Although I believe in God and Jesus and consider myself to be fairly religious, I don't believe that the Bible should be taken literally or is inerrant. Based on resources I have read (and some references I've linked to below -- check them out if you're interested) and thoughts on what makes sense to me, I have come to the conclusion that many parts of the Bible should not be taken literally, but I do see it as the inspired word of God and a tool that is relevant for people of faith today in many ways.
I believe that the church is always reforming and that as responsible people of faith, we should use our minds (which God gave us to use for thinking critically) to gather information from multiple sources to put the Bible in context while keeping ourselves open to the Holy Spirit. Nobody's interpretation of the Bible is final. The Bible was reconstructed from personal accounts and some stories that were passed along from primary sources for several decades before being written down by the author(s) of a Bible book. Bible books were mainly written in Hebrew or Greek and have been recopied and translated in many ways over the years. Knowing all of this, it is difficult to see how every word of the Bible could be accurate.
To me, excluding or condemning gay or lesbian people based on several Bible verses makes no sense. Today many people eat shellfish and wear clothing that contains more than one type of fiber and most people affirm women and would like to grant them equal rights even though the Bible cautions against or contradicts these things. The Bible also encourages practices that most people no longer believe in, such as polygamy. Sadly, people of faith have used the Bible to justify many practices in the past, including monarchy, sexism, racial segregation, and slavery and have found verses in the Bible to support each of these opinions. Most of the handful of Bible verses that many people think speak against lesbian and gay people are somewhat ambiguous in meaning and stemmed from ancient beliefs about biology and procreation (see Walter Wink's essay which I have a link to below).
Scientific research about the biological basis of homosexuality should cast doubt on whether anyone has the right to judge gay or lesbian people. Morton Kelsey says that homosexual orientation has nothing more to do with morality than left-handedness. Sexuality is a God-given gift. If you are heterosexual, imagine how difficult it would be for you to leave your spouse or significant other and suddenly change your sexual orientation (which is what many churches urge gay and lesbian people to do).
Regardless of the original intent of Bible verses about homosexuality, it seems clear to me that God wants us to celebrate diversity of all kinds. It is very difficult to read the Bible and not see that one of the overarching themes is radical, inclusive love. God sides with the powerless and liberates the oppressed and teaches us that we should do the same, caring for all people -- this is the core of my faith, so there is no way that I can believe that God would stand for this discrimination. Hopefully what I have written above will help you understand my view -- not necessarily convert you to it. If you are trying to form an opinion on this issue or would like to learn more, please check out the links below or open yourself up to people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered and get to know them so that you can understand how similar we all are.
In case you are wondering why this is such a big issue to me, the denomination I belong to (Presbyterian Church U.S.A.) and most other Protestant groups currently do not permit openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered people to serve as ordained church officers or ministers and same-sex unions are not recognized as holy sacraments. Especially during their teenage and college years, people who are not the same as the majority of their peers for any reason may feel alienated or depressed. Although this can happen for multiple categories of people, unfortunatly young gay males are statistically the most likely group of people to commit suicide. They might not do this if they felt accepted or could contact people or organizations which affirmed them and provided a safe environment. I know many lesbian and gay people and a few bisexual and transgendered people, some who are active in churches and others who aren't, but I strongly believe that all of them deserve to have the same rights and treatment that heterosexuals receive in our society.
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