‘shOUT, the gay-straight alliance of Wabash College, sponsored a panel discussion about the contentious dynamic between homosexuality and Christianity last Thursday in Lovell Lecture Room.
The four panelists included Dr. Stephen H. Webb, Professor of Religion and Philosophy, Reverend Jeff Miner, Senior Pastor at the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church in Indianapolis; Pastor John Grossman, Senior Pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Cincinnati, Ohio and father of Dan Grossman ’07; and Dr. Dan Rogers, Associate Professor or Modern Languages.
‘shOUT decided earlier in the semester to have a diverse panel to talk about an issue that would be both relevant and interesting to the gay and straight communities. ‘shOUT treasurer Stephen Ellis ‘09 moderated the event. The panelists were each given seven minutes to give their perspective on the larger question posed to them: “Can homosexuality be reconciled with Christianity or are they fundamentally contradictory?”
Dr. Webb was the first to give his perspective – he represented the Catholic view. He argued that society was bombarded by sexual messages and should reject being defined predominantly by sexuality. He mentioned the ex-gay movement and appealed for those on all sides of the issue to be tolerant even if they disagreed.
Reverend Miner gave the view of the issue from the stance of being a gay Christian who has been in a committed relationship for the past fifteen years.
He grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household in Action, IN and attended Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian school in South Carolina. He graduated from Harvard Law School and, while in Washington, found the Metropolitan Community Church. He went through clergy training and was ordained in 1997. Of all the speakers, he stressed that he was the only one for whom the discussion was personal. Miner used his time to bring up passages and words in the Bible that support the idea that homosexual acts with the proper context can be reconciled with Christianity.
Pastor Grossman represented the Evangelical view and made no apologies about it. “Homosexuality in practice is contrary to Scripture,” he said. Although he was emphatic about the immorality of homosexual acts, there were nuances to his perspective as well. He believes that homosexuals can reconcile themselves with Christianity but, that like other sins, it can only happen through repentance.
He stressed the idea that all men are sinners and that homosexuality is no different. To address the concern that homosexuals have no choice in how their attractions govern them, he shared the story of Charlene Cothran, the publisher of Venus Magazine.
The magazine was originally marketed toward gay African- Americans but that has changed as the publisher has changed in her view of the acceptability of same-sex relationships.
Dr. Rogers closed the first part of the discussion by sharing his personal experiences. He grew up as a Mormon and went on a mission in South America. He talked about growing up at a time when it was acceptable to be mean to gay people. That all changed for him when a good friend of his came out to him and expressed desires to take his own life.
Roger’s friend had been involved in the ex-gay movement at Brigham Young University. It was unsuccessful for Roger’s friend. Rogers is now an Episcopalian, and, because he is not a religion scholar, expressed his view of the dynamic between homosexuality and Christianity in a simple way, “I believe God created us,” said Rogers. “I believe homosexuality is not a choice. And that leads me to invite my brothers and sisters to Christ’s table.”
After each panelist gave his view on the issue, the audience was allowed to ask questions. The 60 or so in attendance were very eager to hear what the panelists had to say when elaborating on their positions. The event ended officially at about 9:30, but audience members stuck around for almost an hour afterwards
The discussion sparked the interest of the students in attendance.
“I really liked the variety of perspectives,” said Brock Johnson ’07. “But I wish they could have responded to each other a bit more.”
“I enjoyed the wide spectrum that was presented, especially Dr. Rogers,” said Forrest Craig ’10. “Having the personal testimony is very testing. It helped me sympathize with the issue.”
“I thought Mr. Grossman was fantastic, Webb was himself, Rogers had a good angle but didn’t fit, and [Rev.] Miner had a very interesting point of view,” said Anthony Noles ‘10. “It’s a tough thing to get your head around.”