Is God Gay?

"The Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; and He has brought us to... this land flowing with milk and honey." Deut. 26:5-9


"Faggot!!!"

That scathing remark will not just stop the insulted person on his tracks but anyone who hears it as well.

It is as if the scarlet letter F is not just forcefully sewn in one's garment but hotly branded in one's head at gunpoint as well.

It is as if it is a sin to be one. To be raised as one. To be born one.

This is not to take lightly and even set aside one's actions that are considered sinful.

This is about one's orientation, about one's personhood.

This is is to take up the rights of the marginalized.

And this is about God taking the side of the oppressed.

Some gay pride promoters desire that those who take their side are really on their side, in a very deep ontological level, in short, gay. Or else, one will be under suspicion, that one's stand is being used only for one's motives, political or otherwise.

And yet, that would be looking at things at a very superficial level, and one would miss the point actually. If a person respects you as a person, defends your rights as a human being, and sees you through God's eyes, do you ask him/her if he/she prefers chocolates or burgers? Would you rather be grateful and respect that person as well for the unconditional love that wells up from one's compassionate heart?

This may be seen as a revolutionary statement, a radical move, and not a few may contend that I may be reading too much on what was written.

And I hope to put it further.

In scriptures, we hold that God not only takes the side of the poor, he walks the extra mile - he puts himself in their place. And in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Mt. 25:31-46), our salvation then depends on how we treat the poorest and the most afflicted for who we dignify or degrade is not just the person but God himself.

May we then be the heart of God today, and may each of us, in our loving relationships, be blessed with the peace that the world cannot give.

"For, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever." Jer. 7:5-7