Dear Friends:

     Over the last few days I have been overcome with a heavy darkness.  But the darkness was like a dawn, followed soon by a great light.  I feel compelled to share the message, the fruit of this light, with you.  Indeed, you will note, I have written about same-sex relationships before, but I did so from my own mind; my own views.  Whereas before I wrote from conscience, today I write from light.

     You may think that the question of honoring same-sex relationships belongs low on our list of priorities.  But, Friends, I beg you to rethink.  Consider the state-sanctioned murder of gay people in many parts of the world, the incessant bullying in the schoolyard that leads to teen—and even pre-teen—suicide, and the risk that openly gay people face everyday as victims of heinous beatings and rapes by angry strangers.  Ignoring the plight of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people puts blood on our hands.

     You may ask:  How do these atrocities relate to same-sex relationships, or same-sex marriage?  Yet you can see that at the very root of what drives this hate is a nation and society that does not accept same-sex relationships because they believe that homosexuality is abhorrent.  If you call homosexuality an abomination, why should society tolerate it?  Why should society not punish it with violence?  Why should the gay teenager not hate himself?

     You may say to me that just because gays exist, and just because they suffer hardship, this does not mean that we may condone something that goes against God’s will.  And I might agree.  But what is God’s will?

     Much has been said about the Scriptures, so I will not belabor them here, but they do need to be discussed.  There are two types of scriptural sources for deriving the view that same-sex relationships are wrong.  First, there are the implicit Scriptures, which talk about the marriage relationship, and in doing so, describe the relationship as between a man and woman.  Second, there are the explicit Scriptures, such as those which describe a man lying with another man as sinful (e.g., Levitius 18:22) and say that “arsenokoitai” and “malakoi” are not to inherit the kingdom of God (e.g., 1 Corinthians 6:9).

     But the Scripture, as a whole, is simply not clear.  First, there is no single word in Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek that lends itself to a simple word-for-word translation of “homosexual.”  The word appeared in the English language for the first time in 1912 and in the Bible for the first time in the 1946 Revised Standard Version in 1 Corinthians 6:9.  Second, Biblical texts do not deal with homosexuality as a psycho-sexual orientation determined at birth or developed as a relationship between consenting adults.  Third, no Biblical text presents an extensive discussion of same-gender behavior or same-gender relationships.  Fourth, there is no reference to homosexuality in the four gospels or in the words of Jesus as recorded anywhere.

     What’s more, the implicit Scriptures do not foreclose the sanctity of same-sex relationships.  They simply describe the marriage situation as it then existed; that is, they reflect a cultural norm, not any religious truth, that marriages were heterosexual.  This also explains the patriarchal nature of marriage as it is described in the Scripture (Col. 3:18–4:1; Eph. 5:21–6:9; 1 Pet. 2:18–3:7)—a view of marriage which is generally rejected now as an antiquated sentiment of the time.  Moreover, to the extent we are going to read between the lines in implicit Scriptures, much could be made also of same-sex relationships in Bible which are discussed in a positive light (e.g., David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi, etc.). 

     The explicit Scriptures are also a product of their time.  Almost by historical necessity, they most likely address a very different situation than what we are talking about when we refer to same-sex relationships today.  The difficulty of transporting ancient phenomena to today’s society is evident by the varied and inconsistent translations of the words “arsenokoitai” and “malakoi” into English; indeed, if 1 Corinthians 6:9 were to be so easily and simply applied today, why have translators juggled nearly a dozen different translations in English alone for use in modern times, e.g., “men who practice homosexuality”; “those who participate in homosexuality”;   “abusers of themselves with men”; “practicing homosexuals”; “homosexuals”; “homosexual perversion”; “homosexual offenders”; “liers with mankind”; “homosexual perverts”; and “passive homosexual partners.”  And if “arsenokoitai” meant to cover all homosexual acts, then why did Paul bother also listing “malakoi” in 1 Corinthians 6:9?

