Since the 1960's Western culture has progressively legalized private homosexual acts between consenting adults.

 

In the UK, the Sexual Offences Act (1967) decriminalized private sexual acts between men 21 years or over in England and Wales. The minimum age of consent at which a person may lawfully consent to buggery and to certain homosexual acts was then reduced to 16 in England and Wales by the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000. This came into force in 2001.

 

In 1973 the Dutch mental health institutions stopped treating homosexuality as an illness and the military lifted its ban on homosexuals. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage in 2001. In America the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated all state sodomy laws in 2003, opening the floodgates to the legalization of homosexuality and same-sex marriages state by state.

 

In Europe, social and employment law surrounding homosexuality has been formalized and prompted by EU legislation. The European Union Article 13 Race & Employment Directives require EU member states to introduce legislation to outlaw unfair discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation. This applies in the fields of employment and training, and in the provision of goods and services. In response to such directives the UK government introduced the Equality Act 2010, where sexual orientation is a 'protected characteristic'. In practice this law effectively restricts free speech on homosexuality and free expression of Christian ethics on sexuality in the work place!

 

Gay Marriage

 

In the UK, America and Australia there are strong moves to legalise 'gay marriage'. Understandably, this is generating intense debate. For instance, Section 12 of the UK Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 says a marriage is voidable if it has not been consummated (in the normal and complete way) due to the incapacity of either party to consummate it. Clearly, the law has to change for gay marriage - marriage has to be redefined. But doing this will be to the detriment of society and surely only the originator of marriage, God (Gen 2.24), has the right to define marriage?

 

"Marriage must remain a union between a man and a woman. It is not the role of the state to redefine marriage" [Archbishop of York (UK)]

 

"Same-sex marriage would eliminate entirely in law the basic idea of a mother and a father for every child" [Cardinal Keith O'Brien (Scotland)]

 

Although from a legal point of view the church will probably have to accept any change in the law, it does not have to accept man's re-definition of marriage.

 

Homosexuality and Free Speech (UK)

 

In order to avoid conflict with Human Rights Law on free speech (specifically, the right to publicly manifest religious belief), the UK 2007 Regulations included exemption to cover the activities of religious organisations.

 

The exemption applied for example when it is necessary to comply with the doctrine of the organisation. In principle therefore, it was still possible for a church to publicly state the biblical teaching on the subject of homosexuality, even when it conflicted with homosexual practice. In principle, free speech was protected.

 

Then in May 2008 the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act was passed. The Act created the criminal offence of ‘incitement to hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation’ and the Government, at the instigation of ‘gay rights’ lobby groups, initially refused to make exceptions that would allow for free speech by those who wish to express their disagreement with homosexual practice.

 

In order to protect free speech a group of dedicated Peers in the House of Lords tabled an amendment as section 29JA in the Public Order Act 1986. This ‘free speech clause’ read: "In this Part, for the avoidance of doubt, the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred."

 

Homosexual lobby groups then persuaded the UK government to include a clause in the Coroners & Justice Bill 2009 (Clause 58) that would remove the free speech clause. Such law, if brought into force, could overrule Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (or Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights) in the Courts.

 

In all this it is important to recognise that, if absolute morality exists, the fact that the law sanctions homosexual acts and tries to muzzle free speech on such acts does not make homosexual acts moral (see later).

 

Is Homosexuality Normal?

 

Western ethics tend to be those of Postmodernism. They maintain that:

• What is, is OK

• All homosexual activity is a viable choice, and there is no guilt

• Homosexual feelings are normal; youth are advised "there is nothing wrong with you"

 

But are homosexual feelings normal? Indeed, what is “normal'?

 

Some scientists maintain that homosexuality is due to a complex combination of social, psychological, and biological factors [National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, NARTH]. And homosexuals claim that scientific studies have shown that there is a biological basis for homosexuality.

 

Three main studies are cited by ‘gay rights’ activists in support of their argument: Hamer's X-chromosome research, LeVay's study of the hypothalamus, and Bailey and Pillard's study of identical twins who were homosexuals.

 

But some claim that NARTH's 'biological factor' is not a fundamental genetic one, and others claim that in all three cases cited above, the researchers had a vested interest in obtaining a certain outcome because they were homosexuals themselves, and that their studies did not stand up to scientific scrutiny [Baptist Union of Western Australia (BUWA) Task Force on Human Sexuality]. The BUWA concluded that "There is no reliable evidence to date that homosexual behaviour is determined by a person’s genes." This conclusion is supported by other researchers:

 

"No researcher has found provable biological or genetic differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals that weren’t caused by their behaviour ... not one have found a single genetic, hormonal or physical difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals."

 

For example, studies of 1700 homosexuals in the 1940's and nearly 1000 homosexuals in 1970 reported that homosexuals overwhelmingly believed that their feelings and behaviour were the result of social or environmental influences. Similar studies conclude that homosexuality is learned; that the root cause is psychological rather than biological; and that the problem is relational rather than genetic [Family Research Institute, Colorado Springs].

