Comments on: Seminaries and Sex

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:38:41 +0000

If there is anything we should care most in our life is our human emotion, yet as Stephanie implies in her comment, the Church besides equating sex with sin has been silent about sex. It is obvious that our human sexuality is a fundamental constituent in our human emotion. Also, it is observable that what we express as our pleasures/ joy, or fears/ sorrow, is related to how we feel and express ourselves sexually.
Since the situations we encounter day after day relate to our sexuality, in our theological study, we need to consider theologically how we respond to our sexual reactions just as we consider theologically how we react to other challenging situations. In any given situation, what follows our joy or sorrow is our emotion, yet we theologically focus more on our joy or sorrow than our sexuality. We often laugh and celebrate if we are in joy, and thank God for the gift of laughing. We cry if in sorrow- and in our prayers ask God for his surpassing peace and joy, yet we do not freely celebrate the gift of sexuality and openly and comfortably thank God for our responsible and creative sexuality. It is obvious that we do not only celebrate the gift secretly, but also behave bashful and somehow weak whilst preaching/ teaching about responsible and creative sexuality. Also, it is observable that we do not celebrate openly and at ease the joy(feelings) which responsively and creatively comes out of the gift, as we celebrate thoughts and ideas which come from our reflections, yet our day- today situations trigger not only our conscious/subconscious faculties for ideas, but also our bodies chemically (hormones related to our sexuality) for the emotional feeling. Even, it is observable that our chemically set off bodies further activate our conscious/subconscious abilities to the point of envisioning and maneuvering sexually in response to our challenging situation and chemically set off bodies(e.g. think of how stress relates to heart beat, blood flow, and sexual feeling)
However, according to my observation of various people in their day-today situations, not all joy and sorrow phenomena leave people without a challenge. Since joy/sorrow phenomenon arouses our human emotion which is an expression of human body, our sexual feelings and expressions must be one of our emotional expressions. Our situations (what we see, hear or feel/smell) trigger not only our conscious/subconscious faculties, but also our bodies chemically (think of hormones related to our sexuality). If in our theological study we only care about theological concepts and approaches in response to our challenging situations without in the same vein caring about how our bodies react sexually, we may not be holistically preparing for an effective response.

By: ALCutillas

ALCutillas — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:19:15 +0000

Im a faithful Christian Catholic from the Philippines and i found some views that are faithful to the word of God. Despite of different sexual orientations every person is having, i guess what is important if we really try to do God’s will is to have a clear conscience, in everything we do, and to whoever we can relate sexually (whatever sexual orientation) we shopud treat every person with equal dignity as we are all created by God to be like Him…To live peacefully (happily and to have a clear and claen conscience) is the key in order to inherit eternl life…God bless us all!!!

By: Steven Mitchell

Steven Mitchell — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:34:12 +0000

Way to speak out M.E. Lane! Sexual education coupled with the Theological experience is very important. I wish we would have been doing that back when I was in seminary. I was able to show the film, “Call Me Malcolm” last week in a study group and it was a great help in allowing those viewers to learn a little more about the journey of a transgendered person. There were both gay and straights watching and both groups were greatful for that exposure as a way to be a more compassionate, care and open congregation to those looking for answers and the support of Christians. We have come a long way, just being able to have a forum such as this!

By: Rick Olson

Rick Olson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:10:53 +0000

Scripture is not that convoluted around gender issues. You can either conduct your life as God has called us to do or you can do your own thing. But I suggest that it is more honest (and healthy) to admit which you are doing rather than trying to bend God’s word and modify the world’s understanding of His desires to fit your agenda. Shaw was honest when he said he was an atheist because it afforded him freedom to pursue his desires. God has called me to love you regardless of your behaviour or orientation, and if yours is anti-scriptural, your sin is no greater than those sins of we who are heterosexual. You don’t see heterosexuals in the church trying to create acceptance for adultery do you? We are all sinners so let us not view any as superior. At the same time, let’s not deny sin when we see it.

