Queer As Folk

Twelve in12

Reading
Queen’s Play ~ Dorothy Dunnett
Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
Uther ~ Jack Whyte

Finished
Mirror, Mirror ~ Gregory Macguire
Witchling ~ Yasmine Galenorn
Changeling ~ Yasmine Galenorn
Something Wicked ~ Catherine Mulvany
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ~ J.K. Rowling
Myst: Book of Atrus ~ Rand Miller, Robyn Miller and David Wingrove
The Game of Kings ~ Dorothy Dunnett
The Other Boleyn Girl ~ Philippa Gregory

So tonight was an overnight laundry night.  I did it with LeeAndra and she brought Queer As Folk to watch while we worked.  She didn’t have season one, so she gave me a quick catch-up before starting season two.  And she was right.  I got addicted very quickly.  Those people could be my friends, my hang-outs, my drama.  I don’t mean I go through anything like the characters do, but the underlying themes of friendship, loyalty, love, forgiveness, hate, pain, etc.  Those things really resounded within me.

A big reason I’m not sure about going into seminary is my weak stance on homosexuality.  There is a lot of pressure in the Christian community to declare it a sin; and not just the crazy Bible-thumpers.  Deb is a strong believer that it is a sin, and will tell her friends this to their faces.  She is much more confrontational than I in that regard.  Partly because she is so much more firm in her beliefs.  I waver back and forth.  There is a part of me that says "Tab A goes into Slot B.  End of story."  I don’t really buy into the "sex is only for reproduction" phase because my parents have sex without the intent to reproduce and I don’t believe that to be a sin.  I know the Bible says that it is a sin for a man to lie with a man.  But it also says that touching the skin of a dead pig is a sin.  That working on the Sabbath is a sin.  That it is legal for a father to sell his daughter into marriage.  These laws are believed to be outdated.  So why is the law about two men not outdated?  I’m not sure this really makes sense.

A little Christian doctrine: I know that without the Law, there is no Sin.  The Law defines what is Sin by its existance.  With Sin comes punishment, a Debt – which is Death.  God sent Jesus to pay that debt for us.  Without the Debt, there would be no need for Jesus’ sacrifice.  Without the Sin, there would be no Debt.  Without the Law, there would be no Sin.  This is very basic and simplified doctrine, but this is the main idea.  Ancient Israelites gave sacrifices and offerings to God to pay for their sins, which were defined by the Law.  Ancient Hebrew law is extensive and exhaustive.  Most of it is no longer followed – like the laws about selling daughters into marriage, or stoning people for working on the Sabbath.  Who was it that decided what would remain a Law and what would not?  How come one Law is called outdated and antique and another Law is still followd?  So I don’t know about the law against a man and a man.  I’m just not sure.

Besides all that – If a person is not Christian, why should I demand they obey and follow Christian laws?  American Muslims who follow the laws about covering their heads do not demand non-Muslims also cover their heads.  I don’t believe in the Muslim laws, therefore I am not forced to follow them.  So why do Christians feel they can force their laws on other people?  Other people who don’t accept or believe in the same God.  That’s excatly like demanding every American cover their heads because it is a Muslim law.

So how do I deal with being a Christian and having gay, lesbian and bisexual friends?  Do I constantly tell them they must abide by the laws of my faith?  And if I did want the opportunity to talk to them about faith and religion, what would telling them off really accomplish?  They wouldn’t want to talk to me, or confide in me, or even listen to what I might say.

I don’t have all the answers or even the brain power to really consider the whole question right now.  I know this much.  I’m worried and scared that if I do go into seminary I will lose friends.  Either because I will change too much and become a different person; or they will think I’ve changed too much and no longer want to be my friends.  Though I suppose if they are going to write me off because of the school I choose to attend, they might not have been such good friends to begin with….