In the History Books

            In the history books, our best guess as to the oldest civilization is inMesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is in this ancient civilization that our story starts. Archeology has uncovered a lot of traits of these first primitives that seem to correspond quite well with our race today.These people had many different beliefs. Most of these beliefs came from the scientific community. They saw that the crop grew according to certain forces that they couldn’t control. A year with little rain meant people went starving.If the sun decided to stay in the sky for too long, then the crop was scorched,and both animals and people were affected.

            It was in these outside forces that were beyond human control that the idea of god or gods developed. The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia had a God of the gods named Anu. From the very first through all the other civilizations, there is a God of the gods…

            What happens most often is that the people depend on these gods to provide for them.If the god of bread doesn’t cause the yeast to rise, then he is angry at you.And if the hunting god doesn’t allow you to return from the hunt with a kill,it is the fault of the whole city. If the sun god scorches the crop, and causes a famine, then someone, or something, somewhere has upset the gods. It all leads back to being in right relationship with the gods.

            Now,if you do the right thing, and everything goes your way, you offer a sacrifice to the gods to show that you are grateful. If the gods are happy with your offering, then they will continue to bless you. If they are not, then they will stop blessing you. So if you offer a tenth of your first fruits, and then the gods bless you, what do you offer next year? You can’t offer the same amount as last year, because now you’ve made more. You would insult the gods.

            If you didn’t get the gods blessing, then what do you do? You have to offer more,because the gods are angry. Whether you are blessed or cursed, you must always offer more, because the gods are always demanding to be appeased to greater degrees. This might be how we end up with gods like Baal who would require the priests to slash themselves with swords so that the blood runs, and offer up the firstborn male child. It might be how we get Asherah, who demands that when you worship her, everyone strips and has sex with everyone else who is around.Whether male or female, you grab the closest person and you “worship.”

            The book of Genesis was written, most likely, around 1400 B.C.E. This writing was revolutionary. It tells of a God who is one. This is the God of gods, and He created the heavens and the earth. But He didn’t stop there. He created male and female in His image. And He gave them the command to rule over the earth and to tend to it. Genesis speaks about this God who doesn’t require man to appease Him. He simply requires that man would be one with Him, as He is one yet many (creator, spirit, word).

             When you read the Bible, it continually goes back to this idea of being one. It continually points to God and says, “Be one as I am one.” This is the birth of community. Even the book of Leviticus, with its 613 laws, is a revolutionary presentation of freedom from what tradition and culture had taught.

            So,when you get to Christianity… It isn’t so much about attending a congregation or serving or doing. It is about being. It is about displaying freedom for freedom’s sake. You no longer have to live like this. You no longer have to serve the gods of this world who demand more and more from you. The pastor whois running around frantic, you can be free. The man who works 2 jobs because he can’t afford the mortgage can be free from both debt, and from the obsession of keeping up with the Joneses. The high school boy who gets picked on and tormented can be free from the hatred in his heart for himself and all the others around him. The girl who cuts herself to make sure she can still feel can find freedom from the numbness and unreality of this life.

            God’s primary message of the Bible is “You don’t have to live like this. The gods are not angry, and you are welcome to be my people.”

Homosexuality and Christianity

I would like to make a vlog entry on this topic, but for now I'm using what medium I have available to me.

I've seen a lot of talk and discussion with the idea of homosexuality. This is definitely one of the 8 great debates of our time. There aren't really any clear lines or opinions being drawn. Even though there are obviously 2 clear sides, for and against, we don't have any real explanations.

Okay... 

For the record, I am a Christian. I do not agree with homosexuality. I have a friend who is ex-homosexual. I also have an uncle who still practices. I have seen both sides. Though this will probably bring about debate and hate mail, I want to try and present an actual explanation and reasoning as to why I disagree with homosexuality, and why I think that it needs to be deeply considered.

