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What would Jesus do? He’d march in the Pride parade

MICHAEL COREN CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST is a Torontobased

Not so long ago, the letters WWJD seemed to be emblazoned everywhere — on the backs of cars, at sports events, on flags and T-shirts. They stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” Not really my style, but during Pride month it’s worth asking the question.

What would Jesus Christ do? Simple. He’d wave the rainbow flag and march in the parade.

I say this as a 62-year-old straight, married, ordained Christian cleric, and one who until around eight years ago opposed equal marriage and was considered an opponent of the LGBTQ community. But people change, thank God. Literally in my case, thank God.

If we study it, the theology is entirely clear, which may surprise some people. Jesus doesn’t refer to what we now define as homosexuality (a word not coined until the 19th century), and lesbianism is never mentioned in the Old Testament. When St. Paul writes on the subject, he condemns straight men using boys for sex — usually in pagan initiation rituals — and not people of the same gender having loving relationships.

As for the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, it wasn’t linked to sexuality until the medieval period. If you doubt me, read the Bible. Ezekiel: “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.”

Those few prohibitions that do exist in the Hebrew Scriptures are part of an ancient guide for an ancient people, and also restrict certain combinations of cloth and the eating of various foods — all considered irrelevant in modern Christianity.

They also, by the way, justify selling one’s children into bondage. If we’re to take the Bible seriously, which I most certainly do, we can’t always take it literally. God is too clever for that.

There is one story in the Gospels, however, that might be relevant. Jesus is approached by a centurion; the Roman explains that his slave, whom he loves dearly, is dying. Would Jesus heal him? He does so, and praises the man’s devotion. Based on the specific Greek words used, and the mocking attitude 1st-century Jews had toward their oppressors regarding their sexuality, it’s highly likely that those who witnessed this, and those who read about it in the early church, would have assumed that the two men were in a same-sex relationship.

Isn’t it interesting what happens when we understand the context and history of scripture, and read it without preconceptions and prejudice?

But there’s more to it, more to why Jesus would be with those celebrating Pride, and not those opposing and protesting. He stood with the oppressed, the rejected and the marginalized. He criticized the legalists, the judgmental and the pedants who twisted holiness into hatred. He preached a shining new message of love, justice, tolerance and change. That’s the euphoric quintessence of that Jesus song, the melody of the Gospels.

The time will come when organized Christianity will look back to its homophobia with shame, just as it looks to racism as a filthy stain and sometimes an open wound. Many churches have already moved on, apologized, and now work to repair the damage they caused. But, tragically, not enough of them.

It matters because so many people have suffered for too long, and still face horrendous persecution and violence in large parts of the world. This outrageous obsession shames Christianity. We as Christians can’t speak of revolutionary love if we embrace reactionary bigotry, and even now there are many in the church — some of them with political influence even in Canada — who believe that people can be “converted” from who and what they are, as if there is something wrong and bad about them. God forgive such malice!

WWJD — What Would Jesus Do? He’d remind us that we’re supposed to work to become more like him, not try to make him more like us. He’d say it’s not who we love but that we love that matters, and that authentic faith is about acceptance, not exclusion. Pride should remind Christians of that, if we’re willing to look, listen and learn.

OPINION

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2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://torontostar.pressreader.com/article/281775632118859

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