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People like Matthew Shepard are dying for no other reason than being gay. Gay people are out of the closet today, they're not going back any more than blacks will go back to being slaves, or women will give up the right to vote. The church must deal with the concrete existence of gays and lesbians in their midst. You cannot deny the insight of medical science over the last 50 years. Homosexuality is not a sinful act of morally depraved or mentally ill people. Homosexuality is a given, not a chosen. Homosexuality is a normal and natural part of human life. It must not be rejected, oppressed or marginalized, it must be accepted like being left handed. Gay and lesbian Christians have been roughly excluded from church life simply because of their sexual orientation. Christianity is all about breaking down the barriers that separate people from God and each other. The acceptance of gay and lesbian Christians into the church is part of this barrier breaking action of Christ. The church of Jesus Christ has constantly moved past the fences of prejudice in its drive to become a universal community. Gentiles did ultimately find welcome in the Church. Slavery was finally ended. Segregation and apartheid had their backs broken. Women did achieve ecclesiastical power and position. Gay and lesbian people are receiving the welcome of Christ into the Church without the barriers of either a willingness to "reform" or a guilt-laden celibacy being imposed upon them as the price of their admission. We are empowered by Jesus to imitate the presence of God in him by living fully, by loving wastefully, and by having the courage to be all that God created us to be. That means the courage to be gay and lesbian Christians in a world that says we have no right to be such a thing. Jesus was so connected to God as the Ground of Being that he could love wastefully. He could love even the unlovable and not exhaust the love of God that had manifested within him. He calls each of us to go past the barriers of prejudice and hatred and connect with the inexhaustible love found within and through God. " Why is it those who claim to have all the answers don't allow any questions ? "
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Exodus Condemns Violence against GaysSEATTLE October 12, 1998 --Today, Exodus executive director Bob Davies strongly condemned violence against gays and lesbians by urging churches to take a pro-active stance in showing "zero tolerance" for hatred and abuse directed at members of the gay community. He was responding to the death this morning of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was pistol-whipped and lashed to a fence post in near-freezing temperatures outside Laramie, Wyo. "We utterly denounce and condemn this type of attack against gays and lesbians," Davies said. "This type of outrageous criminal behavior against members of the gay community should be punished to the full extent of the law." Davies said. "Taking a moral stance against homosexuality is not the same thing as approving of violence against gays." We will continue to do everything in our power to educate our constituents that this type of behavior toward gays is totally unbiblical and should be strongly condemned."
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