I posted this to Burgy but forgot to copy it to the list.
John W. Burgeson wrote:
>
> Dan Emurian wrote, in part: "I would agree with Thomas Howard, who, as I
> recall, wrote in Christianity Today magazine back in the 1980s that male
> and female bodies were obviously designed for one another, and not for
> extraneous objects or activities. Even Redbook magazine, in the late 1970s,
> ran an article entitled "What men really want in a woman." The author
> asked, "Who would want to go to bed with a carbon copy?"
>
> I don't recall the CT article (and Redbook is hardly a useful source). But
> I agree with the CT observation. As for the Redbook question, apparently a
> fair number of folks do wish to do so. The fact that I (or the author)
> cannot understand why is hardly relevant.
Apologies for citing CT. I have a general recollection of the source of
Mr. Howard's article, but I won't put my foot farther into my mouth by
guessing without checking.
The person who posted a copy of the Redbook article on the Wheaton
College discussion bulletin board apparently thought the article was
useful, as did I. It was written by a man who was describing his wife
and her blazingly independent, opinionated personality. The event being
described was President Nixon's resignation speech, and the woman's
attitude was one of triumph and satisfaction. I've been on both (and
more) sides of the political fence, but the point was that the man was
attracted to someone who thought for herself and who came at life from a
perspective quite opposite from his own.
Isn't that what God has done in Creation? He has revealed himself on the
one hand in a natural-history universe that works on the principle of
variation and selection, or ruthless survival of the fittest (feel free
to correct my understanding or my teminology), and on the other hand in
a salvation-history Bible that also shows his gracious nature. I don't
see this as a dualism or as a direct connection to the male-female
distinction, but rather as part of a pattern of powerful, dynamic
tensions.
I will venture to suggest as further examples of such tensions the
lead-acid interaction that produces power in some batteries; the
gravity-centrifugal force tension in the solar system; positive and
negative polarities, and the 160 foot-pounds of tension that make a
piano string resonate. My master's thesis in philosophical theology and
several of my songs and poems develop the issue further.
The point is that God seems to enjoy the significant paradox, the union
of opposites, and the resulting energy, freshness and vitality. I have
learned in my own experience that God wants me to look beyond myself to
him, to other people who differ from me (such as my blazingly
independent, opinionated wife and the school where I teach, the views of
which are in some contrast to my own), and to his truly diverse world.
On one level this would call me to reach out to gays, lesbians,
bisexuals, transgenders, and others, yet on another level it would tell
me that they don't comprehend (or aren't able to embrace) the beauty of
unity-in-diversity that is so wonderfully symbolized in monogamous
heterosexual marriage.
I'm not trying to make homosexual behavior out to be worse that other
sins cataloged by Jesus (see Matt. 15:19) or Paul (see e.g. 2 Cor.
12:20). American culture, and the evangelical subculture in particular,
should welcome artistic men and strong-minded women, challenge abusive
machismo, encourage open dialogue, and show love and compassion to all.
Yet as a general principle, I would at this time at least hold that
heterosexuality is God's "Plan A."
As Karl Evans quoting David Myers seems to indicate, the default
position is grace, humility and love. I suggest, though, that
short-circuiting the discussion would leave us with unchallenged
assumptions and frustrated, even violent partisans. There is truth to be
spoken in love (cf. Eph. 4:15), although grace knows when to keep
silence.
Once the school year is underway and a couple of projects are finished,
I'll look for the Geiss and Messer book that Burgy recommends.
Meanwhile, another book challenges those who revere "preference" and
turn "tolerance" into equivocation, relativism and compromise of
important principles, when it says, "…let God be found true, though
every man a liar…." (Romans 3:4)
In friendly disagreement with some, openness to learning from any,
and the holy love of Christ for all,
Dan Eumurian
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