I just watched this video, created by my employer (who I in no way represent on this blog). I would like to offer the following comments:
0. Do not misread me. Before I comment, I must (sadly) assure some of you that I am not a hate-filled bigoted homophobe. I am an evangelical Christian and I love my gay and lesbian friends. I am no better than anyone and wish only the best for them. No one should be harassed or endure physical violence for merely being different.
1.Homosexuality is not being different, it is acting different. The premise of this video is that homosexuals should draw encouragement from supportive communities and friends rather than give in to suicidal thoughts and feelings of hopelessness and despair. The assertion is that they have been targeted for being different, rather than acting different. It bears pointing out that homosexuality is recognizable by a person's actions (sex w/ someone of the same gender) not their state of being. In other words, homosexuality is a description of behavior, not of a person's biology, genetics, or whatever else is part of an individual from birth until death. Think about it, a man who is by all outward appearances heterosexual (he has a wife, has never slept with another man, etc) would not be taken seriously if he said he was gay. Flip it around, a guy who has sex with men, who isn't attracted to women, and who then denies he is gay would also endure some correction from his community. Even if you don't admit it, we all know that homosexuality is a behavior, a choice to have sex w/ members of the same gender. Until that happens you are not a homosexual. Because of that harassment toward homosexuals is not analogous to, say, racism or sexism.
2. Homosexual attraction is not homosexuality. Lest someone object "but they are only attracted to other men (or other women), they can't help that!" I must point out that there are many people who do not indulge every passing attraction and impulse. There are many people who feel homosexual attraction, who seek counseling and overcome those unwanted feelings without giving in to them. There are other people who struggle with unwanted homosexual attractions their entire life, who still refuse to indulge them. My friends, these folks are not homosexual, they illustrate the truth that homosexual behavior is a choice.
3. What if being (acting) different is wrong? This video is not alone in its failure to recognize the possibility that homosexuality is wrong. Many ethical and moral stances are presupposed in this video: homosexuality is right, bullying them is wrong, suicide is wrong... There was one interesting comment at 6:13,
One direction is not the only direction that you have to go in.And that there's no rule book that states "this is how life needs to be" and that its fine what you love and do what you love and you'll be happy.I wonder which rule book was in this gentleman's mind.... Clearly, the move toward accepting homosexual behavior as a part of a valid (moral) lifestyle must necessarily include ignoring what God has said about it. I get that. Maybe you don't care what God has said, maybe you don't even believe God has spoken (or maybe he doesn't exist at all). This is really where the issue gets sticky for my homosexual friends (and for their supporters who are not themselves homosexual). To state the problem succinctly: your moral judgments are %100 arbitrary.
In the secular worldview moral judgements are always arbitrary. Think about those snapshots from the lives of those folks toward the beginning of the video. They were gay or lesbian and were threatened or harassed for it. There were also the bullies who called names, who taunted, who punched them. Group #1 acted in one way, group #2 acted in a different way. Group #1 felt threatened by group #2, group #2 felt threatened (somehow) by group #1. Find me a morally objective way to make group #2 wrong without also making group #1 wrong.
If you are thinking that the homosexuals weren't hurting anyone then might I point out that you have no good reason to attribute the infliction (or prevention) of pain with moral qualities. If you want to borrow from the Christian worldview then maybe we can talk. But if you, like the gentleman quoted above deny the reality of an authoritative rule book on life then why make the person who causes pain the bad guy? Why not make pleasure immoral? If you have no rule book then what are you left with but your subjective personal feelings?
Perhaps you believe that the bullies were wrong because they acted on hatred. While it is easy to assert that someone harbors hatred against someone else it is just that, an assertion. We do not know why those folks decided to harass our friends in the video. Perhaps they loved to harass homosexuals. Maybe they were simply acting on an impulse to torment some gay folks. The gays have homosexual impulses and bullies have violent impulses (be they verbal or physical). If we have no rule book and we ought to do what we love so we can be happy, as our friend is quoted above, then why side w/ group #1 and not Group #2? What if the bullies loved bullying more than the gays loved being gay? Would it then be wrong to stand in the way of the bullies doing what they love?
I am not saying that secularists or non-Christians do not have morals, it is clear that we all do. What I am saying is that anyone who embraces the worldview held by those who made this video betray the very people whom they are seeking to help by failing to provide an objective moral standard for sexuality (in particular) and for behavior (in general).
Sorry, point 3 is way longer than the other points.... one more thought before point 4.