 

According to NARTH, the relational problem leading to male homosexuality can be a complex combination of gender nonconformity e.g. avoiding competition and lack of male bonding, temperament e.g. a tendency to personalize criticism, poor (distant) father-son relationship, and over intimate mother-son relationship.

This holds true to lesbians as well.

 

In conclusion, scientific studies point to homosexuality being what a person does in contrast to gender, race and impairment, which relate to what a person is.

 

Given that relational issues appear to be the prime cause of homosexuality, we can now challenge the Postmodern idea that homosexuality is ‘normal’. Are homosexual feelings really normal? A perceptive definition of ‘normality’ has been given as: "that which functions according to its design"

 

On this definition, the relationship problems outlined above are clearly not normal in that they don’t follow the perceived design pattern. For example, the natural and preferred father-son relationship is for a father to lead and help his son in a close and friendly manner. And of course the sexual acts of homosexuality are perceived by the majority as conflicting with the design pattern. How can anal intercourse be perceived as part of natural design? On this basis, homosexuality is clearly not normal - it is not a normal sexual variation.

 

Statistics also bear this out; typically less than 1% of men are purely homosexual [Family Research Institute, Colorado Springs].

 

To counter this, some point out that there are many examples of homosexuality in nature itself, and so it must be normal. For example, it is claimed that lizards can be lesbian and gay male swans can make good parents ['Evolution's Rainbow', Roughgarden, Stanford]. But male swans cannot create a family via procreation - they are not designed that way!

 

When someone claims that homosexuality is 'normal', ask :"Then why don't we find about 50% of the population heterosexual and about 50% of the population homosexual?"

 

The World Ethic on Homosexuality

 

If homosexual feelings are not 'normal', what about homosexual acts? Is there a 'correct' worldview on homosexual acts? Is there a guiding standard or ethic on the matter stating that such acts are 'right', or 'wrong'?

 

Western society tends to go by a majority or cultural ethic, whereby whatever a cultural group approves of is deemed 'right', and whatever the group disapproves of is 'wrong'. A quick way of determining the current majority or cultural ethic on some matter is to carry out an opinion poll.

 

A Canadian poll (Environics Research Group, May 2001) asked Canadians "Do you personally strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove of homosexuality?" In 1996 22% approved and in 2001 44% approved, showing a rapid change in social ethic. According to this poll, homosexuality (and by implication, homosexual sex) is rapidly becoming 'right'.

 

Similarly, a 2001 Gallup poll showed a continuation of a slow, but steady, liberalization of American public opinion toward homosexuality (Newport, 2001).

 

A poll in the same year by the Barna Research Group found that nearly half of all adults (48%) believe that sexual relations between consenting adults of the same gender should be legal. Two years later, Gallup found that six out of ten Americans feel that homosexual relations between consenting adults should be legal.

 

Clearly, a majority or culturally defined ethic is variable and unreliable. This is cultural relativism and the social consequences can be disastrous e.g. liberal sexual ethics has led to a dramatic increase in HIV cases and sexually transmitted infections. Moreover, opinion polls only tell us what a society is currently thinking, not what it should be thinking - assuming an absolute ethic exists.

 

Consider again the core question: "Is there an absolute ethic on homosexual acts?" Can we say homosexual acts are definitely 'right' or definitely 'wrong'? Some maintain that any absolute ethic (moral standard) cannot come from man, a finite and fallible being. It must come from a transcendent source, from beyond mankind, if such a source exists. As the philosopher Wittgenstein said, "The sense of the world must lie outside the world … ethics is transcendental"

 

The Biblical Ethic on Homosexuality

 

Christianity maintains that absolute ethics exist and are based upon the nature of God, and in particular on the absolute moral standard of a Creator God. This ethical view escapes the unreliability of cultural relativism. It presupposes that God exists and has revealed absolute standards. It maintains that these standards are compatible with His creation and are true and correct. Such ethic is timeless and is for man's well-being. It comes from an authority higher than man, and is revealed in Jesus and the inspired scriptures of the Bible.

 

According to the Bible, God created 'kinds' (including man), and instructed them to 'multiply' (Gen 1). In order to multiply, the 'kinds' had male and female gender. Moreover, everything that was created 'was good'. So the natural state of things before the so-called 'Fall of Man' was for a male and female of a kind to procreate. The concept of two male swans 'parenting' simply cannot have been on God's agenda, since together they cannot procreate.

 

This is not saying that same-sex relationships are wrong - far from it. Male bonding can have great social benefit and in the Bible we are told that Jonathan loved David and became his close friend (1 Sam 18.1), note; not lover. It is simply saying that same-sex sexual relationships were not on God's creation agenda! In God's perfectly created world, they were simply not natural and intended and so must have been completely absent.

 

The biblical concept of the Fall of Man brought a different scenario. For man, one consequence was sexual sin in the sight of God, and that includes homosexual acts. The biblical case against the act of homosexuality is found in Lev 18.22, 20.13; Deut 23.18, Mat 5.17-19; Rom 1.18-27; 1 Cor 6.9-11 and Rev 21.27, and God underscored His word by destroying the sodomy of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19.5,24).

