Sex is a big deal today. Sex is promoted on the media through movies and in talk shows. The sexualization of modern society is a key aspect of modern Hedonism. The escalation of sensuality is an addiction that produces less and less satisfaction, leading to a banal existence centered on personal pleasure. Even expressions such as “get laid” point out this consumeristic modern perspective. Sex is something you get.
Sex is politicized by activist groups. Gay pride has come out of the closet, introduced new books to elementary schools, and become a powerful political force. In the last decade we legalized same sex marriage, changing the definition of an institution that is thousands of years old, basic to our humanity and the reproduction of our species. How did we ever live without this “freedom”? How did we arrive here?
Sigmund Freud led the way, by advancing the theory that many psychological problems were caused by the repression of sexual desires. Pornography, contraception, and feminism have shaped modern society. Then LGBT political movements have shaped laws and values in recent decades.
The Trap of Sexual Identity
“Queer Theory aims to modify or unmake the concepts of sex, gender, and sexuality. It neglects true reality, that humans are a sexually reproducing species.” (Cynical Theories pp109-110) Today sexual identity is considered permanent like race, from birth. This is a deception and a trap.
First, because the person himself is trapped. If a guy experiences same-sex attraction, or the desire to act like the other gender, or an adult comments on her masculinity, the need to explore or discover the person’s true identity becomes an issue. To reject this identity means to deny one’s feelings, according to popular thought.
Second, if the identity is permanent, then those around them, friends and loved ones, are powerless to intervene. “It is your destiny Luke.” Who can argue with destiny? Anyone who doesn’t confirm this identity, just doesn’t understand. They are outsiders. Their input and authority is quickly discounted.
This deception has a political agenda. Diversity is the big buzzword of postmodernism. To avoid totalitarianism postmodernists celebrate a diversity of communities and their language games. In reality though, only select groups are singled out to represent diversity; certified victim groups base on things like race, gender, and sexual identity. As in Marxism, some group is said to be victimized and oppressed. This politicized approach drives typical university campuses and has great political power. An article in the Atlantic observes that “political correctness morphed into a tyranny of speech codes, sensitivity training, and book banning.” Diversity has become a coercive new form of tyranny, rather than a safeguard for liberty.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett was harshly criticized for referring to “sexual preference” instead of the latest politically correct term of “sexual orientation” in the hearings that affirmed her as a supreme court justice of the US. “Sexual preference is an offensive and outdated term!” Senator Hirono scolded Barrett saying, “sexual orientation is a key part of a person’s identity” and “sexual orientation is both a normal expression of human sexuality and immutable”, a key part of the majority’s opinion in the Obergefell decision. Immutable? That sounds rather hopeless.
Scholars keep adding new sexual orientations to the list, while more than a few experts are questioning whether it exists at all. What about Pedophilia? Must a sexuality be socially acceptable to be a genuine orientation? This is not a new question.
The last 50 years have brought tremendous changes to the way we think about sexuality, but documents describe same sex relationships in ancient Greece. Such relationships did not replace marriage between a man and a woman, but occurred before and beside it. Men could seek adolescent boys as partners, often these were even favored over women.
What does the Bible say about questions of gender, identity, and LGBTQ?
Ancient Corinth was sex city. Between two major harbors, one on the Aegean Sea and the other on the Ionian Sea, Corinth was always full of sailors. Sex was a big part of the culture with both public temple prostitutes and more expensive private sex for hire. Paul writes to Corinth, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-10)
Please notice that homosexuality is listed by Paul, along with a lot of other evils. It wasn’t omitted from the list, even though it was accepted in society, nor was it highlighted as the most heinous of sins. Homosexuals are listed along with adulterers, thieves, drunkards, and even con artists. In many popular movies today the hero may be any one or all of these. Notice these are listed not just as behaviors but identities. If you steal, you are a thief. If you have an affair outside your marriage vows, you are an adulterer. According to the Bible, your behavior gives you an identity.
But Paul doesn’t leave us there. His next sentence gives us hope, beautiful, powerful hope. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:11) Identities, including sexual identities, can be changed, transformed! No matter where you have been, what you have done, who you have become, God is able to set you free and cleanse you. But Paul then urges his audience to not take this new identity for granted. “Flee immorality.” (6:18). When God frees you from these addictions, don’t get sucked in again.
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