Dear Israel,
I bet when you shared that Instagram post, you had no idea what events it would set in motion. And what a chain of events, amiright? I understand that when you hit that post button, you were expressing your faith in God in a way that seemed right to you. You weren’t expecting to lose your contract, or launch a legal challenge, or be featured on the front page of almost every newspaper in the country — and I’d be willing to bet that you’re still reeling a little from that. I get it. You did what you thought was right, but the repercussions have been enormous.
It’s not up to me to decide the legalities of Rugby Australia’s decision, and what balance must be struck between your employer’s expectations and your right to say what you want. But I have studied at Bible College, and examined the Bible fairly closely, so I’d like to have a chat with you about that.
Some have frequently brought up your tattoos, and the wearing of mixed fibres — both of which are prohibited in the Old Testament — and called you a hypocrite for it. But Christian doctrine differentiates between Biblical laws and modern life in so many ways. You know and I know that some of those commandments, like women keeping their heads covered, or no one eating prawns, just don’t hold water in today’s society.
But here’s the thing Israel — many Christians, including the person who made that meme — have an attitude towards the Bible that is, I’m sorry to say, a little arrogant. Because there’s a misperception that when those ancient messengers spoke those words, that they were speaking to us — and that’s simply not true, and it’s not good Biblical scholarship to say they were. Just as this letter is written from me to you in a particular place and time about a particular issue, those words were spoken to different people, in a different time. They weren’t spoken with us in mind. What you’ve gotta understand mate — you, and much of the church — is that those words had a different purpose back then, a purpose that no longer exists.
Let me paint you a picture. In the Ancient Near East — Babylon, Judea, Medea, Persia, Assyria — God’s people were an unusual lot. They were the only religion that didn’t worship statues in temples, the only religion that forbade certain foods, and the only religion that circumcised their boys. The whole point of all of this was to show that God — called Yahweh in the Old Testament — was different to the gods the surrounding cultures worshipped. That difference is crucial because that is one of a couple of themes that underpins the entire Old Testament. All those food laws were handed down to show Yahweh is different. The freeing of slaves? Yahweh is different. Circumcision, mixed fibres, justice, the absence of idols — Yahweh is different. That is the point of those Old Testament laws.
And that’s the thing about same-sex relationships — it goes back to the difference between God and all the pretenders. In the temples that the Babylonians, Medes, Persians and the rest of them worshipped in, there was a lot of gay sex going on. It was a form of worship, of sacrifice — they didn’t have the internet, so it was their way of giving their gods a bit of a porn show. Not my cup of tea, and I dare say not yours, but they thought it made the gods happy and brought them blessing. But Yahweh — who, don’t forget, spends a lot of his time pointing out how different He is — says to His people, you are NOT to do the sex thing for my benefit. Not gay sex, not straight sex, none of it — just keep it to yourselves. I don’t need to see it. Which was rather nice of him, because while some people are into that, it’s not everybody’s thing.
This whole theme of Yahweh is different carries on into the New Testament. Even though this was written a good 1,000 to 1,500 years after all this Leviticus stuff, that point of difference was still really important to the early Christians. They had different neighbours — