[Clipping: Do Homosexuals Fit in Today's Church?] Part: 1 of 6
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Do Homosexuals
Fit In
Today's Church?
AMY CUNNINGHAM
"I'm not sure any human being can see the meaning of life and the
significance of experience within his own lifetime. If I were God, I could
condone homosexuality. But then, I'm not God. "
T hus an Oak Lawn minister defines his position on
homosexuality. Outside, the rain is slowing Cole Street
traffic; most of the cars are guided
by headlights even though it is four
o'clock in the afternoon. The wall per-
pendicular to the office window is
completely shelved in books. The room
seems cozy, even comforting. The rev-
erend holds a Bible opened to Genesis
18: the story of Lot's visitors from
heaven and the men of Sodom.
"The reason God has specifically
condemned homosexuality," he con-
tinues as he presses a burly forefinger on
the designated page, "is because it is a
perversion."
At this point, the phone rings.
"My receptionist is out for the after-
noon," he apologizes. "Hello, Yes, son.
What reel? In the garage? But that's my
best one. Look, I'll be home real soon,
okay?"
The reverend winks at his guest,
hangs up the phone and says, "One of
my boys found a fishing reel in the gar-
age. Where were we?"
"Perversion."
"Okay. It is written in the scrip-
ture that it's got to be one man, one
woman for a lifetime, as long as they
both-"
The phone rings again. "Hello,"
he says. "Sure I need some. Where are
you? How much? I'll try them on. Can
you return them? All right, then."
He winks again as he nestles them
receiver back into its appropriate
notch. "My wife is out shopping and
she found me some shoes. She was ex-
cited about it." He shakes his head as if
to say, "That crazy dame."
Already he has lost me. The most
flagrant flaw in a fundamentalist's stand
against homosexuality involves the ab-
18 October 1979
Vlo(o".N AM hZIJ6sence of pertinent scriptural reference. Here is a good man, a
fine man with a sweet wife, swell kids, a devoted congrega-
tion and an "I love America" penholder centered squarely on
his desk. His job is to interpret the Word of God. But can he
apply it to the Oak Lawn scene, the gay life between Fitz-
hugh and Cedar Springs? Can he sit by his window and
watch two men walking down the street
holding hands without shaking his
head in despair and disdain?
"God loves all men," he main-
tains. "He has not abandoned them,
but he has given them a guide. He
knows the consequences of such a sin
will be disastrous. Anything beyond
the sexual union of a man and woman is
a contradiction of the plan. It's for our
own good that God gives us prohibi-
tions. He knows human beings get
things out of focus. And we're not at-
tacking the individuals involved here.
We're attacking immorality. I can per-
sonally sympathize with the people
who are under this fixation. It's a
clear-cut case of the sickness being
caused by sin."
But nothing about homosexuality
is clear-cut, and the pervasive truth re-
straining full gay-acceptance is that the
psychological, biological and sociolog-
ical findings are inconclusive, subject
to gross manipulation and oversimplifi-
cation from all sides. No one really
knows why an individual becomes
homosexuallly-oriented, but everyone
has an opinion. One scientific study
will contradict the last before the re-
views of the latter are in print. Tes-
timonies from "ex-gays" compound
mass confusion. In the meantime, pa-
rents confronted by their adolescent's
"coming-out" confession react with jus-
tifiable emotion; the response ranges
from hysteria to quiet prayer. Recently
a local disc-jockey quipped during his
wake-up broadcast: "You know, it's
going to be a bad day when your son
says he wishes Anita Bryant would
mind her own business." The jokes fail
to relieve any tension when the predic-
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Cunninham, Amy. [Clipping: Do Homosexuals Fit in Today's Church?], clipping, October 18, 1979; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1954941/m1/1/?q=%22~1%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.