By: Carlos M

Carlos M — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:51:04 +0000

Take away everyone’s “personal” view of what they think is right and wrong and look explicitly at what the Bible teaches with regards to sexuality and it is more than plain to see that God does not permit homosexuality, sex outside of marriage. Marriage is explicitly described as the union of a man and woman. Sexuality should only be between a married man and a woman. If you could find me any scripture verse that speaks that homosexuality is OK, or that marriage is between anything but a man or a woman, I’d love for you to please let me know and I’m pretty sure that the rest of the Christian world would love that revelation as well.

By: Rebecca Campbell

Rebecca Campbell — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:55:54 +0000

Sam Crees, before you make such statements, I might suggest you actually read The Bible, you may find you can have 6 wives. Solomon had over 700. “I should get to have 6 wives since that is what I want, pretty cut and dried. WE all have boundaries we have to live within; or we don’t believe in God and His Word.” You may have your wife’s servant also if she is barren. If you are a soldier you may take the young virgins of the defeated country as your wives. If your brother dies with out an heir then you must take his wife as your own to provide him an heir.
I have one question for you, do you worship a living God who is always revealing more of himself to us? Or do you worship dead pulp and leather?

By: Ethan J

Ethan J — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:19:35 +0000

As an incoming seminarian and a person with a significant LGBT ministry, the practical and theological questions of how we should be in relationship with other people and how we should live out our sexual identities come up extremely often. Most of the time, we just punt and answer questions the best we can, but thoughtful theological education on this topic is critical for us to adequately respond to the hopes and hurts of people who walk through our doors, whether they are gay or straight. As such a powerful dimension of human existence, it seems downright irresponsible for us as pastors not to seek professional education in this area, particularly as sexuality can lead, because of its potency and power, to either great health and vitality or great dysfunction and brokenness. And regrettably, this is the area that the church has most neglected and helped people the least. Fear and silence, as Dr. Ott noted, breeds a negative and shameful view of sexuality that causes great damage to the human soul. I encounter it all the time in people who come to my church, and in people in encounter in the wider world, and the church needs to do a 180 degree turn and offer a healthier approach to the spiritual dimensions of sexual development.

By: Tom R

Tom R — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:59:56 +0000

Mel writes: “Let’s show some respect to your readers who are religious and Christian, and stop trying to turn pastoral care into TV talk show entertainment.”

Hate to break it to you, but religious Christians are hardly unified on matters of sexuality and gender (or anything else, for that matter). Indeed, I agree that things would be a lot easier if just one particular understanding of Christianity were “one size fits all” for all people in all circumstances. However, as evidenced by these very comments (not to mention the whole rest of the world), that is clearly not the case, at least not presently (or ever before). So what can believers do when our theology doesn’t fit with actual human experience? There are at least two paths we can follow: we can indeed embrace legalism via biblical fundamentalism, as some here seem to advocate. However, we could also look for revelation in our personal experiences with God (see Peter in Acts 10), and in so doing, allow God to lead us into new ideas and practices that are appropriate — not irrelevant — to our changing times.

Peace.

By: M. E. Lane

M. E. Lane — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:24:07 +0000

Oh, my, goodness! I am so glad many of you are not my pastor! I am so proud to be a member of a church where GLBT are welcomed and an intregal part of our church. I am so glad that my partner and I (21 years together) are celebrated with anniversaries and other significant days in our lives. I know God loves me and accepts us. And when we were being harassed by persons who rented some of our church space, our courageous congregation gave up a hefty monthly monetary amount to stand together and tell them to leave because we have promised to be a SAFE CHURCH FOR ALL. It is so sad to me as a clergy person of almost 35 years to see such hatred in some of your posts. I hope you will find peace. God loves us all!

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:37:08 +0000

It’s funny, Sam, that you mention that all the answers are in the Bible and that if homosexuals “make a liar of God” (somehow I don’t think that’s part of the homosexual agenda) you would be able to have 6 wives, “since that is what [you] want” when the Bible nowhere denounces polygamy and in fact, many of the most prominent and God-fearing people (Abraham… Jacob… Gideon… even the parable of the ten virgins alludes to a polygamous marriage) were polygamous.

I don’t approve of polygamy. I think it is by nature an exploitative relationship, unlike a loving, monogamous one, regardless of the gender of the participants.