Warning: This post is a response to an irresponsible, gross, and damaging article over at The Gospel Coalition in which there is “graphic” mention of gay sex and abusive language towards gay people and their allies. (There is no specific mention of trans people, as usual in these kinds of diatribes against “LGBT” people.)
By now, you’ve probably read Thabiti Anyabwile’s vile, disgusting piece of shit article at The Gospel Coalition. If you haven’t, and you’re in the mood for vomiting and/or raging (or, God forbid, you actually agree with Anyabwile), please feel free to read it here.
There have been a number of responses, including by people who otherwise still hold the belief that the Bible condemns homosexuality in some way. I don’t hold that belief myself, and I’d like to see us move past arguing about it, but at least even people more or less on the same side of the argument recognize Anyabwile’s post for the dung heap it is.
To all my friends, regardless of who your partners/spouses are: I don’t care what you get up to in bed together. Since you also don’t seem to be in a hurry to ask me about what my husband and I do, I think we’re good. Reducing people to sex acts and “gag reflexes” is disgusting and dehumanizing.
While I would love to pick Anyabwile’s words apart one at a time and address every steaming, stinking turd contained in that ugly rant, I don’t have the time or energy. Instead, I have a few words about one specific part of Anyabwile’s post. He says this:
Reject the unbiblical definition of love. I said, though it was very unpopular, homosexual marriage could not properly be called “love.” You could choke on the room’s tension. “How could I say such a thing?” I pointed out that the Bible teaches plainly that “love does not rejoice in wrongdoing” (1 Cor. 13). That the Bible also teaches that homosexual behavior was wrongdoing or sin. Consequently, though strong emotions and affections are involved, we cannot properly call it “love.” Love does no harm, and homosexuality clearly harms everyone involved.
Well, then. I guess the Great and Powerful Oz has spoken. Hear that, people? Thabiti Anyabwile has declared that he knows for absolute certain what “real” love is! I admit, I’m really excited about that, because there was some confusion there. See, I thought that real love kinda looked like this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
love covers over a multitude of sins.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.
Silly me! Who am I to know what love is but a random blogger with a good Internet connection and access to Google and Bible Gateway?
I’m grateful that Thabiti Anyabwile could clear things up so that we’re all on the same page, knowing that gay people don’t really love each other and that deep down–way, way, deep down; so deep, in fact, that I wasn’t even aware of it–we all know the truth:
What we’re really talking about when we talk about “homosexuality” is not just sex gone wrong but wrong sexual behavior. Deep down we all–Christian and non-Christian, heterosexual and homosexual–know it’s wrong.
Without Anyabwile to point it out, I might have gone on for years believing that I don’t actually think it’s wrong. What was I thinking? I have obviously been ignoring my gag reflex all this time. Clearly, I’ve been deluded. I mean, what about the children???
Well, damn. I’ve been convicted. I must not be exhibiting real love whenever I rejoice that my gay friends have gotten married or started families. The only obvious course is for me to change tracks and make sure that every gay person I encounter knows that they are wrong, wrong, wrong.
Oh. Wait. I already tried that once.
I guess the one thing I can praise here is that it’s at least honest. Thabiti Anyabwile is just taking the advice I gave in a previous post to examine whether our issues with homosexuality are based on squicky sex or squicky sex roles. Anyabwile seems to have chosen the former.
Now, can we get this much honesty from the lawmakers in charge of allowing same-sex marriage?
I was wondering if you knew already about that stupid rant. I will not say I am glad you did because it is so ugly I don´t wish anyone to read that kind of garbage, but I appreciate your words and calling this BS for what it is.
I have heard about “grasping at straws” once, but this is without a shadow of a doubt so pathetic and hurtful, I might as well call it desperate. So while I abhor the words coming from this ignorant self-absorbed bigot, I am a little inclined to think that maybe this is a side effect of years of battling homophobia. I mean, a lot of the arguments homophobes have espoused all this years fall apart easily upon closer examination, but obviously they needed to hear others pointing out the flaws in their logic to come around. So now, the old “arguments” do not seem to work anymore. So they are looking for other “arguments” (if they can be called that) to make their point.
I am NOT kidding myself believing that this is a sign of homophobia coming to an end (I wish it were), but maybe it is a sign of people becoming so desperate to cling to their hateful views that now they are just saying ANYTHING to keep it going and finding the new “arguments” work even less than the others. Maybe I am wrong, but considering that not even some people of Anyabwile´s side are taking kindly to his “wise words”, I would like to think that their homophobic views are losing ground even more so that we might suspect.
Or I could just be tired and in need of sleep lol
Anyways, what do you think?
Sorry it took so long to reply. I’ve been on vacation (yay!) and not checking email (boo).
I agree that it’s a sign of desperately clinging to hateful views. I just read a semi-defense of the piece that implied that the whole gag reflex thing is, indeed, relevant because gay sex is particularly disgusting–unlike most other sins, since the Bible “clearly” uses language to indicate how vile it is (much like how vile shrimp are, I suppose?). Kind of makes me wonder why the Bible doesn’t use words like “abomination” for rape, murder, theft, genocide…oh, wait. The Bible actually sometimes supports that last one. Sigh.
So, yes, I hope it’s a sign of the tired old arguments losing traction.