 

Natural Sexual Variation

 

Since the Fall appears to have introduced genetic variations leading to physical changes in all of creation (see Gen 3), it is probable that it introduced sexual variations in man. The interaction of fallen angels with women (Gen 6.2) may also have caused genetic change. And genetic change might be the cause of the decreasing age of the patriarchs after the Flood (Gen 5). Clearly, from observation of today's world, there is great natural variation (the statistical 'Normal' curve) in the masculinity of men and the femininity of women.

 

What does biology say? Human cells contain pairs of chromosomes - which are long, stringy aggregates of genes. The gender determining or 'sex' chromosomes are the X and Y chromosomes; normally males have one X and one Y chromosome (the XY male) and females have two X chromosomes (the XX female).

 

It is generally accepted that gender determination is due to the presence or absence of the Y chromosome i.e. this is the determining factor of a person's "true" biological sex. The Y chromosome contains a gene, SRY, which triggers embryonic development as a male.

 

Sexual variation arises when someone is born with only one sex chromosome or with three sex chromosomes. Also, damage of the SRY gene can lead to an XX male or to an XY female. For the XX male, it has been suggested that one of the X chromosomes has obtained a small piece of Y chromosome which is sufficient to produce 'maleness'. But in extreme cases sexuality is not easily determined. In general, sex chromosome abnormalities can affect a person's sexuality e.g their sterility.

 

The Bible acknowledges this sexual variation. For example, it refers to the 'sensitive (tender) and very refined man' (Deut 28.54) and to the 'tender (sensitive) and delicate (refined) woman' (Deut 28.56) - implying that some men are 'less masculine' than others and some women are 'more feminine' than others. So, biblically, we are to expect some natural variation in sexual awareness and drive (commonly called 'libido'). But, as discussed, it is probably wrong to link this natural sexual variation with homosexuality. Research shows that homosexuality is linked more to what a person does than to what they are (their genetics).

 

This is where the Bible draws a line in the sand; God is concerned with a person's will and heart, not their genetics. It seems likely that many 'chromosome normal' people (XY males and XX females) are drawn into homosexual activity through relationships and by choice. It seems many make a deliberate choice to violate the sexual norm through deliberate homosexual acts, and in cross-dressing. To such activity, God says 'No'!

"A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God." (Deut 22.5)

 

Is the Old Testament Outdated?

 

Some argue that the OT law on homosexuality (as in Deut 22.5 above) is outdated, just as we no longer stone people to death, have slaves, or offer a ram for guilt offering. But they fail to distinguish between civil, ceremonial, and moral law.

 

Whilst civil law changes with time, and the law requiring ceremonial sacrifice was abolished by the sacrificial death of Jesus, God's 'moral' law is timeless.

 

For instance, written several thousand years later, the New Testament still labels the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as sexually corrupt in God's sight (2 Pet 2.4-10). Moreover, we cannot simply pick and choose which parts of the Bible we dislike. If we don't like Lev 18.22 ('You shall not lie with a male as with a woman') do we also reject the next verse, Lev 18.23 ('You shall not mate with an animal')? If homosexual acts are OK, then why not human-animal sexual acts too?

 

Sadly, European Sexual Orientation Regulation (SORs) now force individual Christians and Christian organizations who offer 'goods and services' to compromise their Christian ethos in favour of activities violating God’s timeless moral law! In contrast to the EU, Jesus upheld the OT moral law and did not abolish it (Mat 5.17), and the Bible holds this view of homosexuality right up to the book of Revelation.

 

The fact that homosexuality is found in nature is no excuse for man. Man, as distinct from an animal, is a moral being and has been given God's injunction on the matter. Animal homosexuality is simply demonstrating one effect of The Fall and God does not appear to have created them this way.

 

As to the future, those who deliberately live immoral, unclean lives in the sight of God are excluded from the heavenly city (Rev 21.27, 22.15), the New Jerusalem. Revelation 22.15 uses a term similar to that in Deut 23.18, which implies 'male prostitute' or 'sodomite'. Based on such scriptures, Christian Theism maintains that:

 

• Human nature has been warped by the Fall

• Homosexual feelings are abnormal

• All homosexual activity (sexual acts) is sin in God's sight

 

The Christian Response to Homosexuality

 

The legal position and the sympathetic Postmodern world ethic on homosexuality pose a challenge for the Church. How is the Church to respond? Since Christians are commanded to be salt and light in society (Mat 5.13-16), it is their duty to state God's moral law on homosexual acts, and other ethical and moral issues.

 

But this must be done in the context of a loving, caring, non-judgemental way - Jesus always gave the truth in love. The Christian should have Christ's love, humility and compassion for those caught up in homosexuality, without compromising the God-given principles in scripture. Homosexuals, like any other sector of society are to be welcomed into God's church. Here we all strive to understand God's way for man, and try to adhere to His word in the Bible. Here we all acknowledge the need for repentance, the saving grace of Jesus and the new life He offers through His death and resurrection.

 

But someone openly flouting God's word within His church (on homosexuality or any other issue) should not hold a position of authority or ministry within the church (1 Tim 3.1-14).

 

The rise in homosexuality is a sign of rebellion against God, which is a symptom of the big "fall away" before the return of Jesus.