A clarion call to the church to create a new infrastructure to deal with homosexuality. This brief article serves as a wake-up call to the church. It makes the argument that the current structures -- regardless of our beliefs -- are not working.

A new twist on the belief that gays need to be "healed"

The author invites us to slow down, get quiet, and be willing to hear the voice of Spirit within. As we become more open to the voice of Spirit within, we “show up” emotionally – to our self and to other people. Our sexual encounter, then, becomes an experience where a new creation is born.

Men in the larger community -- and especially the black community -- hold as one of their greatest fears that of “being turned out” (an expression for having another man engage them in a homosexual experience). We use the Bible as the ultimate weapon to justify what is really a fear based in social drama. The problem is: we are addressing the wrong problem. It’s no wonder we’re afraid. We’re afraid of being physically hurt by the act of penetration. That pales significantly, though, in comparison to our greater fear. The author explores the real basis of our fear and our need to get beyond the focus on the penis and anus -- which are mere symbols of the underlying drama.

The author examines our church system, which he advocates is in need of repair. He says, "...what we have here is a broken system. We have a system where church leaders create profound sexual confusion in young boys on the one hand; and then well-meaning church members use the Bible (or their understanding thereof) to destroy honest men on the other hand! Matthew 13: 30 says “Let both grow together until the harvest…” It’s time for those whose hearts are not right to be weeded out.

Our biggest issue with our families, our churches, and the society at large is that they don’t love us for who we are.

Deep inside we wish there is something we could say to them that would make them truly love us totally and completely without aversion to us because of our sexuality -- or for that matter: any other attribute that makes us uniquely who we are.

Imagine what it would be like if we could wake up tomorrow having drunken a love potion the night before.

1. Is it unreasonable to expect that if I am naked, you will turn your head away?
2. What should a man do when he finds another man looking at him and he finds it objectionable?
3. Does the lack of privacy facilitate inappropriate sexual lust and/or activity?
4. Does a man have a right to look at another man in the shower/spa on the premise that privacy rights are surrendered when joining the club?

What if there were nothing in the Bible that apparently condemned homosexuality? I suppose that most people who are against it would still be against it. I suppose that if we drill down to the root basis of their discomfort with this state of sexual expression, it derives from something other than biblical passages. I suspect that there is something embedded in most people that makes the thought of being in a same-sex experience abhorrent. The common word that gets used is “unnatural.” The usual quotation is, “it’s just unnatural for two men to be together, like that (or similar words).” Surprisingly enough, even gay men often have those discussions. We don’t understand everything -- Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men (I Corinthians 1:25-29). To damn certain things though is profoundly arrogant.