On 'Homosexuality': Towards a Queer Christian Sexual Ethic (original) (raw)

A Christian sexual ethic on homosexuality will take seriously into consideration the sources of its own theological-ethical system: Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. However, while we take seriously the insights of Scripture and tradition (and will use these sources throughout the study), the problem of this paper is more situated in the sources of reason and experience. Thus, the fundamental questions put before us are these: is homosexuality normal and is homosexuality natural? Homosexuality is normal in that it is not abnormal; it is not a psychological disorder, even though the anxiety of being homosexual in a culture where it is not accepted can become a neurosis or even a psychosis. Homosexuality is not normal in that it is not the norm; it is a minority position. Homosexuality is natural in that for many it is a state where one could not change without doing violence to oneself. Homosexuality is not natural in that it does not serve the biological purpose of procreation. However, homosexuality is supranatural in that it is a love that exists beyond the biological purpose of procreation and supranormal in that it is a love that manifests itself outside the norm of heterosexuality. No one can say that one loves another for the sole purposes of procreation, or that one loves within the limits of one’s society and culture; this is not the testimony of love. The task for Christian ethics is to recognize the dynamics of love within homosexual relationships, to develop a just ethic for an all-encompassing ethic of love for heterosexual and homosexual relationships, and to recognize the unique place and perspective of queer persons within the very same ethic.