wfn.org | "Pro-Gay" Theology "Seriously Misrepresents" Bible and Ethics

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

GA99039 
21-June-1999 
 
          "Pro-Gay" Theology "Seriously Misrepresents"  
        Bible and Ethics, Speaker Tells Luncheon Workshop 
 
 
FORT WORTH - "'Pro-gay' theology seriously misrepresents both scripture and 
ethics,"  Joe Dallas, Director of the Exodus Counseling Center, told 50 
people at the OneByOne luncheon today.  OneByOne is "a PCUSA ministry 
created to address the needs of those in conflict with their sexuality," 
according to the organization's mission statement 
     Dallas addressed four points at which he thought "pro-gay theology" 
disagrees with Scripture: it presents homosexuality as "immutable and thus 
God-ordained;" it alleges that since people are gay and lesbian and 
Christian at the same time, homosexuality is therefore not a sin; it 
implies that because a given person is good, relationships that person is 
in must be good, too; and it suggests that objections to homosexuality "are 
not the result of biblical belief but just a reflection of our [homophobic] 
culture." 
     In presenting homosexuality as unchangeable, Dallas said, "pro-gay 
theology" draws the conclusion that "if it is immutable, it must be 
God-ordained."  The real question, he said, "is not, 'is this condition 
changeable?', but, 'what does the Scripture say?'" The ten references in 
the Bible to homosexuality are "always clearly in the negative," he 
continued.  The issue is, "on what basis do we determine what is moral or 
immoral?  Scripture makes no concessions on 'immutability'," he said.  "How 
is the Christian to respond to sin?" he asked.  "We are called to resist 
rather than to redefine." 
     Many conservative critics of homosexuality, Dallas noted, "attack 
character and people rather than to simply condemn the behavior as sin." 
This leaves the church open to charges that it does not care about gay and 
lesbian persons, and that it lies about them, he asserted.  "When people 
say, `I'm gay and I'm a Christian,' I'm inclined to believe those claims," 
he continued.   "It is true a Christian can sin and still be a 
Christian...The question is not, 'Can one be gay and Christian?"  The 
question should always be, is homosexuality scripturally condemned or 
condoned?" 
     It is an error say that "because these are good people, what they are 
doing is also good," Dallas noted.  "God-incarnate modeled for us the 
luxury of enjoying all people whether they agreed with him or not, yet 
nowhere are we told he approved of their sin."  The real question in 
assessing relationships is not, 'is it loving?', but, 'is it right or 
wrong?'" 
     "As a culture and as a church, we are allowing rhetoric to replace 
reason," Dallas argued. "People who know how to put together a 
well-presented soundbite are often more persuasive than those who are 
reasonable."   
     "The scriptures on homosexuality are unambiguous in both Testaments. 
The only relationship considered best is a monogamous relationship between 
one man and one woman," he concluded. 
     Dallas, who has spent more than 10 years counseling men and women 
coming out of 
 homosexuality, lived for several years in a gay relationship and is now 
married.  He is past president of Exodus International. 
 
Peggy Rounseville 

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