Choosing Love, part Three
The scandal of Jesus
This week I am using my blog to discuss religion and spirituality and the LGBTQ+ community. However, I am well aware that the regime has pushed us to a constitutional crisis regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Today, we sit at a crossroads waiting to see how far the regime is willing to go against the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador. The president of El Salvador is meeting with the Orange buffoon today. Jonathon V. Last from the Bulwark has an excellent post about this today. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here.
I believe that much of what I will share today and tomorrow will tie directly to what is happening with Mr. Abrego Garcia as well as the hundreds of illegally deported individuals now being held in CECOT in El Salvador. It has to do with identity and discrimination towards those who’s identity does not match the regime’s desired look for America. Gay, transgender, brown, black, non-Christian, or any number of other identities are all on the chopping block.
Today, I want to lay out the definitions of religion and spirituality and how these operate separately and together in creating a sense of meaning for those who subscribe to them. Religion and spirituality are not the same thing. Typically, when we think of religion, we think of the creeds, rituals, and practices of specific religious groups. Spirituality, on the other hand, tends to be identified more with an individual and personal approach to meaning making. Religion and spirituality may or may not be associated with each other, but they are typically identified as two separate ways to express faith. The diagram1 below may be helpful in understanding how religion and spirituality interconnect.
Studies indicate that more people are identifying as “spiritual but not religious” than any other identity. This may be for a number of reasons, but commonly people suggest it is because of the disconnect between the church (religion) and society’s values. I do not want to get too deep into this, but I think it is important to recognize that people are currently exiting the church rather than entering the church.
So what? Well, when considering the LGBTQ+ community, it may be significant in that how the church in general treats the gay community is driving a divide between gay persons and the church. I will delve into this more soon, but consider how you would feel if you were attending a church where you were called out and told you were a sinner going to hell if you did not stop breathing. It would be pretty tough to accept the idea that the only way to “be saved” is to hold your breath forever. Or if you were told to stop eating. My point is, to tell a person who’s sexual orientation is homosexual that they must become heterosexual is like telling someone to stop breathing. We are born with the need to breath. And we are also born with the sexual orientation we have. It is not a choice or a decision randomly made at some point in life. A question I have asked heterosexuals who are saying that one chooses to be gay is, “So, when did you choose to be heterosexual?” Usually this is followed by a wide-eyed stare as they try to come to terms with the fact that, by golly, they never chose to be hetero. They were born that way! And sometimes they’ll blurt that out only to have to pause as they consider the ramifications.
We could consider a number of scriptures that are pointed to by those who wish to continue hating the LGBTQ+ community, however, getting into arguments about scriptures like these generally leads no where. The reason for this is that these disagreements are based on readings of texts that are not completely clear to us. When translating and interpreting ancient Hebrew and classical Greek, we rely on not just the text, but the context and frankly, meanings change. So we can go around and around on scriptures and end up where we started.
Instead, I prefer to take a larger look at the overall message of Jesus. Jesus as the originator of Christianity, a Hebrew prophet who interpreted the Old Testament according to his understanding of it and as Christianity considers him part of the trinity, I suggest he is an authority on the Old Testament.
Jesus was asked by a Jewish leader, a Sadducee, what he considered to be the greatest commandment. This account is in all three of the synoptic gospels. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus says that the “great and first commandment” is to love the Lord your God, and the secong commandment is like it, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In Luke 10: 25-37, we see this same account, except Luke adds the parable of the Good Samaritan to the account. You can read it below.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
In order to understand this parable in it’s context, one must understand the Jewish attitude towards Samaritans. It was not friendly. And this is where we see identity and discrimination come into play. In the first century A.D., Jews of Galilee and Judea and Samaritans clashed over a number of identity issues, which I will outline here.
Historically, the Samaritans were descendants of Jews who had remained in Samaria after the Assyrians conquered it in 722 BC. For those familiar with the Old Testament, this would be the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the story of this can be found in 2 Kings 17.
After this occurred, those who remained in Samaria intermarried with Assyrians and in the minds of Judeans (Southern Kindom) became tainted by this intermarrying and the Samaritans were forever after viewed as “half-breeds.” Furthermore, the Samaritans adopted a different view of the Old Testament (Tanakh) than the Judeans. The Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, as authoritative scripture. Therefore, Samaritans were considered heretical.
Jesus broke with this view of Samaritans. He actually interacted several times that we know of with Samaritans. The woman at the well in John 4 was a Samaritan. Jesus’ disciples were scandalized that not only did Jesus interact with a woman, but a Samaritan woman at that. In fact, even the woman mentioned how scandalous it was for Jesus to interact with her. I don’t think Jesus was all that concerned with appearances.
So, returning to the parable of the Good Samaritan, when Jesus uses a Samaritan as the hero of the story, you can imagine how the Jews of his day would have reacted. They would have been scandalized. How could Jesus make the hero of this story a hated Samaritan? He did so because Jesus was all about breaking down barriers that existed between disparate identities. What I love about this parable is that it is so relevant to our own society, and indeed in my mind remains relevant throughout history and throughout the world. People of all races and ethnicities, religions and creeds, political persuasions, even sexual orientations and gender identities struggle with identity conflicts.
