Homosexuality is Not a Sin -- Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Yesterday, our congregation overwhelmingly encouraged me to write a letter to The Citizen in order to offer our viewpoints on Christianity and the issue of homosexuality.

The impetus for this letter is a flyer that our music director found in the front door of his Alta Vista home. It was not in his post box, and so was obviously hand-delivered.

We were greatly saddened and surprised to see the content of this flyer. In one page, the author uses many derogatory terms and phrases to describe homosexuals.

He suggests homosexuality is not morally acceptable, and that “true Christianity, and the major world religions, have both historically and in this politically correct age, continue to condemn homosexual behaviour as unnatural and contrary to the will of God.”

Our congregation wants to offer an alternative view. We believe that sexuality is a gift of God. On the extreme ends of the sexuality continuum, some persons are attracted to the opposite sex and some people are attracted to the same sex. There are also bi-sexuals, transsexuals, asexuals and others somewhere on this continuum. We believe God has created a rich variety of diversity in the realm of sexual attraction.

Sexuality is a beautiful expression of intimacy between humans, a vehicle to express love, respect, honesty, sensuality, and joy. As a church that takes the Bible seriously, but not literally, we believe Biblical statements that condemn same-sex relationships (of which there are very few) are not congruent with the way of life Jesus espouses. As in many other aspects of the Bible, modern believers have decided that contemporary faith is not necessarily ruled by ancient precepts.

Many statements in this flyer are so negative and untrue I do not want to repeat them but I need to share a few in order to give you a flavour of his hateful comments.  He wrote things like, “Homosexual sex is dangerous!” “Putting children in homosexual households is child abuse!”  “Homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorders can be overcome! No one is born “gay” and it is impossible to be a woman born into a man’s body or vice versa.” It goes on and on with a vitriol that is alarming.  Yet, it is signed by Bill Whatcott at 306-821-0797 or email: billwhatcott@gmail.com. Apparently, Mr. Whatcott has gotten into trouble because of these types of comments in Saskatchewan.  His flyer says he is to appear in front of the Supreme Court of Canada fighting for the legal right to “criticize homosexual behaviour.” His disdain for the legal system is evident when he calls the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal a “homofascist kangaroo court.”

We believe each human being is special and a child of God, loved and cherished for who they are. God does not desire anyone to be more or less than their True Self, sometimes referred to as the soul. As residents of a diverse planet full of countless species, we celebrate all diversity and long for truth and understanding so that the hate of “difference” can be overcome.

At Glebe-St. James United Church, all persons are welcome. We are trying hard to lift the perceived barriers to full participation in our community. Our creed says that we are to work for justice and resist evil. In this case, we want to stand up and clearly say what we believe.

We do this by taking the Bible seriously when it says to love our neighbours as ourselves. We don’t believe in name calling and we hope that any kind of bullying or derogative labels will not be acceptable.

To the LGBTQ crowd, God loves you for who you are where you are. Believe it, and don’t let anyone tell you that homosexuality is a sin. It’s just not true. A young boy in Kanata needed to hear this message but unfortunately for him, it is too late. It’s not too late for anyone reading this letter.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Christine Johnson and the congregation of Glebe-St. James United Church

                650 Lyon Street South, Ottawa

            613-236-0617 (office)

            613-889-5046 (cell)