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<P><FONT SIZE="+2"><B><BR>
</B></FONT>Note that this information is correct as of my
discovery of it. If you find anything in error, please let
me know, give me a source for the new information so I can
confirm your correction and update the
site.<FONT SIZE="+2"><B>
<HR>
Religious Groups' Attitudes Toward Homosexuals and
Homosexuality</B></FONT></P>
<P><B>Conflicts between Organized Religion and
Society</B></P>
<P>The points of greatest tension between Christianity and
secular society appear to be related to human sexuality:
abortion, bisexuality, erotic and pornographic material,
homosexuality, premarital sex, married clergy, female
clergy, sex-education, availability of condoms, debate over
which types of families should be accepted as families,
defined roles for men and women, and even the existence of
free (nudist) beaches. Of these, perhaps only abortion is
more divisive than the debate over sexual orientation.</P>
<P>Sexual orientation relates to feelings. It defines who a
person finds to be sexually attractive. Human sexuality
researchers, professional organizations and liberal relgious
groups appear to have reached the consensus that:</P>
<UL>
<LI>heterosexuality, bisexuality and homosexuality are
normal, natural variations of sexual orientation, found
throughout all societies and cultures</LI>
<LI>sexual orientation is determined before a child
reaches school age</LI>
<LI>sexual orientation for many (perhaps most) is
genetically predetermined at conception</LI>
<LI>sexual orientation in adults is unchangeable</LI>
<LI>a continuum exists between homosexual and
heterosexual orientation; a minority of people have a
bisexual orientation</LI>
<LI>through effort, prayer and counselling, an adult's
behaviour can be changed:
<UL>
<LI>the possibility of leading a celibate life is open
to all</LI>
<LI>bisexuals can lead celibate lives or can decide to
confine their</LI>
<LI>sexual interaction with same sex or opposite sex
people</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
<P>Many conservative Christian churches have reached a
different consensus, that:</P>
<UL>
<LI>homosexual behaviour is evil, sick, disordered and
abnormal</LI>
<LI>only heterosexual behaviour is ordained by God;
homosexual and bisexual behaviour are sins</LI>
<LI>sexual orientation is a choice that a person
makes</LI>
<LI>sexual orientation is determined by upbringing,
(perhaps by parenting) not by genes</LI>
<LI>ssexual orientation can be changed during
adulthood</LI>
<LI>ssexual behaviour can be changed; homosexuals (for
example) can decide to remain celibate, or seek sexual
relationships with either males or females</LI>
<LI>one is either homosexual or straight</LI>
</UL>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>Main-line and liberal churches typically hold positions
between these two extremes. The conflicts between medical
science and conservative Christianity are obvious.</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B>Internal Church Conflicts</B></P>
<P>There are some interesting theological questions relating
to homosexuality and bisexuality:</P>
<UL>
<LI>if one believes in an "intrusive" God who
micro-manages everyone's life, and if at least some
people's sexual orientation is decided at conception,
then why does God create so many homosexuals? What is His
purpose for doing so? By what right can we reject a whole
grouping of people created by God?</LI>
<LI>if one believes that God is all powerful, and that
God answers prayer, then why have the earnest prayers of
homosexuals always been ignored? Some devout gay and
lesbian Christians have begged God for years to make them
"straight" without success.</LI>
<LI>if homosexual orientation is a natural condition for
a minority of people (just as heterosexual orientation is
natural for the majority), and God has given to most
people the ability to love and desire marriage, then
shouldn't all people be allowed to marry, independent of
their orientation?</LI>
</UL>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B>Incidence of Homosexuality within Churches</B></P>
<P>Members and leaders of some conservative Christian
churches believe that they have few or no members or staff
who are homosexuals. Evangelicals Concerned, a group which
believes that there is no conflict between Biblical faith
and a committed, monogamous homosexual relationship, believe
the opposite: that gays and lesbians are as common within
conservative churces as within the general population.
(1)</P>
<P>There is really no way to collect accurate statistics on
the prevalence of homosexuality within churches. Both
members and employees would be reluctant to reveal their
orientation because they would fear being expelled if they
came out of "the closet". One interesting statistic comes
from Love &amp; Action, an Evangelical agency which
ministers to persons with AIDS. They went into about a dozen
Christian colleges during 1990 and offered confidential
counselling to those who were struggling with homosexual
feelings. About 4% of students signed up. They estimate the
total number of such students to be at least 8%, presumably
because of fear of being exposed and a lack of trust in the
agency. These data would indicate that the prevalence of
homosexual orientation might be higher in Christian colleges
than in the general population. (1)</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B>Christian Churches' Policies on Homosexuality</B></P>
<P>Each Christian denomination, sect or new religious
movement has policies which define their beliefs and
treatment of homosexuals and bisexuals:</P>
<UL>
<LI>A. whether to allow known, active homosexuals to
become and remain church members with full privileges.
