The Racist Implications of the Sexual Orientation Regulations

 

In an interview with Andrea Catherwood in 'The Sunday Edition' of 21st January, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain is reported, on his own website, to have said,

 

Let’s be clear, I introduced legislation in Northern Ireland, it went through the House of Lords in a very heated debate and then later in the House of Commons so it’s become the law of absolute principle that there shouldn’t be no (sic) discrimination against people on grounds of their sexual orientation, just as I passionately believe there should be no discrimination on grounds of race or religion or disability.
(http://www.peterhain.org/?q=sundayeditionjan2007&pageId=news)

In one sense, there is nothing remarkable about this statement as it is in line with the received wisdom of the Government and the liberal thinking that dominates public life at present. But what are the implications for the ethnic minorities in this country?

 

Ethnic origin is not a matter of behaviour.

No-one is responsible for the circumstances of their birth, nor is membership of a particular racial group blameworthy. The colour of one's skin comes about in the providence of God and is not a matter which attaches blame or involves accountability. The same holds good for disabilities.

 

Homosexuality is a matter of behaviour.

Leaving to one side the 'gay gene' myth, even if it could be shown that some people's make-up makes them more prone to this sinful course of behaviour, this would be no different to heterosexual adultery or violence. Shall we treat these as mere alternative lifestyles involving no blame before God and man? Why criminalize paedophilia if sexual-orientation is genetically determined and morally neutral? The Bible consistently treats homosexuality as a pattern of thought and behaviour. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). This perversion, like all others, can be learned. "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:27).

 

The Insult offered to ethnic minorities and the disabled by Peter Hain & Co.

To classify being, say, of Afro-Caribbean origin with practicing homosexual perversion is grossly disrespectful to the former and flattering to the latter. It is an insult to patronise the disabled as needing the same legal protection as 'gays'. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Proverbs 12:10)

 

Homosexuality – The Real Alternative.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10).

This article comes to you from Christians whose heart’s desire is for your salvation. What God Says The phrase “abusers of themselves with mankind” in the Bible verse above refers to the practice of homosexuality. You may call it an “alternative lifestyle”, but this term is meaningless. Everyone from Hitler to the Yorkshire Ripper could claim an alternative lifestyle that, to themselves, no doubt seemed quite natural and instinctive. The question is whether homosexuality is a legitimate alternative. God says it is not. He made man “male and female” (Genesis 1:27) and appointed marriage between one man and one woman as the only lawful relationship for the expression of sexual desire.

Homosexuality even fights against God’s created gender distinction that is obvious to all, however much pretence there may be. It may be that you cannot remember a time when you had sexual desires that were not towards those of the same sex. This is because we are sinners by nature. And while some are more inclined to one sin than another, sins of different kinds come naturally to us all. God does not alter his standards because, as sinners, we find sin natural.

What God Will Do

The verse at the beginning tells us that those who go on in the sins mentioned, including homosexuality, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. They will not go to Heaven. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that all unforgiven sinners will go to Hell. It explicitly mentions homosexual sin as bringing down the wrath of God: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude verse 7). The word ‘sodomy’, as you may well know, is derived from the name of the city of Sodom that God destroyed because of the widespread practice of what you choose to call an alternative lifestyle. You and I are not the ones who decide what is right and wrong according to our tastes, but God, our Creator and Judge.

What God Can Do

The very next verse after the Scripture passage we began with reads, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). There were Christians in the Corinthian church who had previously been practicing homosexuals, but who were so no longer. You may find that incredible, but what is impossible with men is possible with God. God had changed their hearts by his Holy Spirit. The Bible calls this being “born again” (John 3:3). This caused them to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to take away the guilt of their past sins before God. God “justified” them, that is, he declared them “not guilty”. The Lord Jesus always was God, but he became a man and lived a perfect life. He bore the just judgement of God as a substitute for sinners when he suffered and died on the cross. He is now “able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Hebrews 7:25). Those who trust only in him are forgiven. They also begin to lead a life of loving obedience to God, albeit very imperfectly and with many struggles and failings. This change of life brought about by God (including abandoning sinful practices like homosexuality) is called “sanctification”.

Forgiven sinners are changed sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Saviour you need and must seek. As long as you pretend your present manner of life is justifiable, there is no hope at all. “If we say we have no sin, we make him (God) a liar, and his word is not in us” (1John 1:10). Stop contradicting God, and seek his mercy and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, the only One who can deliver you from the guilt of sin and break the power of that particular sin to which you are so much addicted. He is “good, and ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5). This is the real alternative.

“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8).

(Rev David Silversides)

Young People, Sexual Deviancy and Depression

 

Recently, news and media outlets have been reporting the high level of mental illness, depression and even suicide among young homosexuals in Northern Ireland.  At a conference on the ‘Gay Suicide Problem’ held at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast in March of this year, (2006) the claim was made that a survey among the homosexual community showed that quarter of young homosexual men in Northern Ireland have attempted suicide, thirty percent have self harmed and over two thirds of the respondents to the survey have considered committing suicide.  If these figures are true, then this state of affairs is truly alarming.

