As a minister, I am sometimes asked how I feel about homosexuality. My reply is that I do not condemn it nor do I condone it. I do not judge. A member of my family came out of the closet after many years and I love him no less because of it. In fact, I appreciate the courage that it took for him to be honest about this.
More and more we are hearing that homosexuality may have a basis in the genetics of individuals more so than in lifestyle choice.
The Bible has been used often by Christian fundamentalists to condemn homosexuality. The main passages used are those having to do with the city of Sodom, which was supposedly destroyed by God because of the evilness of the people who lived there. Biblical scholars now acknowledge that the "sins" of Sodom at that time had to do with their lack of "hospitality," not whether they slept with people of the same sex.
In ancient Rome, same sex marriages were legal and emperors often married other males. There is, in fact, no Latin word for homosexuality.
Jesus did not address the issue in his teachings. Bishop John Shelby Spong has proposed that the apostle Paul was actually a homosexuality, albeit a closeted and frustrated one.
I have no qualms about conducting weddings or commitment ceremonies for any couple. I am happy when any two people find love together, whether they be male and female or two males or two females. Love is love.
