I actually have been hearing quite a bit about this subject, what Jesus would do concerning gays, if he were around today. It is hard to provide cites (much of it is on TV–like Real Time with Bill Maher just tonight). But I just tell you straightforward what I have heard.
Jesus never mentioned homosexuality. Actually, the strange divisions we now have in sexuality is rather a new thing (I heard on the History Channel, a while ago). But he never mentioned what we would call gay sex acts, in any event.
Also, Jesus was very non-conventional. He said things no one ever said before (like love those who hurt you, instead of ‘an eye for an eye’ like people thought at the time). If he were around today, he might even endorse gay marriage. Why not?
Also I got this study guide for ethics a while ago (so sorry, no cite), that said many of the old moral rules we follow today, may in fact be anachronisms. In other words, they were established for concepts and beliefs we no longer have today or that no longer apply. People, for example, used to believe a little baby was to be found in a man’s ‘seed’. So things like coitus interruptus and even masturbation could be tantamount to murder. We now realize a man’s semen does not contain a little baby. Also (in RC HS like the previous), they taught us that adultery was really a property crime. Men were never punished for it. It was always the woman who was. And it also was a paternity issue too, that modern technology has also made obsolete.
Finally, I am a bit agnostic myself. But I guess the premise is that Jesus was really the Son of God. Or at least he was divine-sent, in one way or another (use your imagination:)).
So what do you all think? What would Jesus do regarding gays, if he was around today:)?
EDIT: BTW, this discussion is open to agnostics and atheists too. Bill Maher is reportedly an atheist or agnostic. And as I said, I got some of my material for this from him too.
Upon seeing that a guy was about to hurl a rock at a gay person’s head, Jesus would presumably tell said guy not to hurl said rock; I could elaborate. If a question then comes up about whether one should forgive any trespasses by a gay person, Jesus would presumably reply in the affirmative — helpfully adding that, if a gay person smacks you upside the head, you should let him do that again. And so on.
I think it wouldn’t matter what Jesus, or any other religious figure, would say if they were around today. People believe the way they do and then project that onto the Bible, Koran, Torah, etc. Nancy Pelosi and Clarence Thomas both read the same Bible. Ilhan Omar and the clerics of Saudi Arabia read the same Koran. Bernie Sanders and Benjamin Netanyahu are both Jewish. People believe what they want to and then see that in their religious texts. It wouldn’t matter what Jesus, Mohamed, Moses, or any other historical religious figure said if they were around today.
Jesus is supposed to return one day. I wonder if all Christians would even recognize him.
“That long-haired commie pinko coastal elite has got some nerve, calling himself ‘Jesus’. Where’s his semi-automatic rifle? Where’s his MAGA hat? Where’s his ‘fuck your feelings’ t-shirt? That guy ain’t the Jesus I know! He’s probably an illegal alien! LOCK HIM UP!”
Better yet: “That long-haired commie pinko coastal elite black bitch has got some nerve, calling herself ‘Jesus’. Where’s her semi-automatic rifle? Where’s her MAGA hat? Where’s her ‘fuck your feelings’ t-shirt? That N****r cunt ain’t the Jesus I know! She’s probably an illegal alien! LOCK HER UP!”
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Yeah, my understanding is that homosexuality as an orientation, a matter of identity apart from behavior, “wasn’t a thing” back then in the old days. It wasn’t how people thought. One might even be able to argue that the Bible says nothing at all, anywhere, about homosexuality as we understand it today. But in any case, you’re right: Jesus never mentioned it.
Yes he would love them. Jesus reached out to and embraced the social outcasts of his day — women, tax collectors, prostitutes, and others. He would do that today. And he wouldn’t tweet about it, his followers would want to but he’d tell them to wait and not tweet until his time had come. After he’d be crucified (or today, what? death by injection? electric chair?), his followers would be afraid and would not be tweeting, not until he rose from the dead, came back alive, ate wth them, and hung out with them. That’s when they’d tweet about him.
What would he be crucified for today? Seems to me, his ideas in today’s world would be quite welcome and very non-controversial. Even if he leveled criticism at the Church - who hasn’t at this point?
Perhaps the state wouldn’t execute him, but there are plenty of wackos with guns to do that kind of dirty work. I’m not a Christian (or religious at all), but I’ve often thought of MLK’s fate as a pretty good indicator of how we’d respond if Jesus came back in modern times.
If he set foot in certain areas of the country he would certainly be killed by Evangelicals/Fundamentalists upset about what he had to say on a variety of topics. Whether it would be done by the State is arguable but the way we are headed it isn’t hard to imagine. It wouldn’t take much for legislatures in certain states to enact laws making it a capital offense to protect certain groups like gay people. Or women who have had abortions. Or Muslims and other non-Christians.
The idealized Jesus portrayed in the Bible would today be regarded, at best, as an unpatriotic socialist hippie bum. But the real (historical) Jesus also included the element of being a revolutionary fighting against the dominant state power. Put all of that together, and Jesus today would be on the FBI watchlist in a heartbeat, probably jailed for treason within months, and subjected to the modern-day version of crucifixion, possibly by being sent to Guantanamo Bay.
