CHURCH IN YOUR PANTS?

I am a practicing Christian. And I am proud of it. I am also a supporter of equal rights for gays and lesbians. And I am equally proud of it. And I don’t see a contradiction between the two.

First, nowhere in the Bible is there any record, no direct quote from Jesus Christ about homosexuality. Either condemning it or condoning it. Not one word. The other important thing to note is that nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about homosexuality as a sexual orientation. It only refers to certain homosexual acts.

And these acts/events/incidents are interpreted by different people at different points in history. But interpretations are always defined by time, place and societal context. And interpretations change with the afore-mentioned variables. Just a couple of quick examples. There are portions in the Bible which view slavery and slave trade as a legitimate activity. Not anymore. Again, in the Old Testament, deliberately withdrawing before ejaculation was equated to abortion. Not anymore. The church has evolved with the times. Things that were taboo are norm nowadays.

At the heart of this debate is viewing homosexuality as a sexual orientation. You can no more deplore homosexuality than you can condemn left-handedness. It’s not a disease. It’s just the way some people are. That’s it. Homosexual affection can be as selfless as heterosexual affection. Gay persons desire and need deep and lasting relationships, just like heterosexuals do. They too are human after all. The Bible only mentions “Love your neighbour as you love thyself.” It doesn’t mention the neighbour’s gender.

The Catholic Church in India has blindly taken this position because Vatican has decreed so. But that’s where the problem lies. In India, the gay rights debate has little to do with whether God is accepting of homosexuals or not. Whether it is anti-Christian or not. It’s about an archaic, asinine law called Section 377. A colonial relic which we should’ve junked along with the British. Instead it continues to discriminate against and criminalize millions of gay and lesbian men and women. Why? Are they the children of a lesser God? Were they not also created by the same God, who created you and me? By opposing homosexuality, the Church is also uncannily supporting this ridiculous law. It’s the only issue on which the Church, the Jamaat e Islami and the VHP are on the same side. Not the kind of company, the Church would like to keep.

This is an appeal to the various denominations in India to come clean on this issue. Supporting homosexuals in their fight for civil rights is equivalent to supporting Dalits in their fight against the caste system. Christianity is pillared on the fundamental of social justice. Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. At its root, this problem is about equality. It’s not as much about ‘them’, as it is about all of us.