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A nobody; a nitwit; a pilot; a motorcyclist; a raconteur; a lover...of life - who loves to laugh, who tries to not take myself (or anything) too seriously...just a normal guy who knows his place in the universe by being in touch with my spiritual side. What more is there?

01 May 2019

Renouncing Christianity

Christian evangelist, Franklin Graham (son of famous preacher, Billy Graham) has touched off something of an internet firestorm by criticizing presidential hopeful and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, who is gay. It started on Twitter, naturally. I was blissfully unaware of Graham's comments, but of course they spilled over into real life when the mainstream media picked up on them.

In a series of "tweets," what Graham said was this:
Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor @PeteButtigieg is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by. God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever.

Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women.

The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world—to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation.


Graham's comments leave me deeply troubled. I mean, I get it, Christians are supposed to live in accordance to the Bible. And the Bible (both Old Testament and New) decry homosexuality...call it a sin in no uncertain terms.

But where does that leave homosexuals? The fact is, homosexuals exist. They're not pretending to be gay; they just are. Do Christians like Graham believe that a person's sexuality is a choice...that they can switch it off at will? If so, I'd like to ask Franklin Graham if he believes his own sexuality was/is a choice. Did he choose to be straight? Why should it be any different for gay people?

This is a problem. Because as a gay man who always considered himself to be a Christian, I find myself at odds with the Bible. It is a dilemma that I can no longer reconcile or ignore. This is because I don't believe that we can pick and choose which parts of Scripture we want to obey and follow, and which ones we ignore. You either believe all of it, or none of it.

And so I feel less and less like a Christian every day. But I still believe in a Creator (and let's call this Creator, "God" for the sake of simplicity). I believe that God made me and loves me and wants to see me again when this particular chapter in my existence is over. And He feels the same about you. I don't think He really cares whether we like guys or girls, or whether we eat pork or shellfish (or any of the other silly prohibitions in the Old Testament).

Maybe it's time that I renounced traditional Christianity. Because if Franklin Graham's version of Christianity won't have me...won't allow me to be me, then why should I call myself one? I can still model my life after that of Christ. In most respects, anyway. Then again...by the time Christ died he was thirty-three years old and still single. Should we not even raise a suspicious eyebrow and ask why?  Guys like Graham and his ilk are quick to point out that according to the Bible, marriage is between a man and a woman, period!  Why then did Christ never marry?  How come he never had a family and became the paragon of biblical virtue that Christians often hold up as the standard?

7 comments:

Bob said...

“I can still model my life after that of Christ.”

You sure can, Bob. And I would encourage you to keep asking your questions.

Unknown said...

Sooooo....are you going back to WA for yet another season....Bobby B...?

Unknown said...

It's crazy Mike...."to include last comment "

Ed said...

I think Bob said it best.

Kelly said...

I recommend this book to those who question gay Christians:

Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate by Justin Lee


Another book that really opened my eyes about the Bible is:

Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words Are Vanishing--and How We Can Revive Them by Jonathan Merritt

Bob Barbanes: said...

Thanks to all who've commented so far. Kelly, I will look up those books. (And in answer to one questioner, I have no plans to go back to Washington this year.)

Okay, let's assume that our universe was deliberately created. This means there had to be a Creator, right? Let's call this entity "God." I think it is entirely plausible that God sent someone in human form to act as an example for how we should live our lives and treat others. In our time, this messenger...this example...is called Jesus Christ. Apart from biblical accounts of His life, there is ample historical evidence that such a person existed...a person from that time period who was beaten and crucified in a manner similar to that which is coincidentally described in the Bible. People who follow Christ's teachings could legitimately call themselves "Christians."

And then the churches have to get involved and it gets tricky...

You can read the Bible for yourself, but its messages are often complex. Most religions caution you that it takes an interpreter to fully understand Scripture. Thus we have all sorts of people who've risen up (no pun intended) to tell us WHAT THE BIBLE MEANS, and how it applies to our modern 2019 lives. But more and more I find myself rejecting the Bible. If you want to use it as a guidebook for your life, that's great! But please don't force me to.

Let's get back to the existence of God. Just as no parent could ever truly reject a child, I don't believe that our Creator would reject us. And I don't believe that God makes mistakes. That being the case, here I am! I know that when I die my spirit/soul will be reunited with God in what many religions call "heaven." I do not worry about that. I try to not overcomplicate things. It sounds simplistic to say "God is love," but it's true. I don't know where we get hate from, but we get love from God. And if you truly do know God, then I doubt that you could ever hate anything. I know I don't.

And if all of the above means that I'm not a textbook Christian, well, so be it. I can live...and die...with that.

Anonymous said...

Franklin Graham is not a Christian, so there's that.