I want to thank the Lincoln Hall RA who organized the panel discussion on homophobia. I always find the discussions very enlightening and somewhat spirited. I wanted to make some observations about some issues that were raised by those participating.

First, the church has fallen painfully short of teaching people what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself” (yes, the homosexuals are our neighbors). I for one have done my best to repent of judgmental attitudes toward homosexuals, although I do try to “speak the truth in love” when it comes to critiquing their justifications for their life-style and agenda. If I am branded a homophobe for offering valid, fact-based critiques, then so be it.

Second, the desire by some to keep the Bible out of the discussion was nothing short of an attempt to bridge the First Amendment rights of those who felt such issues were relevant. I have spent five years studying this issue, so I think I have something to offer. When one of the homosexual panel members said Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their “inhospitality”, he failed to read Jude 7: “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” This is not to say that all homosexuals are necessarily hellbound, that is ultimately God’s decision; but it does betray the lie of their “theology.” By the way, the “men” with whom the men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to have sex were “messengers.” The word is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to men as well as angels.

Third, marriage, by definition, is the covenanted union of a man and woman before God. The consummating act of intercourse in marriage is the only act of sex sanctioned and declared sacred by God. All other acts of sex are corruptions of His plan and design for humanity (see Leviticus 18). If two homosexuals want to covenant to live together forever, I say let them. But do not call it marriage. Invent some other word for it. And do not expect to receive the same blessing, sanction, or privileges for such a covenant, because it is not and can never be the same as heterosexual marriage. It is, to use a cliche, like comparing apples to oranges.

Finally, on the AIDS issue, I fail to understand why the homosexual and promiscuous heterosexual community insists on continuing the behavior which puts them at risk for the disease. Condoms are not safe: Planned Parenthood reports a 22 percent failure rate for condoms among college students for pregnancy alone; a 1988 UCLA study even concluded that condoms do not stop the spread of AIDS. If you want to stop the spread of AIDS, for the most part a behaviorally transmitted disease, you must stop the behavior. Period.

I do not write this out of condemnation. I write this out of a desire to share the facts and information I have discovered as a result of my nearly five years of study on this issue. Indeed, I am still learning, and hope to learn even more as I continue to serve God here at NIU.

Scott Stocking

Christian Campus Ministry