The Whole [Christian] Argument is Based on a Belief that Homosexuality is Wrong. Why Is It Wrong?

A day after the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage I had a friend who was pro-gay marriage ask the following valid (exceptionally so) question about my belief. It was an honest question about what he viewed as inequality and it deserved an honest heartfelt loving answer.

The whole [Christian] argument is based on a belief that homosexuality is wrong. Why is it wrong? If God does hates homosexuality. What's the reason? 

He asked a extraordinarily insightful and important question. So much so I actually wrote a response to it because I love him as I love all people. I re-post it here on my blog. Every Christian better have an answer for this question or they have no right to stand opposed to homosexuality theologically or intellectually because they haven't even formulated their own arguments. This is intellectually disingenuous and frankly not very thought-out. We have an obligation and are commanded to have a defense for our faith and all the beliefs it entails. Some of the emotive knee-jerk reaction on Facebook from some of my "Christian" brethren about this ruling is breath-taking in its ignorance.

1 Peter 3:15 ~ “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

Acts 17:2 ~ “As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures”

Please keep in mind this was originally a response on Facebook.

When it comes to discussing our faith, Paul reasoned with them from Scriptures. The word reason here means “through said” or talk through things. He talked through his logic and reasoned with them aloud. In other words he used dialectic. Dialectic being the art of investigating or discussing the truth of ideas or opinions. It is also the inquiry into metaphysical paradoxes and their solutions (as here). I will do the same in this post in writing to answer the aforementioned question.  

My stance on this issue is based in the character of God as revealed in the Bible. If God is God, he would need to be omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipotent, etc. If He is all knowing and all powerful it would stand to reason that he is also all-just or he by his nature couldn't actually be God. If he is these things (which logic dictates he needs to be), any text he inspires/tells people to write would therefore be inerrant and if he is all powerful the text would be preserved through that omnipotence. That text as best I can tell is the Bible because of how it accounts reality. 

This leads to your statement which is correct. The God of Christianity has said it is wrong. God actually views it as an abomination or a twisting of natural order (Romans 1). In Christian understanding God created the world (Genesis 1). He really has commanded certain things (no I don’t always know why including now). If He is truly perfect, I am morally obligated to do certain things and not to do others, because I view him as correct about what he has deemed moral or immoral. If he is perfectly just…he would know what is immoral or sin. Morality isn’t just in your mind. It’s real. When we fail to keep God’s commandments, we are morally guilty before Him and need His forgiveness. The problem isn’t just that we feel guilty; we really are guilty. I might not feel guilty because I have a seared conscience; but if I’ve broken God’s law, I am guilty.  

Today so many people think of right and wrong, not as matters of fact, but as matters of preference. This is philosophically incorrect. It is believed there is no objective truth only relative truth. This is also philosophically wrong. 2+2=4. That is an absolute. Morality/ethics says that there indeed has to be right and wrong. Your conscience tells you this. Who better to determine that than a perfectly just ethical being? The Christian God. Conversely, if there is no God, than every atheist I know is correct. In the absence of God everything becomes relative. The old saying in the book The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880) also becomes true: "If God does not exist, anything is permissible." This includes murder, cannibalism, rape, torture, etc. Who can then say anything is wrong without an absolute measure of morality? Answer: No one. Who defines normal? A flawed man/woman as in the case of the Supreme Court? That is still an imperfect judgment tainted by bias and presuppositions (and sin). 

In other words the idea of moral obligation is true no matter what your religion. Even the basis for the same-sex marriage decision was based in “cultural” ideas of “justice” and “equality” (which makes them culturally relative). The question becomes…what is your basis for morality? What is your benchmark? You philosophically must appeal to an authority otherwise it is merely your “relative" opinion or a subjective truth. This is intellectually untenable. Society has appealed to the court in lieu of no other authority to appeal to other than their own emotions. I appeal to an authority outside of myself and then use the logical syllogism I just gave above as justification for my position. which is the greater authority? As a Sikh, you know the answer to that question. 

Again, if no moral God, than no moral divine lawgiver, then there is no absolute moral law…only relativism. I am not trying to be a smart ass here Monty but this is basic Philosophy 101 (Aristotelian and Socratic). If a perfectly moral just judge does not exist, right and wrong do not exist either. My understanding is that that God is in the Bible and he has deemed any sexual immorality including adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, pedophilia and polygamy an abomination. God defines it, he had his reasons. 

If we want to be able to make moral judgement in society about what’s right or wrong, we’ve got to affirm that a God exists. But then the same question we essentially started with—“Who are you to say that homosexuality is wrong?”—can be put back to you: “Who are you to say that homosexuality is right?” What makes it equitable? What makes it inequitable? To what moral authority do you appeal to? The supreme court of men or to a perfect God? These educated justices have violated elementary rules of logic to arrive at a morally dubious conclusion. 

The question of the legitimacy of the homosexual lifestyle for me is therefore a question of what God has to say about it. If there is no God, then there is no right and wrong, and it doesn’t make any difference what lifestyle you choose—the “persecutor” of homosexuals is morally equivalent to the advocate of homosexuality. Lord of the Flies. Dog-Eat-Dog. 

But if God DOES exist, we can no longer just rely on our own opinions. We have to determine what God thinks on the issue. How do I determine the mind of God? I read the Bible. The Bible tells us that God forbids homosexual acts. It also says that marriage outside of a one man and one woman is therefore...wrong. This does not make me a "hater". It makes me obedient to the Christian Holy Bible. Besides, with no moral absolutes, who is to convict me of my "wrongness"? 

So, to offer a valid and logical Christian syllogism: 

(1) As Christians we are all obey God’s will(2) God’s will is shown in the Bible.(3) The Bible forbids homosexual behavior.
(4) Therefore, homosexual behavior is against God’s will. Said another way, it is wrong.