
In 2003, Justin Lee, the founder and Executive Director of the Gay Christian Network, invited me to write an essay defending the traditional Christian belief that homosexual activity is wrong, and that gays and lesbians who are unable to marry a person of the opposite sex are called to celibacy. Justin wrote a companion essay arguing that God blesses gay marriage. Justin has made the two essays into a prominent GCN feature called the “Great Debate.”
For the Summer 2004 issue, Notre Dame Magazine planned to do a special issue focused on homosexuality and the Catholic Church. They invited me to contribute an essay describing how I came to accept Catholic teaching on homosexuality. Rather than focusing on theological arguments, they asked me to focus on telling the story through my own journey and experiences. The whole package won the 2005 first place Press Award for “Best investigative writing or analysis” from the Catholic Press Association. This is a somewhat revised version of the essay. Click here for the original version on the Notre Dame Magazine website.
In late 2002 and early 2003, there was an ongoing controversy in the letters section of the New Oxford Review over the editors’ use of the word “fag” in an article. With encouragement from several members of Courage who were deeply frustrated with the exchange, I wrote this essay, which was published in the June 2003 issue of the New Oxford Review.
This essay was originally written in 2003, in response to the planned protests of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meetings in Washington, DC by Soulforce, a pro-gay group. Edited slightly to remove references to the original protest, it still provides a good overview of some aspects of Catholic teaching related to homosexuality.
Also written in response to the Soulforce protests, this essay examines prejudice against gays and lesbians, and attempts to provide a Catholic Response.
Speeches and Presentations:
This is the keynote speech I gave at the January, 2007 Gay Christian Network Conference in Seattle, WA. It voices frustration at the ways that gays and lesbians are sometimes treated by Christians, and focuses on the importance of obedience to God, even in the most difficult circumstances.
If you knew nothing about human biology, you could listen to most of our debates about abortion and never realize that men are involved in any way. We talk about the woman’s body, the woman’s right to choose. We in the pro-life movement talk about the unborn child’s right to life. But what about the father? In this speech, delivered at the March 25, 2006 Symposium on Life Issues at St. Monica's Catholic Church, I looked at the role of men in building the Culture of Life.
On January 22, 2006, the Knights of Columbus invited me to give a brief reflection at a memorial service for the unborn, held at Mt. Angeles Memorial Park to commemmorate the 33rd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
On November 3, 2005, the Philosophy Club at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette invited me to debate Dr. Rick Swanson on the question: “Does the Bible Condemn Homosexuality?” I do not have a complete transcript of the debate; however, I have made my opening statement available here.
On January 23, 2004, the Washington, DC chapter of Courage and the Georgetown University chapter of the Knights of Columbus invited me to speak at Georgetown about Catholic teaching and homosexuality.

[The responses in this section were originally written in response to questions I received from friends or others. Before posting them here, I edited both question and response in order to enhance clarity and readability.]

Question: In God’s Grace and the Homosexual Next Door, Alan Chambers writes, “This is why I believe that it is so important to clarify that just living a celibate gay life is just as sinful as living a sexually promiscuous one. The sin is in identifying with anything that is contrary to Christ, which homosexuality clearly is” (218). Would you be willing to identify as a “gay Christian”? How do you think such an identity relates to the arsenokoitai of whom Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 6? [ Read response ]
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  • Poetry: