Re: Morality and the Good (was: Baha'i Faith and Gays)
Alfred D. Peters (adpeters@mit.edu)
Thu, Feb 2 1995 03:19:12 GMT
In article <1995Jan27.182743.15191@cs.cornell.edu> "William P. Collins" <collins1@mail.loc.gov> writes:
>Homosexual behavior is prohibited by God, according to the Baha'i
>teachings. All the discussion in the world will not change this.
>No Baha'i institution can, in good conscience, recommend that this
>be "changed" or "modified" so that people with homosexual desires
>can be supported in doing what they want. (Some of those with desires
>that are in opposition to Baha'u'llah's teachings will do what they
>want anyway. No one can stop them. But there are spiritual
>consequences). If what God wants is good, and one believes as a
>Baha'i that God has revealed through Baha'u'llah what He wants, then
>the prohibition on homosexual behavior is good and desirable, whether
>or not one agrees on the basis of modern liberalism.
I believe part of the reason this whole thread was started was because there
doesn't seem to be a good basis for the the stance the Bahai Faith has taken
on homosexuality. I have read previous posts showing two passages
from the Writings: One that talks about the "subject of boys" which was
interpreted to mean pederasty by context and later by Shoghi Effendi as
prohibiting homosexuality. The other passage prohibited sodomy.
And since the intrepretations of Shoghi Effendi are held in high regard,
this has become the policy of the Bahai Faith and homosexuality. But, the
actual meaning the Writings by themselves can be interpreted in different ways.
Shoghi Effendi may have interpreted it for us, but he did not give a good
reasoning behind it. And because there doesn't seem to be a good reason
to why the prohibition exists, gay people will fight to the intrepretation to
gain acceptance. This is why gay people seek to change the policy. Until
there is a clear prohibition written is stone by the Manefistation of God or
there comes a good reasoning behind the policy gay people will fight for
their right to be acknowledged. [see below -mod]
The Old Testament of the Bible has Leviticus 18:22 which is much harder
to refute since there is no need for intrepretation. It condemns male
homosexuality fairly obviously. However, if you study the New Testament,
Jesus Christ, one the world's former Manifestions of God, never says anything
for or against homosexuality. There is enough ambiguity in the Baha'u'llah's
Writings to warrent gay people to contest the validity of the policy of the
Bahai Faith.
So perhaps the discussion of the topic may not cause the Bahai policy on
homosexuality to change TODAY, but by discussing it openly it will cause
people to think about their positions, and perhaps this will affect a change
someday. But one could hardly be expected keep silent about this topic because
for as long there are gay people being born, they will seek their place in
humanity and under the eyes of GOD.
>Many of those who argue for greater freedom to express homosexual and
>other desires make such arguments from a single vantage point:
>the belief that the homosexual's pain should be answered with
>permission because the homosexual's pain seems to disappear when
>homosexual acts can be performed. I put to readers that this is a
>chimera. The need to perform forbidden sexual acts always
>camouflages the real problems that are causing the emotional pain felt
>by the one committing the acts.
>Most of the homosexuals I have known are not happy. Many have
>quietly and determinedly moved their lives away from a focus on
>sexual activity, because over the long term they feel less and less
>comfortable about it. This discomfort is not because they are
>forced and persecuted by a fanatical "straight" world, but because
>such sexual activity is guilt-producing and does not inwardly satisfy.
I've always been fond of the saying "Never judge a man until you have
walked a mile in his moccasins." I don't think it is possible to make
such a sweeping generalization that most homosexuals are unhappy, and
if they are unhappy it is because of sexual activity that is "guilt-producing
and does not inwardly satisfy." I think to understand the discomforts
gay people face, you would have imagine yourself in their position and what
your life would be like if you were gay. It is not an easy thing to do, but
I'm sure at one point in a person's life they have been "the odd one out" who
wants to be understood.
I think a lot of people tend to forget when they think about homosexuality
is that being gay is more than just the sex. It is this attraction to people
of the same gender, and it the desire to fall in Love and share your life
with another person of the same gender. Heterosexuals does this every
day of their lives, and it is never questioned current society and religion.
Homosexuals just seek to have the same right under society and under the
eyes of God.
The Bahai Faith has some very interesting teachings. I believe that
Baha'u'llah was very enlightened, and I believe part of the ambiguity
in this Writings that have not resolved the this issue are there because
he never really said anything against homosexuals just like Christ.
>Perhaps it would be productive for those who wish to see a change
>in Baha'i teachings to examine themselves on this point: Is it only
>a consideration of justice that motivates this desire to provoke a
>change in God's teachings on this subject? God and human beings
>have perfectly sane reasons to opt for the fullest development
>of humanity through a focus on the family as the instrument of
>continuing the species and promoting individual progress.
And I'm sure many homosexuals would agree that families are
a desirable things. There are many gay couples that have families of
their own or desire to have families of their own. Justice is not the
only thing that motivates but the want to be acknowledged as equals.
I believe gay people seek to have their relationships (the love and the sharing
of two peoples lives) be acknowledged as valid. They also seek acknowledgment
of their family structure, their place in society, and their place in religion
as spiritual, moral beings.
---
Alfred D. Peters
adpeters@mit.edu
[Moderator's addition:
Also posted earlier was the following quotation from Baha'u'llah (from
"Unrestrained as the wind: A Life Dedicated to Baha'u'llah":
"Ye are forbidden adultery, homosexuality and unfaithfulness. Refrain
therefrom, O concourse of those who have set their faces towards Him.
By the righteousness of God! Ye have been created to purge the world
From the defilement of evil passions. This is what the Lord of all
mankind enjoineth upon you, could ye but perceive it. He who relateth
himself unto the All-Merciful and committeth satanic deeds, verily he
is not of Me. Unto this beareth witness every atom, pebble, tree and
fruit, and beyond them this eloquent, truthful and trustworthy Tongue.
-- Baha'u'llah, quoted in letter dated 12/9/71, from Universal House of
Justice to US National Spiritual Assembly. (Also in "Extracts from
the Baha'i Writings on Homosexuality", no date, p. 1.)
]