{"id":19962,"date":"2020-02-14T10:41:04","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T16:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=19962"},"modified":"2020-02-14T10:41:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T16:41:04","slug":"its-about-sex-actually","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/its-about-sex-actually\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s About Sex, Actually"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n

Without a doubt, the greatest marketing campaign of the modern era was (and continues to be) staged by the gay-rights movement. The recent sea change in the national attitude toward same-sex relationships is the result of a brilliant, decades-long initiative in framing and public relations. Though I don\u2019t approve of the object, I can\u2019t help but admire the skill with which it was carried out!<\/p>\n

Consider, for instance, the erasure of the word \u201chomosexual\u201d. The progressive attitude toward the word is well summarized by GLAAD\u2019s Media Reference Guide, which says, \u201cPlease use gay or lesbian to describe people attracted to members of the same sex. Because of the clinical history of the word \u2018homosexual,\u2019 it is aggressively used by anti-gay extremists to suggest that gay people are somehow diseased or psychologically\/emotionally disordered. . .\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, just as there is no \u201cI\u201d in \u201cteam\u201d, there is no \u201cH\u201d in LGTBQ+. I am skeptical, though, that the use of \u201chomosexual\u201d in a clinical context 75 years ago is the reason that it ended up on the ban list. Instead, it is because \u201chomosexual\u201d, unlike \u201cgay\u201d or \u201clesbian\u201d, contains the word \u201csex\u201d, thereby reminding the speaker and hearer that same-sex relationships are sexual relationships.<\/p>\n

This was and is problematic for gay-rights champions because most men in the United States, even now, are repulsed by the thought of two other men having sex. \u201cHomosexual rights\u201d, then, is a viscerally unappealing term to just under half the population.<\/p>\n

The solution to the problem was to drop \u201chomosexual\u201d in favor of \u201cgay\u201d and to make the gay-rights movement about love and marriage, not sex. Love and marriage poll a lot better than gay sex does. Who can be opposed to love?<\/p>\n

From a biblical perspective, though, this shift focuses attention in exactly the wrong place. Scripturally speaking, a homosexual isn\u2019t somebody who feels a certain way or has a certain kind of personality. It\u2019s a man who has been intimate with other men, and unless you have done that, you\u2019re not a homosexual. The doing is what the Bible condemns.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

By contrast, the Scriptures have nothing to say about men with personality traits that aren\u2019t stereotypically masculine, nor even about men who love one another. Indeed, the word encourages that! John was the apostle whom Jesus loved. Today, it\u2019s commonplace for me to tell a brother in Christ that I love him. It has nothing to do with sexual desire and everything to do with the affection that we share in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing gay\u201d is not a Scripturally cognizable concept, and it isn\u2019t the problem. Two men loving one another isn\u2019t the problem. Two men having relations with one another is the problem.<\/p>\n

From here on out, American Christians are going to live in a world that accepts the practice of homosexuality. We have to acknowledge that and recognize that it\u2019s going to be yet another barrier to our efforts to reach the lost.<\/p>\n

As we discuss these things with outsiders, though, we must keep the real issue firmly in mind. Our concern is not with anyone\u2019s inclinations and temptations, but with their violations of the law of God. If we allow others to make the discussion about anything else, we aren\u2019t going to get anywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford Without a doubt, the greatest marketing campaign of the modern era was (and continues to be) staged by the gay-rights movement. The recent sea change in the national attitude toward same-sex relationships is the result of a brilliant, decades-long initiative in framing and public relations. Though I don\u2019t approve of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-19962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-homosexuality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/flawed-logic-from-marilyn-vos-savant\/","url_meta":{"origin":19962,"position":0},"title":"Flawed Logic from Marilyn Vos Savant","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear Sentry Magazine, June 2002 I am accepting of people of all sexual orientations,\u00a0but the following point was made to me recently: \"Gay people cannot be normal. If everyone were gay starting tomorrow, the human race would die out, so being gay cannot be nature's intended way.\" I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/genetic-links-to-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":19962,"position":1},"title":"Genetic Links to Homosexuality?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Source:\u00a0Andrea Ganna, \"Large-scale GWAS reveals insights into the genetic architecture of same-sex sexual behavior,\" Science Magazine, 30 August 2019 The claim is that they found five possible influences toward homosexual behavior in DNA, but at the same time the report is full of qualifiers. \"In aggregate, all tested genetic variants\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31014,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-homosexuality-innate-or-natural-for-some-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":19962,"position":2},"title":"Is homosexuality innate or natural for some people?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about something that I'm really confused about. It deals with homosexuality. In Romans 1, it talks about men and woman going against nature and having unnatural relations with the same sex. I've read on a pro-gay theology site about how the original Greek words phusikos\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-have-had-sex-with-the-same-gender-and-watch-gay-porn-does-that-mean-i-am-a-homosexual\/","url_meta":{"origin":19962,"position":3},"title":"If I have had sex with the same gender and watch gay porn, does that mean I am a homosexual?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have had sex with both men and women I am 18 and thoroughly enjoyed both encounters. I am starting to find that I enjoy watching gay porn and am fantasizing about men more and more. Does this mean that I am homosexual? Answer: You are treating homosexuality as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12978,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-really-not-that-many-homosexuals\/","url_meta":{"origin":19962,"position":4},"title":"Are there really not that many homosexuals?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Justin McCarthy, \"Americans Still Greatly Overestimate U.S. Gay Population\", 27 June 2019. A poll in 2017 found 4.5% of the United States population identifies itself as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.\u00a0But notice that this lumps a lot of people together with different sexual practices. Source:\u00a0Statista Research Department, \"U.S. Homosexuality\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-as-a-homosexual-change-if-i-start-going-to-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":19962,"position":5},"title":"Can I as a homosexual change if I start going to church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I always thought I was born a homosexual, everybody thought I was because I was very feminine. I read in the Bible that it is a sin, and now I have constant worries about being gay, but I have desires for sex with other guys. Do you think I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}