A group of 260 churches founded in the United States since 1976 to help gay people overcome their “sexuality” through prayers was reportedly shut down recently after its leader offered an apology to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and admitted that he was attracted to men. The Christian ministry known as Exodus International based in Florida was until its closure the largest “ex-gay” ministry in the United States. The leader, Alan Chambers, who was a previously openly gay man, had married a woman and was appointed president of the ministry in 2001 but was never after all “cured” of being gay. He was reported to have written and campaigned extensively against homosexuality, but ultimately, it could be said that he attempted to “deliver” others without having first delivered himself. Still, it would take extraordinary courage to confront and lay bare one’s perceived error in the public.
Everyman and everywoman can draw allusion to himself and herself from this story; we can all look inward to examine the content of our apprehensions. Fear, they say, is borne out of guilt, but what about hatred? Is our hatred an indication of our affinity? An African proverb says what we hate outside is a reflection of what we hide inside. As none is born to hate, is not hatred, prejudice or bias something of a self-imposed burden from which we must hurry to free ourselves? What lies beyond all intellectual analyses?
Is there an incontrovertible spiritual viewpoint on the subject of homosexuality? Would it matter if it wasn’t for the fact that the physical form is not all there is to a person? When a human body is lifeless, is it not said that the person is “gone”? If the lifeless body is not the person, then where has she or he gone? Or is the “he” or “she” designation no longer relevant outside of the human body? Does the notion of sex go beyond the physical? What informs the incarnation that determines the sex on the one hand and the sexual orientation on the other hand, of a person? How can we recognize the scientific limitations or the spiritual authority on this subject? Can we gain an insight into the simplicity and logic of nature around us? Do we have to learn to read and write or listen to preachers before we can grasp the simple truths of life?
Is there an order in Nature? Is any such order observable? Could this order be disturbed by an individual or a group of people? Is there any consequence of the disturbance or distortion of the natural order? How could any such distortion affect our state of mind and our world? What are the consequences of the disturbance of natural order, or the violation of natural law? Would the consequences be comparable to what may be suffered by an individual who disturbs public order in society? It is possible to outwit the laws of society, but what about the laws of nature? Do we reap what we sow? When and how does a man or woman reap the fruit of a seed that will ripen for harvest only in two hundred years? Do we come back to the earth to finish any unfinished business of previous earth life? The consequences of our present thoughts, words or actions, when would they fully manifest?
Is there more to the male and female genders than meets the physical eye? In a married gay or lesbian couple why is there one party that is still considered “man” or “husband” and the other party “woman” or “wife” even though they are both of the same sex? Could it be a case of a man’s soul incarnated in a woman’s body and a woman’s soul in a man’s body? What could bring about the situation whereby a male soul is incarnated in a female body or a female soul in a male body? Could the surgical procedure for transgender be achieved alternatively through natural development? Is there a situation whereby a soul is incarnated or has developed midway in the transformation process? Is there any such thing as being transformed midway and attracted both ways? What about the seemingly compulsive attraction of woman with masculine characteristics to the effeminate man, or vice versa? Is it all a reflection of nature striving for redress and enforcing a balance? Is the female human born generally with finer physical features as opposed to the male human with rougher physical aspects?
Are there other features that are not apparent? What about the natural male and female hormones — are they developed according to the sexes or indiscriminately irrespective of sexes? Does it matter the blurring of lines between the sexes? Is there anything to the feminine and masculine embodiments, passive and active attributes, negative and positive paradigms, reserved and gregarious tendencies? Do we get to keep what we don’t use in nature? What would happen if a woman of finer outward features cultivates and develops rougher features instead? If she loses her finer features through excessive physical exertion, would it impact her physiology or does she remain essentially the same? Does the man also lose his masculine attributes out of disuse? Do all these bear any impact upon the soul? How and when is it revealed?
Is it a simple question of one and its opposite? Are there not many a case that is neither one nor its opposite? Who, where and how are we? Where do we come from? Where do we go to? How do we proceed? Are we altered, transformed, distorted, converted? How was it meant to be? What do we do now? Is there any guidance? Does any of these even come close to exhausting all the questions? Does anyone know it all? What is the relevance of our intuition and the power of good volition? Does every person not have to find his or her answer to his or her question? Are we not individually and collectively at liberty to exercise our free will? Are we loose upon a loose world without bounds? Does freedom not reside only in the fulfilment of responsibility and obedience of law? Must we not be mindful of the inalterable repercussions of our every thought, every word and every action?
