Christianity and Homosexuality By Patrick Gunewardena

In a predominantly Boarding school such as ours with as many as 725 boarders crowded
together in dormitories furnished with bunk beds we have to take every possible precautions
to prevent sexually deviant behaviour from manifesting itself. This type of behaviours is
curiously identified as 'circumstantial homosexuality' such as are found in places of
incarceration in which prisoners in goals, sailors in ships and soldiers in barracks choose
homosexual behaviour because members of the opposite sex are not available.
In order to prevent such obnoxious relationships from developing in our school we strictly
segregate sub junior boys from juniors, and juniors from seniors, by accommodating them in
Junior, Intermediate and Senior Dormitories which are situated far apart, so that contact
between members of these groups is minimized.
Although clandestine or closet relationships of this nature among consenting partners are
bound to exist in the conditions that exist in our school, cases brought to light for inquiring in
to and disciplining are never more than one or two each year but this may be only the tip of
the iceberg.
There is probably no other work in the English language which rouses so much controversy
and triggers off emotional reactions among people than the word homosexual. It used to be a
dirty word, but today it is euphemistically referred to as 'gay behaviour'.
The word was scarcely mentioned in polite circles a decade ago and articles on the subject
were considered strictly taboo in school magazines because homosexuals were considered
mentally ill deviants and sick persons.
However, with the advent of the 'gay liberation' movement and the acceptance by ?straight?
societies of a permissive nature in Western countries of the right of man to alternative life
styles, the trend has unfortunately been to be more liberal in such matters and to end
repressive penalties against homosexuals.
The result is that many who had been silent about their abnormalities have come out proudly
and boldly in to the open to form 'gay organisations' and to demand a stop to persecution and
social ostracizations, as well as legal punishment, which had been their lot in the past.
The strangest development is that even in Christian organisations in Western countries where
homosexuals used to be outlawed earlier, they have even gone to the extent of forming
exclusive 'gay churches' through which they have been bold enough to declare the ?Christian
homosexuality' as they prefer to term it, is a legitimate God-approved way of life. They
interpret the Scriptures in a manner which will support their positions and to explain away
the sinfulness of the habit and even argue that it is a 'gift from God'! and 'to be gay is to be
superior to others'.
Let us see what the Bible has to say about it. There are as many as seven specific references
to this sin of lustfulness in the Christian Bible. In the Old Testament we all have read of
God's curse on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis Chapter 13 verse 13. 'Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinters against the
Lord?.
Genesis Chapter 18, verse 20. 'Then the Lord said, 'Because the outory against Sodom and
Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave I will go down to see....?
Genesis Ch 19, verse 24 to 25. 'Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone
and free out of heaven and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants
of the cities'.
We see that it is never approved, for it is classed with other sins that deserve the curse and the
punishment of God. In the Old Testament sodomy and homosexually is clearly condemned.
In the New Testament there are strangely enough only three specific references to
homosexuality. The Greek word means specific references to homosexuality. The Greek
word means 'coitus with other males or females'. And it is totally condemned as mortal sins,
together with murder, manslaughter, thievery, idolatory adultery and other sins.
In Cornthians Chapter 6 verse 9 to 11 it says ? Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the Kingdom of Heaven?. Do not be deceived! Neither the immoral, not the adulterer
not homosexuals nor thieves nor robbers will inherit the Kingdom of God.?
This quotation form 1st Timothy verses 8 to11 even condemns the ungodly sins of sodomy
and homosexuality.
In the 1st letter of Paul to Timothy, Paul says, The law is not laid down for the good, but for
the lawless, for the ungodly and the sinners. For murderers of fathers, murderers of mothers
,manslayers, for inmoral persons, for homosexuals and sodomites in accordance with the
glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which i have been entrusted.?
We can note that every time homosexuality is mentioned in the Bible it clearly is not
approved for it is mentioned in a bad light, and condemned with other heinous acts of man.
In Romans Chapter I, verses 20 to 32 we have, 'They cannot know God because they did not
honour Him as God but became sinful in their thinking and their minds were darkened
Claiming to be wise, they became fools. The exchanged God for images of man. God
therefore punished them with unnatural passions. Their men gave up natural relations with
women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts
with other men and received a punishment for their sin. God gave them up to evil thoughts
and improper conduct and they were filled with all manner of wickedness and evil. God
decrees that those who do such things deserve to die.?
Paul points out that when people do not care about God's teachings and God's law they fall
in to all kinds if sinful situations including idolatorous and over homosexuality. Homosexual
thought become lustful and lust is clearly a sin. Former heterosexuals who have shifted to
homosexuality are also condemned.
God punishes homosexuals even while they are in this world for those who have these
tendencies are extremely ill-adjusted to any society and are unhappy because they suffer from
guilt feeling. Their sense of self esteem is lowered in the eyes of others and they live in
persistent fear of discovery and consequent shame and ostracisation. It stifles their spiritual
and moral growth and destroys their relationship with God. It places a barrier between him
and God. The most dreadful punishment is inflected in the form of an incurable disease,
AIDS, which destroys the immunity system of the human body and causes a slow and
lingering death.
We see then that the wilful decision to engage in homosexual actions, to victimize and exploit
boys and men for a lustful satisfaction is totally condemned by God.