(Gay) People are really damaged.

Lie may be a little harsh - dissembling might be a better choice.  What?

Today's Gospel about the Centurion asking Jesus to heal his slave has been interpreted by some gay people as a gay encounter with Christ.  Writers suggest the Centurion and his slave were lovers, although there is absolutely no exegetical evidence for this claim.  The story is promoted by LGBTQ Christian group to illustrate how Christ approved of same sex relationships - or at least showed no objection toward them.  It's part of the new gay mythology or hagiography - which suggests various saints and martyrs were gay.

I've written about these things in the past so I'm not interested in spending time attempting to refute such claims.  I tend to find revisionist thinking rather annoying, but this morning I was struck by what it says about us - not just gay people, but all people who look for some sort of affirmation, validation, and approval of our fallen nature.  It is a deeply flawed, damaged person who needs to appropriate such delusional - disordered thinking.  The desperate are easily deceived.  The good news is that Jesus came to save us from all that... to undo the damage - to heal and restore.

I'm not patronizing or trying to be holier than thou when I say it, but I really do feel sorry for those of us who can be so easily misled by such distortions.  I can't help but recall what Paul wrote to the Galatians: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

Song for this post here.

Gay people tend to think everyone is gay.  It is why people are outed, or those who attempt to reform their lives, and even claim they are gay no more, are shamed when they fall from grace.  (Here's a thought - what if those people who say they are gay no more were never really gay in the first place?)

Yesterday I caught part of a PBS concert with 2Cellos,  a Croatian virtuoso cello duo, consisting of Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser.  I think Elton John discovered them and promoted them.  They are two lifelong friends who work together very well - so close they are like brothers.  Evidently everyone asks if they are gay - Elton says they are not.  People still think they are.  That is distorted, disordered thinking.  It is clear evidence of damage.  How we perceive others is based upon deeply flawed notions of friendship, especially same sex friendship, as well as human relationships in general.  Our understanding of love and affection is completely disordered, damaged by eroticism and the objectification of grace and beauty.

This is why gay-Christians can distort a simple Gospel story and translate it as Christ approving of homosexual acts and same sex marriage.  This is why I say (gay) people are deeply damaged - no matter how balanced they seem to be, no matter how successful they appear.

Trash your gaydar - it's flawed.