First, lets define sexuality. Sexuality is not so much about a deed that we do with another human being. Sex and sexuality are not the same. They have similar roots, and they both come from the same idea, but they are not the same thing. Sexuality comes from the Latin word secara. Secara is the word we get English words like section, dissect, bisect, etc from. It is about connection and disconnection. Sexuality is properly defined as the ways in which we connect.

Okay... connect with what? Sexuality is our connection with ourselves, with our friends, with society, with the creation, and with God. Sex is one way we connect. But when sex becomes the only medium in which we connect and are intimate, we forfeit something very deep and something very human about ourselves. We are physical beings. Connection in a physical way is obvious. But we are also spiritual. To cleave to the one aspect and to reject the other is to deny our own humanity and in such doing we rob ourselves and feel empty, broken, and unsatisfied. 

Suddenly hugging isn't enough. It isn't enough to say, "I love you." We need to express ourselves in bigger ways. We start kissing. Kissing isn't enough anymore. A kiss goodbye turns into a 3 hour session on the couch (nothing more than kissing). We go further, though... don't we? Making out isn't enough to get that thrill... We have to get that drive again.

So we push further. We try something more. We start touching, rubbing, kissing... More and more passion is expressed in a greater and greater deal of intimate physicality, and the result is that we do things we said we would have never done. We swore to ourselves that we would wait until marriage before we had sex, but then the moment comes and we give in. We told ourselves that we wanted to make sure that this was the one before we gave in this far, but then we don't stop.

Why? I believe it is because we only press the physical button. Society teaches us that this is the only thing that exists. It isn't. There is a realm of soul and spirit. We can love someone for their body, their sex appeal, and their beauty. But there is a deeper beauty of intellect, emotion, personality, and character. We can love someone because of who they are, as well as what they look like. Everyone knows this. We've all felt this at some point.

It is because sexuality is directly related to our connection with others. Our connection can't stop at the physical. We end up unsatisfied. There are catalysts to connection. Fitness is sexual. It connects us to our bodies in ways that everyday life cannot. Music is sexual. This might be the single reason why so many people can't reject the idea of God. It sounds good that there is no God, but then we hear that one song and it takes us to that place where we would never have been without the music... how can we only be chemicals, and emotion is simply chemical imbalances, if I can't control my emotions when I hear that song?

There are more things to connect to than our spouse. We need community. We need others who will live their lives with us and be intimate with us. They will pour their lives and hearts into our lives, and we do the same with them. We become intertwined with one another until you can't only see me, you also see my best friend. There are parts of him that are in me, and there are parts of me that show forth in his life.

We connect to the creation around us. Littering is a sexual thing. When we litter, we upset the entire cosmic balance. God told Adam in the beginning to tend to the garden, and we still have that responsibility. Yet how many times do we see that the people who are farthest from God and have the least to do with Him (even if they claim to be, and maybe especially when they claim to be, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc) are the ones who don't take care of the world and hate animals?

Now, this is all fine... but what about homosexuality? Homosexuality is an issue forming from a disconnect. Something somewhere is sadly askew. In the same way, those who drink themselves to sleep have a disconnect somewhere. The people who sleep around all over are disconnected somewhere. Usually, the disconnect isn't in one place. The ultimate disconnect is from their Maker. If you are not connected in one place, you are not connected anywhere. 

What I've noticed is that every homosexual I've ever talked to has had a problem with their father. There is something where they don't feel accepted, or they were abandoned, or they were abused, or they never had a good relationship... Somewhere there was a disconnect with their father. And the way it manifested was homosexuality. 

So what is my problem with homosexuality? It isn't simply because the Bible says homosexuality is wrong. It is because (from my experience) homosexuals have some sort of deeper issue with male companionship, and they are unwilling to deal with the real issue. But the same is true for so many other issues. We hide in this thing or that, and then we claim it is the way we were born, but the truth is that we have a deep disconnect that we have been covering over for so long that we might not even know where the tie is. 

Fix the real issue, and the addiction will clear.