Secual Difference<\/b><\/p>\n
Americans experience sexual difference as a reality, not an appearance, that exists amid the diversity of social customs. They acknowledge this reality in the way they raise children, organize social life, and structure public spaces. Americans from widely varying religious traditions, both Western and non-Western, affirm this in their communities of worship. Coming together as citizens, they have chosen to embody this reality in the special legal status they give to a man and woman who are willing to become a total sexual community\u2014lifelong, exclusive, and faithful.<\/p>\n
David Coolidge in \u201cThe Dilemma of Same Sex Marriage,\u201d in Crisis, July, August 1996, p. 19, quoted in CBMW News, March, 1997, p. 16<\/p>\n
AIDS & <\/p>\n
The average age of a homosexual man dying with AIDS is 39. The average age of gays dying of all other causes is 41. (The average heterosexual married man lives 75 years.) Only one percent of men who practice homosexual sex lives to be 65 or older. Gay men are three times more likely to have alcohol or drug abuse problems. Homosexuals are 14 times more likely to have had syphilis, and 23 times more likely to contract venereal diseases. <\/p>\n
From a 1993 report by the Family Research Institute<\/p>\n
For the Love of a Father<\/b><\/p>\n
There was a boy who never knew the love a father gives, raised by his mom in anger for the man who left his kids. The moment came in growing up, when gates were opened wide; and the boy, whose heart was wounded, walked into the other side. His appetite for nurture, to be given by a man, had been left an empty vacuum as he roamed about the land. <\/p>\n
He tried to stroke himself in closets, hidden from the light. But it never satisfied him, so he wandered into night. Looking for the man who would make him feel complete, he gave himself to do such things that some would never speak. It always started out with hope that love would finally heal, but each encounter broke him more and left him feeling ill. <\/p>\n
Dying for affection which he wrongly sought in man, he turned for help to others thinking they would understand. Instead they told him Sodom burned for such things he had done. \u201cHow could you hurt your family so? You\u2019re such a sorry son!\u201d Angered by the social pride that turns from darker things, the lad now swore to desecrate the palaces of kings. <\/p>\n
He bound himself in common cause with others such as he \u2014 who had suffered long the anguish of the public mockery. Parades were formed, and marches made, to show their new defiance. Hand in hand, in open view, they stood in bold alliance Supposing this would win the day and give them what they needed, they entered into loud debate and publicly they pleaded.<\/p>\n
\u201cEqual right! We are deprived! Treat us true and fair! Your moral rules are meaningless\u2014for them we do not care!\u201d The rhetoric, inflamed by fear, polarized their cause; civil strife erupted through the breaking of God\u2019s Laws. What they had hoped would give them peace instead provoked a war; and a nation, known for tolerance, these things do now abhor.<\/p>\n
And a boy who never knew the love and kindness of a father died a victim of disease\u2014alone\u2014with no one who would bother. The answer to this problem lies within the heart of those who are filled with Christ\u2019s compassion for the travelers on the road. We can heal their broken bodies and restore their fallen hearts, if only we\u2019ll stop from judging them for how they fell apart.<\/p>\n
The little boy who never knew, and yet became a man, can feel the love of Christ in you, if you will touch his hand. Help him to recover from the darkness of his fall \u2014 for the love of God gives freedom unto any who will call.<\/p>\n
– by James Ryle<\/p>\n
Men of Action, Winter 1993, p. 5.<\/p>\n
Resources<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Christian Child Rearing, P. Meier, Baker, 1977, pp. 51ff <\/p>\n
\u2022 The Rebirth of America, A. S. DeMoss Foundation, 1986, pp. 106ff<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Moral Catastrophe, David Hocking, Harvest House, 1990, pp. 129ff<\/p>\n
Sexuality for Lutherans<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s out, and it\u2019s hot: a discussion guide on sexuality for Lutherans. Released last month, it is sure to spark debate both in and out of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) between now and the next ELCA assembly in 1993. \u201cHuman Sexuality and the Christian Faith,\u201d a 55-page document produced by the denomination\u2019s Division for Church and Society, was designed to prompt dialogue and set the stage for a future ELCA social statement on sex issues. The material urges readers to examine with an open mind different views about marriage, promiscuity, and homosexuality.<\/p>\n
At it\u2019s core the document questions biblical passages concerning homosexuality and suggests that scriptural references to same-sex relationships need to be re-interpreted in light of modern theories about sexual orientation. \u201cWe must distinguish between moral judgments regarding same-sex activity in biblical times and in our own time,\u201d the report states. It differentiates \u201cexploitative\u201d homosexual activity from same-sex relationships\u201d in which there is mutual love and commitment.\u201d <\/p>\n
The document challenges ELCA members to evaluate prejudices against homosexuals, insisting that \u201cwhat we personally find offensive is not necessarily sinful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of a 24 member United Methodist Church (UMC) panel could not agree on whether homosexuality is a sin, so the committee\u2019s 14,000-word report on the subject was referred to the denomination\u2019s national policy-making body, which will convene in Louisville, Ky., in May. The report contains a majority statement, signed by 17 committee members, recommending the removal of an assertion in the church\u2019s book of rules that homosexual practice and Christianity are incompatible. A minority report, signed by four members, argues for retaining the current language. The panel agreed that biblical references to sexual practices should not be viewed as binding \u201cjust because they are in the Bible.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fierce debate is expected at this year\u2019s General Conference because at least 35 of the UMC\u2019s 72 regional bodies have approved resolutions calling for preserving the traditional stance.<\/p>\n
Copyright 1992 by Media Management, P.O. Box 21433, Roanoke,VA.<\/p>\n
Promiscuous Americans<\/b><\/p>\n
The oft-reported claims that Americans are promiscuous and that 10 percent are exclusively homosexual are false, according to a new University of Chicago study. Sociologist Tom W. Smith of the Univ. of Chicago National Opinion Research Corporation (NORC) says his study clearly shows the vast majority of Americans are heterosexual and unlikely to engage in behavior that would put them at risk for AIDS. <\/p>\n
The study shows 93 percent of the population has been exclusively heterosexual since the age of 18. Five to 6 percent consider themselves bisexual. And only 1 percent are exclusively homosexual. Smith also found that only 6.8 percent of the population engaged in sexual activity of any kind that would put them at risk of AIDS. <\/p>\n
Citizen, Vol. 4, #4, April 1990, p. 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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