FollowMost of you have already read my blog about Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl.” (The song is now #5 on Billboard’s chart and #2 on iTunes.) Apparently the blog is making it’s rounds in different camps right now… because the responses are starting to pour in.
The song obviously is typical of today’s casual mindset about “doing what feels right at the moment.” But that’s not what people are reacting to (surprise, surprise). People are reacting, as always, to the homosexuality issue.
First of all, we’ve already covered this issue in this blog (and the articles we’ve linked from that blog). But people love to react on both sides. I’ve received some emails from Christians getting all frothy and hateful, making sure to remind me that homosexuality is a sin. (Yeah… duh. So is bitterness! Look in the mirror folks.) Hence my call to react in compassion.
Anyway… on the opposite spectrum we’ve got people upset that I did say it’s a sin.
I encourage you all to read the responses to that blog. I believe that reading responses from others can be a good teaching moment about other people’s beliefs and attitudes.
Pop quiz- what can we learn about this person from this excerpt of their comment? (emphasis mine)
I don’t understand why this is so upsetting. People should be free to make their own choices in life. If someone decides to be lesbian that is their choice ( I heard somewhere that it is genetic, so they can’t pick and choose they have to come to terms with it ), they still remain human and still need love and support from community and family. I like the song. It has a nice beat and is easy to dance to, this doesn’t make me lesbian, and it doesn’t make me want to be lesbian(I doubt a song could anyway).
And for you zealous ‘radical’ Christians, I think that god doesn’t consider being bi-sexual a sin….
Here’s a couple quick observations.
- This person’s comment is based on “feeling,” not fact. Notice the language: “I think that…” Today’s culture doesn’t care a lot about truth… it’s all about what “works for me.” What “feels right.” It’s not uncommon to hear people say, “I think that God probably doesn’t mind when we…” Which leads me to my second observation…
- The Bible isn’t an authority to many. As believers, we quote scripture to back up our beliefs. That’s not a convincing source to the majority. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in scripture as authority and will continue to quote it. But we need to understand our audience and know that, for many, scripture means nothing.
- Much like my first observation… this person’s comment is not only based on feeling, it’s completely without any research. Their source material is, “I heard somewhere…” Wow… I’d hate to base my “feelings” and beliefs on, “I heard somewhere.” This is very typical of today’s young generation. In my workshops love to show an example from a newspaper article where a bunch of kids were busted for intentionally farting in class. The press got involved and the kids were interviewed. It’s hilarious. The kids reported, “It’s a natural occurrence, and we all do it 16 times a day.” But this is my favorite part of the article:
When questioned where he learned that information, Tyler and the other students all said it was true, though they couldn’t remember where they heard it.
I love that part. They all said it was true, but they couldn’t remember where they heard it. Sound familiar?
Posted in Jonathan's Rant, Music, Sexuality, Youth Culture | | Leave A Comment
Apart from Scripture, there is the argument which comes from natural law. Whether you have God as your authority or not, there are certain facts about male and female which are undeniable. We are made a particular way and are naturally complementary for a reason—chiefly procreation but for other benfits, too. Along that line, having dominion over our souls and bodies in the sexual realm according to an innate morality is just plain good for you. It’s the natually healthy way to live. If you add God’s guidance and truth to the equation, natural law is just made stronger!
Ok, so if we’re going to base certain things on fact, then we should look at the state of the holy land when the Bible was written. Jews were being persecuted by the Romans to the point where we could call it genocide. This made “[going] forth and [populating] the Earth” seem like very important advice on preserving their people. So, wouldn’t it make sense that it would be written that a man lying with another man is sinful? They, of course, would notice that no child can be produced by two men, so it makes sense that it would be discouraged. I know that many people would argue with this and say that the Bible is written by God, so it doesn’t matter why, it just matters that it is in the Bible. I’m not saying I don’t believe the Bible is divinely inspired, I’m just saying that it’s exactly that- divinely inspired and interpreted by humans. We’re a fallen people, so it doesn’t make sense to say that everything written down is infallible. It seems a bit egotistical to assume that humans interpreted everything right. I can’t even begin to interpret what God has in store for my day, let alone for the entire human existence. I think we should teach others the love of God and try to love them as He would. Let’s stop worrying about who’s “in” and who’s “out” and start focusing on praising and exalting Him.