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Vail Daily letter: Go out and meet some gay people

Go out and meet some gay people

In his Saturday column, Pat Mitchell opines that Christians should accept gay people but condemn their sexual activity. Obviously uncomfortable with his conclusion, he entreats us not to “shoot the messenger.” Sorry, Mitchell. It’s your opinion. There is no one else to shoot.

Mitchell admits to knowing no homosexuals and to being a homophobe. The admission is unnecessary, as it bleeds from the column.



He quotes the usual Old Testament source to tell us the Bible condemns homosexual acts, failing to point out that the same chapter calls for those who curse their parents to be put to death. He then cites the pronouncements on homosexuality from various churches, including one that welcomes homosexuals without any admonishment about sex.

From this, he concludes that churches should welcome gays “as they would adulterers, thieves and others seeking forgiveness.” To those who believe that churches should accept homosexuals without judgment, he admonishes, “Outrage by those seeking tolerance on this issue should examine, it seems, their faith commitments, as the calling to Christianity is a choice, not a mandate, like Islam.”

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Through the fog of his misaligned subject and verb, what appears is this: Mitchell believes homosexuality is like stealing or adultery or murder. If a gay person seeks forgiveness (in other words, tries to stop being homosexual and to suppress sexual urges), then Christians can accept him.

Whether Mitchell believes that homosexuality is a sin or that gays should abstain from sex should matter to no one. At the risk of alienating Mitchell and his Bible study group, I have a couple of suggestions.

First, go out and meet some gay people before you decide they should be condemned for acting on their sexual urges. They are everywhere and the vast majority of them are loving, warm and beautiful human beings.

Second, stop spending your time in Bible study groups in which you attempt to divine who should be condemned and who should not. The world is full of suffering. Go out and do something about it. “Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.” — Proverbs 28:27.

James Harrison

Eagle


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