It is assumed that suicide is wrong, but how can that be taken seriously? If we should do what we love (from the no-rule-book quote) then what do you say to someone who would love to kill himself? Is that a good time to start flipping pages in the rule book you just told him to ignore? He has the gun to his head, his finger on the trigger and with all of his heart says he would love nothing more than to die. Would you not contradict yourself by insisting that he deny his suicidal impulse, deny him the one thing he would love, and to say he must remain in a world he hates (and, he believes, hates him). And all on your sincere promise that "It gets better"??? I would say "give me a break, you just contradicted yourself!"
What objective ground can be provided that makes one of these loves right and the other one wrong?
4. The video neglected to mention all of the options for struggling homosexuals. I shudder at the idea that any one of my co-workers who felt homosexual attractions and sought help from the company would be told he now had to choose between a life of despair, of suicidal impulses he may soon need to grapple with, and embracing homosexuality. I could be wrong (and would be happy to be proven incorrect here), but I do not believe they would be offered assistance in suppressing their homosexual attraction, even if they wanted to be rid of these new feelings.
The unspoken 3rd option: no longer be homosexual. It does not happen overnight. It is much easier said than done. People who were gay, lesbian, or bisexual can be healed (yes, i said "healed"). Through counseling, prayer, supportive church groups God can, and does, heal. This is a promise not only for homosexuals (lest it seem I am targeting only one group), but also drug addicts, porn addicts, violent people, angry people, thieves, and folks stuck in any other sin you can name.
5. "It gets better" is catchy, but vague. As mentioned above, it is the unquestioned assumption that homosexuals do not need to change, but rather they need to be accepted as homosexual and it will then begin to get better. My question: what exactly is the "it" that gets better? and who exactly gets to decide what qualifies as "better?' The video was produced by the Trevor Project, a group geared toward suicide prevention among LGBT teens and young adults. Is "better" simply not commuting suicide? The video urges homosexuals to surround themselves with supportive friends. Is "better" simply being accepted (a self-fulfilling prophecy)?
And what about the "it" that we are promised will get better? Life gets better? Relationships get better? Maybe, but those still are vague. I have a difficult time understanding how life has any value at all within the secular worldview on display in our video above. Christians have a good reason to value life, we know that all humans (regardless of how they behave sexually) are made in the image of God. Secularists who ignore rule books value life also, but why? Every secularist knows that death occurs in 10 out of 10 people, it is universal! Why value life then if death is inevitable? For that matter, why prevent someone from causing their own death? Because you arbitrarily value life, so much so that you feel the need to impose that value on someone who holds to different values?
6. Concluding Thoughts
If you were in the market for a boat, a really nice one, and your sales person showed you some of your options and you end up buying what you think is a pretty nice boat. You set sail and meet some other boat owners... with much nicer boats. After inquiring where they purchased their vessels you discover that you had been deceived (possibly by the dumbest sales person ever) for you had wanted a nice, expensive boat to meet all of your seafaring needs and he undersold you. Something similar is going on here. There are people who have homosexual impulses and are looking for answers. If your friends, your family, your community (or whoever) only provided you with some of the options, while strategically omitting another (much better) option, then how would you feel about that? Maybe you can relate, you have had homosexual impulses and decided to embrace them by forming a support group of friends and family who will tell you it is OK to be gay. You need to take a step back and explore ALL of your options. Get in touch with Exodus International, a Christian group that helps people who struggle with same sex attraction. Talk to a pastor or christian counselor who is committed to the preaching the Bible. Before you decide that this option is not viable, why not give it a try? What if it really does get better? What if there is healing available from The Healer?
I said at the beginning and I will say again to everyone who reads this, I love my homosexual friends. I love them so much that I am willing to risk telling them of this 3rd option. True love does not support a destructive or sinful behavior. True love sometimes means risking a bad reaction in order to see the other person get right with God and with them self. The most bright and pure display of true love was the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, in which he bore the punishment which his church had incurred. He is loved by some and hated by others. When you attempt to love someone you will not always get a positive response, but friends, do not give up! Some of your homosexual friends will consider what you have to say, others will not. Be vigilant to love them regardless.
What I wrote about conflicting worldviews is not rhetorical flare, it is the meat and potatoes of life. The Bible provides us with not only rules on how to live (and how not to live) but it presents us with the only consistent worldview. Competing worldviews, such as the secular worldview (and there is more than one, I understand that all secularists do not think alike) do not adequately organize the aspects of life to which they speak. They are inconsistent and arbitrary, my 3rd point is one example of this. God created the universe and all that exists, including humans. He exists as the rule-giver on how to think and act. His rules are grounded in nothing less than his own holy and perfect nature. For this reason, all areas of human existence (including sexuality) must be approached in this way: they are created by God with a purpose in mind. Ours is not to arbitrarily invent our own meaning and use for sexuality, but rather to prayerfully approach our creator and seek his wisdom and will for our sexuality.
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