For all of you who are wondering, no I am not a theologist or any kind of expert on the matter I am about to address. I am simply a God-fearing woman with a passion for Christ who has a strong, loving, intimate, God-centered relationship with a woman. Yes, I am a lesbian, and I have been doing some very serious research into what the Bible tells us as Christians about homosexuality. Today I am going to address some of the main arguments against homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

I ask that any of you who do not share my stance as of now, keep an open mind for the next 15 minutes or so, as I delve into some of the things I have found in my research. I am not trying to change minds or claim that I know everything about the Lord and His Word because I do not; I am simply trying to address some of the major arguments keeping some homosexuals from receiving their basic human rights as well as the love and support they deserve, because after all, they're humans too.

Sexual Orientation and the Bible

First, I would like to address the modernness of the concept of sexual orientation. In the Bible, how we understand sexual orientation today, is simply not discussed. In fact, sexual orientation as we know it today was really not discussed ever or even given a name for that matter until 1892. Coincidentally, less than a century later in the 1940s the word "homosexual" started replacing words and phrases in the Bible.

Unfortunately, modern translations of the Bible do often include the word "homosexual," but it must be taken for what it's worth. We cannot truly claim that God or the creators of the Bible intended the meaning of the word "homosexual" as it is used today, to refer to a loving, committed, consensual relationship, because the word just didn't exist.

The Levitican Laws (aka The Holiness Code)

In Leviticus, there is a specific mention that a man shall not lie with another man as he would a woman for it is an abomination. My argument against these and any other Old Testament passages condemning homosexuals is Hebrews 8:13 when the "old law" is deemed "obsolete and outdated" and was predicted to soon disappear. Therefore, any Christian using this as an argument against homosexuality is using an "outdated and obsolete" law that in today's world is irrelevant. You would most likely not also condemn men who shave their beards or anyone who wears clothes of two different fabrics would you?

Sodom and Gomorrah

This story of the sodomites is mainly used because it is believed that the point of the story is to condemn homosexual behaviors, which is in fact not the case. "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom. She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and not concerned; they did not help the poor and needy," --Ezekiel 16:49. This story is to exploit the sin of the inhospitableness of the sodomites toward God's messengers. His messengers were instead, gang raped and subjected to violence. The passage did not, however, link the sins of the sodomites with loving, consensual, God-centered, homosexual relationships.

Paul's Letters

In Romans 1 (specifically 1:26-27) Paul speaks of the "unnaturalness" of homosexual sexual activity. Like I mentioned before, the word "homosexuality" was not inserted into The Bible until the 1940's, but along with that, what Paul was really trying to condemn in this passage was idolatry. I will be the first to say that homosexuality is not unnatural (in all cases). I can say personally (and most other homosexuals will probably tell you the same) that I was born this way. I did not learn it, or pick it up from anywhere, it was just there.

Let me pose something to you. Could you, at will, decide to be gay (or of a different sexual orientation) for a day? Even if you wanted to? No, of course you couldn't. It would be completely unnatural of you to even attempt to do so. It is the same case for homosexuals. We cannot just "be straight." THAT would be unnatural for us, and The Bible is clearly against being unnatural. What Paul is really trying to say here when he says the word "unnatural" is that it is against the norm, which would have been true for that day and age. The unnaturalness Paul refers to also points at a lustful relationship instead of a loving one. I seem to remember one of those being a deadly sin, and I'm pretty sure its not love.

Going further along with Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11:14, Paul condemns men having long hair, again saying it is "unnatural", also suggesting that he simply means against the norm. Beyond that, men's long hair is spoken highly of in The Bible numerous times, like in Numbers 6, 2 Samuel 14, and 2 Kings 2. There is no evidence to support that Paul was condemning loving, God-centered relationships, but he was instead referring to the sin of idolatry, or lustful homosexual relationships that are not based on love including rape and prostitution.

"Homosexuals shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Must I mention again when the term homosexuality was coined and thought of as it is today (1892), and when it made its way into the Bible (1940s)? You get the point by now I'm sure. In 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, the Bible claims that homosexuals shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Also, as I have mentioned previously, in the day and age when the Bible was written, homosexuals were abusive slave owners, prostitutes, rapists, sexually promiscuous, and just down right disgusting people (who unfortunately still exist today around the world). The homosexuals I am writing this for are not those kinds of people. I am writing this for the protection of rights and liberties for the homosexuals in a loving, consensual, self-giving, relationship. That is not what the Bible was talking about in these passages because quite frankly, that type realization and action upon sexual orientation was just not around.

Marriage

The final and probably the biggest argument around for the condemnation of homosexuality is the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. First I would like to note that in biblical times, marriage was about a business deal, not love. The norm at the time The Bible was written was a man would buy a wife to bear children, clean, cook, and raise godly children. That is really not necessarily the case anymore. The point of marriage as it is seen today is to commit yourself to someone you love and care about for the rest of your life. It is no longer just about how many pigs you can get for your daughter or how wealthy your wife's family is.

People claim that Jesus defined marriage as between a man and a woman, when he in fact did no such thing. Marriage is never truly defined in The Bible. The Bible and Jesus himself talk about marriage between a man and woman. When Jesus specifically talks about the matter he is really emphasizing that a man should never divorce his wife and should instead stay committed to his wife and his wife should do the same. Other than that (for example in Matthew 19 and Ephesians 5) Jesus and The Bible talk about the love and self-giving aspects marriage is supposed to be about. Although using male and female nouns and pronouns, the emphasis on the topic of marriage in The Bible is really not about the "man" and "woman", but about the self-giving of marriage.

The Bible tells us to leave our mothers and fathers and cleave unto our spouses. This word "cleave" (translated from the Hebrew word dabaq) is used in the story of Adam and Eve describing how one should love their spouse. This is used again in the story of Ruth and Naomi when Ruth cleaves to Naomi, and later tells Naomi she will love her and help to care for her as they are both widows. It is said in Ruth 1:14 "...but Ruth clave unto her." In other words, the Bible says right out into the open that Ruth loved Naomi as spouses are called to love each other. I encourage you to look into the book of Ruth yourself and explore Ruth and Naomi's lives together. In any case, it is completely reasonable to believe that the love, support, selflessness, and God-centered relationship that God calls us to have in marriage is absolutely attainable by homosexual couples.

Above all, one thing I can tell you for certain is that God tells us to love each other, and I feel like we could all be a little bit better at that most of the time. Again, I am by no means an expert, and I have to continue my faith journey every day. I continue to listen to the Lord every day and look to Him for wisdom and guidance. Today I believe He has called me to open the eyes and hearts of people struggling with the very same hatred and disgust I have experienced from the church. We don't all fit the stereotypes.

If you stuck out this whole article I thank you for your time, and I hope this maybe gave or a little food for thought or encouraged you to get into your own Bible and give the Lord some of your time.