If one is born with homosexual inclinations, should not one have the right and freedom to practice one’s natal inclinations? Pt. 7.
Dear Reader,
This is an excellent question because it brings to attention how moral judgments are to be made or adjudicated. Let me rephrase the question another way. If we grant that due to the effects of sin on our planet, including humanity, some defects in humans are manifested by an abnormal sexual desire for sex with the same gender, instead of a normal sexual desire for sex with the opposite sex, should such individuals be granted the conjugal rights (or according to our post-modern society, the promiscuous rights) to marry and be treated exactly as heterosexual couples?
In this sin filled world many individuals are born with particular defects. There are the hemophiliacs, the mentally affected like schizophrenics, and a host of other incapacities. Do these individuals have the rights and freedom to practice their orientations or feelings? Not always; and not without proper medication. However, the only safe way to answer this question, from my perspective, is by reference to God’s moral code which He has given to humanity.
In other words, if an individual with a birth defect, or an acquired defect in early upbringing, wants to know whether he has the right to put into action, or practice, his feelings, then such a person must first consider 1), the law of the land; and 2), God’s moral law. And if the person is not a believer in God, then he or she must always submit to the judgment of those who uphold God’s morality. Confusion arises when the State or country disregards God’s morality and upholds a secular, godless, relativistic, mentality.
The State, for example, has granted individuals the right to be publicly drunk and be potentially a threat to others and themselves; the State has granted individuals the right to smoke and to be potentially a threat to others, not to mention a definite danger to themselves; many States have also granted individuals the right to practice homosexuality in spite of the many adverse affects this practice carries with it. All of these moral choices are prohibited by God. Here is what God says in His Word, 1Corinthians 6:19, 20: What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which God has given to you, and that you do not belong to yourself? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Although a State might grant an homosexual the right to practice his inclinations, the individual is not free in the eyes of God to do so; because what determines a right course of moral action is not primarily man’s laws but God’s laws. God tells us to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.” Mat. 22:21. When, however, Caesar’s laws contradict God’s laws then the individual is bound to obedience by a higher law, the law of God.
To put it simply, then, when an individual is born with an unnatural sexual desire for persons of the same sex he is not allowed to consummate his feelings because God prohibits this type of sexual behaviour. However, God understands every persons’ dilemma, and has already made provision in Jesus to meet these situations and to deliver a person from the demands of a sinful life. Listen to this promise that God has give to all of us, found in Matthew 11:28-30: Come unto me, all of you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
God also tells us that His grace is sufficient for any eventuality. It is up to us to believe and be delivered. May God grant us the wisdom and strength to make right choices in spite of our incapacities. God bless.
Pastor Ron is a retired Adventist pastor. Reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com. with your comments.