Given the nature of today’s debate surrounding gay marriage, it is quite common to hear the following question: “Why is it that Christians who oppose racism and bigotry in the church don’t see the hypocrisy in being equally opposed to homosexuality in the church? For example isn’t opposing gay marriage it’s own form of bigotry and discrimination?”

This is a good and fair question and deserves better treatment than it usually gets from the average pulpit.

Today I heard a thought-provoking answer as to why Christians don’t see an alleged contradiction in opposing both racism and homosexual behavior (as opposed to disposition).

“The reason we are against racism is because a person’s race is sacred. A person’s ethnicity is sacred. You cannot violate it. My race is sacred; your race is sacred; I dare not violate it. The reason we react against the issue of homosexuality the way we do is because sexuality is sacred. You cannot violate it. How do you treat one as sacred and desacrelize the other? Sex is a sacred gift of God. I can no longer justify an aberration of it in somebody else’s life than I can justify my own proclivities to go beyond my marital boundaries.

Every man here who is an able-bodied man will tell you temptation stalks you every day. Does it have anything to do with your love for your spouse? Probably not, because you can love your spouse with 100% desire to love the person, but the human body reacts to the sight entertained by the imagination and gives you all kinds of false hints that stolen waters are going to be sweeter. They are not. They leave you emptier. So a disposition or a proclivity does not justify expressing that disposition and that proclivity. That goes across the board for all sexuality.”[1]

Though I agree with this quote I would also argue that much of Christendom’s intense campaign to enter the political fray and legislate their sacred views on sex and marriage upon a secular populace because it is our Christian duty is ill-conceived from the outset. Usually a strategy or approach that is ill-conceived is strewn with sticky tar and pitfalls that unfortunately ensnare the well-meaning efforts of the sincere. I hope to write more on this in my upcoming post: “Gay Marriage, Gay Bashing–both Desacralize what is Sacred.”

[1] The quote is by the Indian American author and speaker Ravi Zacharias. He goes on to add further insightful remarks. You can watch the video recording of his answer in full here.