When \’Love\’ Isn\’t A Right.

When ‘Love’ Isn’t A Right.

Yesterday morning, President Obama signed a historic non discrimination order for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender(LGBT) federal contractors, barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity among federal contractors. Two days earlier, I came across an article on one of Nigeria’s gay champions, Reverend Jide Macaulay and it got me thinking. How on earth did this group of people come about? When did such a previously shameful thing get to be celebrated and broadcasted? They have termed the declarations of their self-discovery coming out of the closet and we salute them for their courage when in an earlier time we would have been horrified. What changed?
The LGBTs have played us a card. The card most western nations and developed countries cannot afford to ignore. The ‘helplessness’ card. This is the card they hold out to us. They want us to feel sorry for them. They tell us how they were born with their ‘condition’, how they tried to fight against their urges but could not control them. It’s like an alcoholic or drug addict saying: “I didn’t choose to be an alcoholic. I was born this way. It’s not my fault. There is nothing I can do about it. I can’t help it so you must accept my right to be a drug addict.” But we all know that nobody is born an alcoholic. Not even those with fetal alcohol syndrome.
I am not attempting to disprove the fact that countless people have struggled with their sexual identity and orientation. I am not discounting the fact that they have tried to change themselves to becoming what the more conservative society deems as appropriate and failed. But I am asking, if homosexuality is a condition that cannot be changed no matter what, why do we have ex-homosexuals then? Why is it that those who completely gave themselves over to that lifestyle can now come out to tell us that they no longer feel the need for that lifestyle, and have become happily married ‘straight’ folk? Did they take a wonder drug? Are they all lying? Or is there something the homosexuals are not telling us?
From a Christian viewpoint, I tried to analyze the matter. Was homosexuality a conscious choice or not? Some churches especially Nigerian ones have advocated deliverance as a solution, or casting out the demon of homosexuality out of the affected person. I wondered which was the right course to pursue when dealing with a homosexual who is trying to change. Not every homosexual is unhappy with their identity. Some are living the life! They feel they have found the love of their life and are living a very liberated lifestyle (not knowing how much bondage they are in). So they don’t want change and neither do they want their former homosexuals to leave or get their freedom which is why they keep campaigning for gay rights and non discrimination and all that to make it easier for them to stay in bondage. But I digress. Something became clear to me the more I looked at the matter. I discovered that whether the homosexual condition is a choice or not, whether there’s a spirit or demon involved or not, it doesn’t matter. The thing is it can be helped.
That’s because when it comes right down to it. It is just sin. It’s one of the detestable sins but it still is sin. And as far as I know, 2000 plus years later, the blood of Jesus still washes away ALL sin. I read through a number of stories of ex-homosexuals and I discovered one common thread to all of them. They came to see their homosexuality as sin. And that was their first step to coming out of the bondage.
The church of today is confusing the homosexuals. Some years back, the LGBTs accused the church of blatant hatred and condemnation. Now, so as not to be deemed intolerant the church is changing its position, allowing gays to occupy positions in churches and not telling them that there can be change. The church is having a form of godliness but denying its power. They seem to have forgotten that the blood of Jesus is still potent. Both approaches are wrong. Jesus gave us a clear example on how to relate with such people. He was friends with sinners; the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the outcasts of society. He didn’t hate them neither did he condemn them. In fact, he loved them. So much so that he didn’t want to leave them the way they were. We will do well to tell the gay as Jesus told that adulterous woman: “…neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
So, no, I do not agree that there is such a thing as the right to be gay. I do not agree that the gays cannot be helped out of their bondage. This people need help and we should make that help available to them, the way our Lord and Master taught us.
The civil rights movement was born and its aim was to fight sin-the sin of injustice and that was why it succeeded. It must never be equated with the gay rights movement. When sin begins to be legalized, it bodes nothing but trouble. It is only righteousness and righteousness alone that exalts a nation.