The Bible and Homosexuality - Adam and Eve

In my post "The Christmas Season and My Quest for Answers" I wrote about making it my New Years Resolution to read the Bible and learn first hand what it says about homosexuality.  Though I will be reading the entire Bible I will be highlighting the key points here in my blog.  Basically, I will write about every story or quote that has ever been used to condemn homosexuality and I will be exploring it as it was originally meant to be understood as well as giving you my own interpretations.

Of course, the creation story is the first we come across and one of the most widely used.  I'm sure we've all heard the quote "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."  And that's exactly how they tell the story, God made Adam and Eve, as if that's all there is to it but the Bible says that at first God just made Adam.  It was only after Adam got lonely that God decided to find Adam "an help meet."  It was at that point that God told Adam to pick his help meet from all the animals, but Adam said that none of them were right.  Later, when Adam was sleeping God took one of Adam's ribs to form Eve, a being that was the same as him, to be his help meet.

There are a few key points that I'd like to make.

First, God didn't create Eve because it's what he wanted.  He did it because it's what Adam wanted.  Eve was a blessing from God to make Adam happy.

Second, we need to analyze what is "an help meet?"  It can roughly be translated to mean a helper, but a helper of what?  My Bible has a section at the beginning of Genesis that gives special notes to the reader to help them in understanding be meaning of the stories.  One of them says that life is a love relationship with God.  If that's true then our helper would be someone who brings us closer to God and helps us love him better.

Third, God never set any boundaries on who could be Adam's helper.  God gave him his choice of everything that was currently available.  It just so happens that there were no other humans at the time and animals can't be our helpers because they don't think on the same level as us.  I believe that while Adam was asleep God took that opportunity to look into his heart and find out who he wanted.  It just happened to be Eve.  I believe God does the same for us.  He looks into our hearts and finds out what our needs and wants are and leads us to the person that is our perfect helper.  Just as God didn't set boundaries on Adam he also doesn't set boundaries on us.

We just need to keep three guidelines in mind to help us find that perfect helper.  First, we need to find a human.  That means no beastiality.  Obviously, animals can't be good helpers on our life's mission.  Second, that person needs to make us happy.  Third, through that happiness that person should bring us closer to peace and love and therefore closer to God.

The bottom line is, if we do not allow ourselves to find out true helpers then we are denying God's greatest gift and our lives and our worship will suffer as a result.  I don't see how any of this has to do with sex or gender or sexuality.

Next:  Sodom and Gomorrah 

The Christmas Season and My Quest for Answers

During this Christmas season I started to think a lot about religion; how it is incorporated into our daily lives, how we perceive it, and how we use it to judge others.  It is our greatest foundation for our moral compass, but it is also the root of much bigotry, fear, and intolerance.  Why, in a book that features the word love more times than a romance novel, do we imagine such a hateful message.
Of course I am speaking from the standpoint of a transgendered person, an idea that the Christian church would not uphold.  There are a few exceptions and some progressive churches but I am speaking about the collective majority.  In their eyes I am merely a confused, lost woman seeking solace in the sinful pleasures of lesbianism.
Therefore, I have made it one of my New Year's resolutions to explore Christian views of homosexuality.  In my search I will explore where exactly it is that the Bible condemns homosexuality, if transgender persons are mentioned, and what the Bible verses actually mean.
Will I find that homosexuality is truly a sin according to the Bible?  I hope not.  I hope that I find love and acceptance for all God's children as I have heard so much before.  I pray that scripture has been misconstrued and misinterpreted and that I can, in my own small way, help to bridge the gap between the gay and straight communities.
Either way, I still want to wish you a Merry Christmas (or a Happy Holiday at least) and a Happy New Year!