There’s a troll who always tries to comment on my articles. I’ve tried to permanently ban him, but because Disqus can be a bit buggy, he’s only got a shadow ban (meaning: to him, it looks like he can post, but others can’t see his comments). Good enough, I guess.
Anyway, the other day, he tried to post the following, and instead of simply deleting it, I decided to write a response. Here’s his comment:
All lgbtq sexual relationships will put every one of them in the lake of fire, married or not.
Romans 1:24-32.
First off, that’s not what Romans 1:24-32 says. Paul doesn’t use the “lake of fire” imagery here. That’s more from the book of Revelation. But I know what this commenter is basing his logic on: LGBTQ folks won’t inherit the kingdom of God, which means the only place for them to go is in the lake of fire.
The obvious problem with this theology – as if there is only one problem – is that it’s not found in the passage, or anywhere in the Bible for that matter. There is not one instance where LGBTQ folks are condemned for their sexual orientation or gender identity. Not one. There is, of course, condemnation of certain sexual acts, but that’s more about condemning coercion, not homoerotic sex as such.
Secondly, what so many miss about Romans 1 is that Paul isn’t putting forth his theology here. Instead, he’s setting up a rhetorical argument between himself and those who are preaching an exclusivist, wrath-filled Gospel. And he’s doing it sarcastically, sort of how Stephen Colbert portrayed himself in The Colbert Report. The point Paul is making in Romans 1 has nothing to do with the list of vices in verses 24-32; it has to do with being hypocritical. That’s why he begins Romans 2 with, “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.”
The point here is simple: Don’t be a hypocrite unless you want to be condemned by your own internal logic.
Lastly, and this really has nothing to do with the Bible, but it is something I can’t help but think about. Why is the God of such a vast universe so concerned about what a gay couple, for example, does in their bedroom? I know a lot of gay folks, many of them in long-term, committed relationships, and you’re really going to sit here and tell me that the God of the infinite universe, with its billions and billions of galaxies, is really mad that two dudes have consensual sex? So mad, in fact, that they have to spend eternity roasting in a lake of fire? That’s preposterous!
If God is really like that, then God is not worthy of worship. God is not worthy of praise. God is not worthy of admiration. Nothing. He would be no better than a ego-driven tyrant who invades other countries, no better than the dictator who tortures others in the name of racial purity, no better than the cross-burning racist who dons a white hood.
But alas, this is the very God so many Christians claim to worship on Sunday. It’s sad, really, that so many would placate this tyrant of a God, without so much as a second thought.
To the commenter and everyone like him: I pity you. Your God is so small, so pathetic. He belongs in the dustbin of history, or perhaps thrown in the same volcano his sacrificial victims ended up in. Better yet, your God belongs in the same lake of fire you would like to see all LGBTQ folks in.
Selah.
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