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My objective for this video/project was to shed light and concern about human sexuality in the black Baptist church and to review the idea that church engagement starts with our spiritual growth in re-teaching scriptures that have been taken out of context, especially scriptures that have been used to dehumanize our brothers and sisters of the gay community. Based on conversations with several pastors of traditional and non- denominational churches, it appears that the Bible has been a spiritual resource not learned and studied, but rather employed to justify our personal biases and cultural norms. According to Robert K. Gnuse,"There are seven texts often cited by Christians to condemn homosexuality: Noah and Ham (Genesis 9:20–27), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1–11), Levitical laws condemning same-sex relationships (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13), two words in two Second Testament vice lists (1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 1:10), and Paul's letter to the Romans (Romans 1:26–27). The author believes that these do not refer to homosexual relationships between two free, adult, and loving individuals. They describe rape or attempted rape (Genesis 9:20–27, 19:1–11), cultic prostitution (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13), male prostitution and pederasty (1 Corinthians 6:9–10; 1 Timothy 1:10), and the Isis cult in Rome (Romans 1:26–27). If the biblical authors did assume homosexuality was evil, we do not theologize off of their cultural assumptions, we theologize off of the texts we have in the canon..."
In many black and white churches, these scriptures have been a source of reasoning as to why some believe that sex outside of marriage and homosexuality are a moral and biblical sins and condemned by God. However, when carefully reading the bible, they do not condemn the act of gay relationships and sex, but rather show the condemnation of the LGBTQIA+ community has been theologized from a cultural point of view.
The purpose of this project was to dismantle these myths and theologies, enlighten those who would condemn the LGBTQIA community through exegesis, and point the faith community toward an inclusive Beloved Community. The foundational question is: How does public theology engage communities and lead to the ethics and praxis of welcome and inclusion?
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