Why do Christians hate homosexuality? Of all the sins mentioned in the Bible: greed, gluttony, abuse of the poor, pride, lust; only one ignites Christian indignation: homosexuality. Pastors don’t tell obese people that they’re an abomination, even though the Bible does. They don’t accuse the greedy of having an agenda, even though the Bible does. And they don’t try to pass laws against those who abuse the poor—in fact, Christian’s support them.
Why do Christians hate homosexuality so much? It’s question asked by many in the gay community. Maybe the answer to that question lies in Christianity’s own blind spot.
The holy book of both Christians and Jews has profound gay and/or transgender undertones. Both start with a male god who demands to be worshiped, adored, “loved.” Throughout the Old Testament—the Jewish Bible—God compares himself to a lover… and a jealous one at that.
Ezekiel 16 has some of the strongest and most disturbing imagery. Here God compares Israel to a woman, and God, her lover. The story opens with God, walking through a field and happening upon a baby girl who had been abandoned at birth, still in her blood, and her umbilical cord had not even been cut. God picked her up and cleaned her off. He apparently left her with someone because later he says, “I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love.”
Here’s where it gets disturbing. God bathes her, washes her, puts ointments on her, and penetrates her. Hosea also tells a similar story. In Hosea 2:14, we get this imagery. "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.”
The Song of Songs is the most erotic book in the Bible. For many, it is a love story between the God and the church. One pastor put it like this: “It’s a love story turning sensuality in upon our spiritual senses. It’s the passionate love Christ has for a maturing believer.”
In the Christian scriptures, Jesus often tells parables about the bridegroom—him, and his church—the bride. In the world of Paul, we are called, quite literally, the Bride of Christ.
In the Gospel of John, we have the story of Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper. Lying across Jesus’ chest was the disciple, John, described as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Another aspect to consider is the nature of the “supper.” What could be more intimate that “eating” the body of someone or drinking the blood of someone. It’s either cannibalism, or there’s a sexual undertone to it.
God demands that we approach him as virgins. “These are they which were not defiled with women for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes: " Rev.14:4-5.
To follow this God, we must be willing to take on the mantle of the “bride,” the “female” characteristic… the “bottom.” God is most definitely the male, and we are his receptor. God woos us, lures us, “exposes” us, and finally, “penetrates” us.
Maybe what Christians hate most about homosexuality rests in their own relationship to God. Maybe they’re uncomfortable with their “position.” If they stopped to think about this, they may actually amend their hatred of homosexuality—or at least demand that God pick a better metaphor.
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