     For an inter-faith cross-reference, let us look briefly at Catholicism.  While the Catholic Church is far from accepting of same-sex relationships, it bears noting that the Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges the natural occurrence of same-sex “inclination” in a “great variety of forms though the centuries and in different cultures.”  (Catechism, 2357).  It seems that same-sex attraction, while not desirable, is rather normal; indeed, the Church says, “[t]he number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible.”  (Catechism, 2359).  I think two things are notable about the Catholic position:  First, in disapproving homosexual activity, it calls upon “tradition” which is said to have been drawn from Scripture, but is not Scripture itself or the words of Christ Himself.  (See Catechism, 2357).  Tradition can—and often should—be changed; God’s will cannot be.  Second, instead of asking “homosexual persons” to change, the Catholic Church “call[s them] to chastity.”  (Catechism, 2359).  This is telling.  Such a view—that the impulse itself is not sinful and need not be changed, but simply should not be acted upon—is supported by neither logic nor Scripture.  Indeed, Jesus explained that there is no distinction between sins of the mind and sins of action:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’  But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  (Matt. 5:27–28).  I say to you, Friends, if “homosexual persons” exist in nature—the inclination itself not being a sin as acknowledged by the Catholic Church—then the act of living in a same-sex relationship, itself, can be no sin.

     What many are calling God’s will or tradition today is simply a misuse of the Scripture to advance cultural and societal norms of human design.  This is nothing new; it is the very apostacy of which George Fox in his day spoke:  “When I had opened that state, I showed also the state of the apostacy since the apostles’ days; that the priest have got the Scriptures, but are not in that Spirit which gave them forth, and have put them into chapter and verse, to make a trade of holy men’s words[.]”  (Fox, 1652).  Friends, “[y]ou will say, Christ saith this, and the Apostles say this; but what canst thou say?”  (Fell, 1694).  I ask that you seek the Truth in the Light and to “distinguish this from man’s natural conscience, for conscience being that in man which ariseth from the natural faculties of man’s soul, may be defiled and corrupted.”  (Barclay, 1831).  As we know, “the mind being once blinded or defiled with a wrong belief, there ariseth a conscience from that belief, which troubles him when he goes against it.”  (Ibid.).  “As for example:  A Turk who hath possessed himself with false belief that it is unlawful for him to drink wine, if he do it, his conscience smites him for it; but though he keep many concubines, his conscience troubles him not, because his judgment is already defiled with a false opinion that it is lawful for him to do the one, and unlawful for him to do the other.”  (Ibid.)   I suggest to you, Friends, that the objection you may have against same-sex relationships is founded in your conscience—tainted by society, culture, and dogma—and not a calling from Christ.  What else explains such a disproportionate societal obsession with what amounts to little more than a few lines of unclear Scripture?

     Now I will borrow from an old Friend, who spoke of women’s rights, and transpose her words to demonstrate their applicability to today’s query.  Indeed, “[t]he question is often asked, 'What do[ gay people] want, more than [they] enjoy[]?  What [are they] seeking to obtain?  Of what rights [are they] deprived?  What privileges are withheld from [them]?'”  (Mott, 1850).  “I answer, [they] ask[] nothing as favor, but as right, [they] want[] to be acknowledged [as] moral, responsible being[s].”  (Ibid.)  As Lucretia Mott pointed out then that “[t]he law of France, Spain, and Holland, and one of our own States, Louisiana, recognize[d] the wife’s right to property” and that the “laws depriving woman of the right of property are handed down to us from dark and feudal times, and not consistent with the wiser, better, purer spirit of the age,” so do I declare same-sex relationships to be similarly situated.  (See ibid.)  Same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Sweden, as well as in Mexico City, and some “of our own States,” such as Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, as well as Washington, D.C. and Oregon’s Coquille and Washington’s Suquamish Indian tribes.  Not to mention in many Quaker meetings.

     It is time to cast aside cultural and social baggage, which relies tenuously on Scripture for its support.  Today marriage between man and woman in our society is not a forced arrangement for economic, social, or dynastic advancement, but rather a fulfillment of faithfulness, love, and mutual obligation.  Gays and lesbians should not be shackled to the same old standards, which would have them enter into a sham marriage that benefits no one, or into a celibacy which defies the nature designed for them by God.  And it is not all about sex; when we think of the would-be “sin” of homosexuality in Bible, we are thinking only of sexual acts, but let us not be so naïve—sexual acts, which even if arguably proscribed by the Scripture, account for only a small, small fragment of the loving, same-sex relationships we are asked to bless.  Not all even engage in these sexual acts!  Shall we banish a certain people because we assume they engage in sexual acts we assume are forbidden by Christ?  I think not.  To ask this is cruel and violates any standard of decency and equality.  Therefore, I entreat you, Friends, to seek and find the Truth which I know, in my depths, has been revealed in Christ’s Light to me and can, should you search, be revealed to you, too.