In this parable, Jesus knocks down all the barriers we hold towards those with identities that differ from our own. What this parable tells me is that God is far less concerned with our beliefs, the color of our skin, or the people we love than he is about loving him, and loving our neighbors - defined as inclusive of those we find repugnant as well as those who look and behave as we do.
Imagine this scenario Jesus describes happening today. Let’s say a MAGA personality is found to have been robbed and beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. A conservative Evangelical pastor sees him, but walks away from him because “he probably had it coming.” Then a MAGA congressman sees the bloody mess on the side of the road and walks to the other side of the road thinking, “Doesn’t involve me and besides I could be next!” Finally, a transwoman (assigned male at birth) walks by. She sees the man and immediately goes over to render aid. Seeing how bad off he is, she runs to her car and loads him into it and takes him to the nearest emergency room. There she covers the cost of his stay and offers to come back and help with any additional costs. So, who is the neighbor, that we are called upon to love? Exactly.
This is the larger view of what we should take from Jesus’ messages. Jesus did not condemn those that we might expect him to, like the woman at the well or the woman caught in adultery. Rather when he condemned anyone it was the rich and powerful. The billionaire club, the 1% today. This would be considered a scandal by today’s standards, and Jesus would have been treated in the same manner today by these elites as he was 2000 years ago. Whipped bloody and crucified.
Now for those who may object and say that members of the LGBTQ+ community are sinners, let me point out that the Samaritans were considered sinners by the Jews of Jesus’ day as well. And if we look at the Samaritan woman at the well, she too was a sinner. Married five times and living with a man not her husband. Again, scandalous. In this, she actually had a choice. But many Christians have determined that gay people have a choice regarding their sexual orientation and trans people have a choice about their gender identity. But do they? I contend that they do not. And a number of recent studies would support my contention. I will mention them briefly here and you are welcome to dig into them more as you desire.
Prenatal Testosterone theory
For instance, Balthazart (2020)2 states that “embryonic hormones play a substantial role in the control of adult sexual orientation” (p. 6). Balthazart’s (2020) study reveals that an individual’s brain and behavior is influenced by early testosterone action as it affects how sex differences are organized; that sexual orientation is also affected by early testosterone action; and importantly, “[t]here is more evidence supporting biological than social causes of homosexuality” (Balthazart, 2020, p. 32). This research is supported by additional studies by Abe, et al (2021) and Bailey, et al (2016).
The Maternal Immune Hypothesis3
In this study by Ablaza, Kabatek, and Perales (2022), they found that sex and the number of siblings one has may affect one’s sexual orientation. Essentially, the more sons a given woman gives birth to, the higher the odds are that later sons will have same-sex attractions and enter into same sex relationships.
Nature and Nurture Hypothesis4
People have long looked for the “gay gene.” However, a single gene that would explain homosexuality has not been found. What has been found however is that there are a number of genes that may affect same-sex attraction. These studies have also suggested that along with genetic (nature) affects on same-sex attraction, environmental factors (nurture) may also play a part.
Conclusion
Wrapping up, I want to stress that Jesus seemed to care more about how we treat one another than how we view our different identities. Identity is playing a role in our government policies in a frightening and unlawful manner today. Transgender individuals and supposedly undocumented persons are currently bearing the brunt of this identity conflict. However, it is fair to say, as many have, that this is only the beginning. From persecution of transgender persons to persecution of lesbians, gays, and bisexual people is a very short step and one I would expect the government to make sooner rather than later.
The church should be a symbol of hope and acceptance, a light to those in darkness. Unfortunately, much of the church has fallen in line with conservative, anti-Christian politicians who use identity conflicts and “othering” of those perceived as different and therefore justifiably persecuted. Not only is this tragic, but it places the church, or this segment of the church, in complete contradiction to what scripture reveals about Jesus’ attitudes and values.
Tomorrow, I will go into this idea of the overarching message of the Bible in more detail.
Thank you for reading.
Knowledge is power.
Greg
Lipka, M. & Gecewicz, C. (September 6, 2017). More Americans now say they’re spiritual but not religious. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/09/06/more-americans-now-say-theyre-spiritual-but-not-religious/'.
Balthazart, J. (2020). Sexual partner preference in animals and humans. Neurosci Biobehav Review, 115: 34–47. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.024.
Ablaza, C., Kabátek, J., & Perales, F. (2022). Are sibship characteristics predictive of same sex marriage? An examination of fraternal birth order and female fecundity effects in population‐level administrative data from the Netherlands. The Journal of Sex Research, 59(6). 10.1080/00224499.2021.1974330.
Rinaldi A. (2022). I was born this way: New research confirms that a mix of prenatal factors and genetic differences could explain human sexual orientation. EMBO reports, 23(6), e55290. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202255290.
Jesus seemed to say the "neighbor" was the one who was helped or the one who helped. I don't see a command to love those who are trying to deport, imprison, conquer, or marginalize others. Am I on solid ground to not love those who oppress the disenfranchised while increasing the fortunes of those who already have hoarded way too much?