Cobb

But let us focus on the last item for this is the matter most of us associate with gay men. Let us, for the purposes of this discussion say that sodomy is the physical act of anal intercourse. A man puts his penis in someone elses anus, male or female. Is this sinful in and of itself? If a husband and wife do so and it is pleasing to both of them does that displease God? If the wife finds little pleasure in it but does so out of love for her husband is that sinful? If the wife does so but really does not like it at all but does so out of guilt is that sinful? It seems to me that God does not hate the act so much as the venal reasons for it in the cases where it is not an expression of mutual affection. One can provide Eros for another out of Agape.

When we think of the gay lifestyle, I think many find it offensive because it may often be exercised in defiance of all three sins. Cruising bath houses for sex in which there is no commitment is clearly fornication. I wouldn't expect that there is much kissing going on, so that this sex would much other than sodomy is probably out of the question. Gay men do indeed love each other and there's no question that adulterous treachery is a problem. Quite frankly, now that I think about it, the lack of consideration many gay men might have for their risk of STDs is foolish, perverse and selfish. I think that if we are called to judge, as Christians, the nature of the sins of gay men, then we must look at least this closely. Certainly our clergy must look closer.

I would add I am very much concerned with the role of the priest as a counselor and I do see a competition between that role and that of the modern day psychoanalyst. So I think that the Church should expect the clergy to understand as well as they can what the nature of the beast is. Is that being gay friendly? Yes. It is saying that a priest who condemns or ignores the human without close guidance, someone who merely throws the good book at them, is not fulfilling their role in maintaining the Body of Christ.

How is it that a gay man can lead as righeteous a life as a married man? Does it have to do with kind of sexual behavior they engage? Absolutely, but the devil is in the details. The Church has to go there even if most Christians are too skittish and disturbed by the prospects in the case of gay sex. But more importantly, does righteousness and repentance only have to do with what kind of sex they have? Not at all, and the sooner we can get this fixation out of our minds, the sooner we will be able to obey the commandment to love our brothers as ourselves.