The Bible explicitly condemns Sodom for its arrogance, inhospitality and apathy toward the poor - not for same-sex behavior.Ħ. It’s commonly assumed that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah out of his wrath against same-sex relations, but the only form of same-sex behavior described in the story is an attempted gang rape - nothing like a loving, committed relationship. Sodom and Gomorrah involved an attempted gang rape, not a loving relationship. Those harmful consequences should make Christians open to reconsidering the church’s traditional teaching.ĥ. The church’s rejection of same-sex relationships has caused tremendous, needless suffering to the LGBT community-bad fruit. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that good trees bear good fruit, while bad trees bear bad fruit. Condemning same-sex relationships is harmful to the LGBT community. Requiring that all gay people remain celibate is at odds with the Bible’s teachings on celibacy, which are grounded Scripture’s core affirmation that God’s physical creation is good.Ĥ. The Bible honors celibacy as a good way of living - Jesus was celibate, after all - but it also makes clear that celibacy must be a voluntary choice.