 

As usual, the so-called ‘gay’ lobby have been quick to point the finger at alleged ‘homophobic’ attitudes which, they insist, are endemic in our society, claiming that pressure from peers at school and work, anti-homosexual remarks, bullying and comments from ‘bigoted’ individuals, and ‘intolerance’ from the Christian lobby, combine to make these young people depressed and ultimately suicidal.  The pro-homosexual ‘Gay Community News’ (28th March 2006) stated, “The research illustrates that homophobic attitudes and prevailing heterosexism in Northern Irish society, together with the isolation that being non-heterosexual may bring, play a major part in the incidence of emotional and mental health difficulties, suicidal ideation and self-harm in this population.”

 

Now, while evangelicals are fully sympathetic to any grieving parent or family member who has lost a son, daughter, brother or sister under such tragic circumstances, they have always begged to differ as to the cause of the mental state which precipitates their decision to end their own life.  Evangelicals argue that this mental anguish among the homosexual community, with its consequent effect on the suicide rate, is the tragic result of the sin in which they are indulging.  This is especially true among young people, where homosexuality, (now promoted as ‘normal’ by a pro-gay media, with the concurrence of the liberal establishment) wrecks an awful toll upon young lives and tender consciences. 

 

We claim Scripture as our warrant for this conclusion.  The Bible makes it clear that any pre marital or extra-marital sexual activity, (by this I mean sex outside a faithful, monogamous marriage between one man and one woman,) is sinful.  But the Scriptures are especially careful to properly designate homosexuality as such.  Leviticus 20:13 describes homosexuality as an abomination.  In the New Testament, homosexuality is clearly designated as an abominable sin.  Romans 1:26-29 is clear:  “[E]ven their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness…”   If that were not proof in itself of how our Creator God regards the promotion and practice of homosexuality,  Paul confirms the overall Biblical denunciation of homosexuality, when in 1st Corinthians 6 he lists homosexuality as a sin which keeps its unrepentant practitioners out of the kingdom of heaven.  1st Cor. 6:9-10. 

 

Given the biblical teaching on this subject, and the teaching of Christ Himself on sexual morality, where He insists that even to look at another person, to whom one is not married is SIN (Matthew), and given that sin has terrible consequences, (after all, ultimately, the wages of sin is death) we are forced to conclude that the terrible mental problems so prevalent among homosexuals, are a direct consequence of their own sinful lifestyle.  Unrepented, unforgiven sin always leads to guilt, to a seared and offended conscience and always brings the sinner a terrible burden of bondage, depression, and illness.  The homosexual lobby should stop blaming everyone else, and look to their own lifestyles for the cause of this malaise.  This has always been the viewpoint of evangelical Christians.

 

Now that opinion has been confirmed and reinforced by research carried out in America.  Dr. Jocelyn A. Lehrer of the University of California, San Francisco, cited in the July issue of ‘Paediatrics,’ carried out a study which  found that highly depressed girls were 50 percent more likely to have engaged in risky sexual behaviour in the previous year, and highly depressed teenage boys were 70 percent more likely to have done so.   While the survey conducted by Dr Lehrer involved immoral behaviour wider than homosexual activity, the inescapable conclusion which screams from her research is that what she calls ’risky’ sexual activity of any sort, outside marriage leads to severe mental problems and depression.  What more ‘risky’ sexual activity could there be than homosexuality, with its promiscuity, its conscience-rending unwholesome practices, its pressure to have multiple sexual partners, along with the danger of HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases always present, - not to mention the psychological stress of living under a cloak of deceit, frequently brought about by the shame of one’s actions and proclivities.

 

Happily, there is a remedy to this situation. The homosexual lobby’s answer is to demand more funds.  The conference at the Belfast Hilton last March called for “Specific Government funding... that the Department of Education ensures that gay and bisexual students are provided with full protection and education.”  But the Bible’s answer will be more applicable, more successful and a lot less of a burden on society.  Because homosexuality is a SIN (rather than an inherent genetic disposition) there is good news to cheer the hearts of those who have been ensnared by it, for sin can be forgiven.  Just as any other sinner must cast himself on the mercy of Christ, confessing his sin, and asking for forgiveness, so must the homosexual.  He will find that for those who truly seek the Lord, He is already seeking for them, for the Saviour Himself declared that he had come to seek and to save those who were lost! 

 

Homosexuals can be saved from their sin, through Christ’s atoning work on the Cross, and can be changed, cleansed and made fit for heaven.  The homosexual who comes to Christ will find the same welcome as the sinful women of John chapter 8, whose sins were forgiven, and who was told to go, and to sin no more! 

 

This was the experience of many of those at Corinth, for following his condemnation of homosexuality, Paul wrote, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. 6:11.  A hymnwriter wrote, “The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” 

 

No-one in the evangelical community denies that there is a problem. Young people becoming depressed and even resorting to suicide. is a terrible indictment on our society, and we deplore the sociological conditions that have led to this appalling situation.  But the answer is not further promotion of the sin, but rather a return to Biblical standards of righteousness, the promotion of Biblical values, and the proper preaching of personal, life-changing salvation in Jesus Christ by ministers and churches.

(Rev Robert McEvoy)