(All churches, of course, have many homosexual members
and clergy who are deep in the "closet"; their sexual
orientation is not openly known, so they "pass" as
straight).</LI>
<LI>B. whether to allow celibate homosexuals to be
ordained or to hold other positions of power in the
organization</LI>
<LI>C. whether to allow active gays and lesbians to be
ordained or to hold other positions of power</LI>
<LI>D. whether to provide a formal religious ceremony
recognizing gay and lesbian committed relationships</LI>
<LI>E. whether to have an active program to reduce
homophobia within the denomination</LI>
</UL>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>Churches currently hold different views. Many
denominations are gradually changing their positions to a
more inclusive stance. We are unaware of any religious
groups going in the opposite direction.</P>
<P>Information is available as follows:</P>
<P><TABLE BORDER=1 CELLPADDING=0>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Name of Church</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>A. Allows to be active church members.</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>B. Allows celibate gays to be ordained or hold
power</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>C. Allows active gays to be ordained or hold
power</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>D. Provides formal religious committment
ceremony</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>E. Active program to reduce homophobia</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Anglican Church*</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Southern Baptist Conv.</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Church of Christ</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>unknown</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Latter Day Saints (Mormons)</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>unknown</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Episcopal</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Evangelical Lutheran</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Metropolitain Comm.</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Presbyterian USA</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>unknown</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no policy</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Roman Catholic</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes&Yacute;</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Unification</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Unitarian-Unvers.</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>United Church</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>United Church*</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH=115>
<P>Unity Church</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>yes</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
<TD>
<P>no</P>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD COLSPAN=6>
<P>* Indicates Canadian denomination; the remainder
are US organizations.<BR>
&Yacute;Note that celibacy is a requirement for
those gay or straight.</P>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</P>
<P><B>What does the Future Hold within Christendom?</B></P>
<P>Many gays and lesbians remain partially or completely in
the "closet". They often find the Church as the last place
that they would want to "come out", because of the fear of
rejection and homophobia. This is unfortunate, because the
most effective way of changing a heterosexual's beliefs
about homosexuality is for them to meet a homosexual. This
is a Catch 22 situation.</P>
<P>If you are a heterosexual and know a gay male or lesbian,
we suggest that you talk to them about their sexual
orientation and the attitude of your church(es). If you do
not know such a person, we recommend that you read a letter
from a gay person to his church council. It might help you
to empathize with the pain felt by devout Christian
homosexuals.</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>We predict that over the next few decades, most Christian
denominations will gradually accept the following
beliefs:</P>
<UL>
<LI>a continuum of sexual orientation exists, from
heterosexual to bisexual to homosexual</LI>
<LI>adult sexual orientation is unchangeable</LI>
<LI>orientation is determined genetically in some people
at the time of conception.</LI>
<LI>sexual orientation in adulthood is established by
early childhood.</LI>
<LI>since sexual orientation is not a matter of choice,
homosexual and bisexual feelings are not sinful.</LI>
</UL>
<P>Eventually, all churches are expected to follow the lead
of the United Churches, Unitarian-Universalist churches,
Neo-Pagan and some Native faiths. They will accept gays,
lesbians and bisexuals as full members and as ligible for
the clergy. As with many previous issues of social change,
from the abolition of slavery to birth control to women's
rights, the liberal churches will lead; Fundamentalist
churches will be the last to convert.</P>
<P>Eventually, sexual orientation will become a non-issue.
Discrimination against minority sexual orientations will be
perceived as institutional hatred, and totally incompatible
with the Gospel message. Unfortunately, this process will
take many decades to complete. In the meantime, much
suffering and many suicides will be experienced by the gay,
lesbian and bisexual community, and gay-bashing will remain
at a high level.</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B>Jewish Groups</B></P>
<P>Jewish groups tend to mirror Christian denominations,
ranging from liberal to conservative:</P>
<UL>
<LI>Orthodox Jews regard homosexual behaviour as "an
abomination"</LI>
<LI>Conservative Jews did not tackle the issue until
1990, when the Central Conference of American Rabbis
voted to recognize the equality of all members,
regardless of their sexual orientation. They also went on
record as favoring the decriminalization of homosexual
activities between consenting adults, and the passage of
laws which prohibit discrimination against gays and
lesbians.</LI>
<LI>Reform Jews do not consider sexual orientation when
ordaining rabbis, and do not require their rabbis to
follow a celibate lifestyle.</LI>
</UL>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B>Traditional Native American Groups</B></P>
<P>In many aboriginal traditional faiths, homosexuals are
held in high regard as having received a special blessing.
They often became the shaman (healer) of the community.</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B>Asatru, Druidic, Wiccan and Other Neo-Pagan
Groups</B></P>
<P>These religions are almost completely decentralized in
organization, so no one person or organization speaks for an
entire faith group. Many, perhaps most, Neo-Pagans are
solitary practitioners. Others are organized into Churches,
Covens, Groves, Kindreds, etc. Although Pagans celebrate
female-male polarity, and many of their rituals are based on
a balance of women and men, they generally accept
homosexuality and bisexuality as natural and unchangeable
orientations for a minority of adults. Most groups welcome
people without regard to their sexual orientation. There are
also exclusively gay and exclusively lesbian groups.</P>
<P><B>References</B>:</P>
<P>1. The Evangelical Closet, Christianity Today,
1990-NOV-5</P>
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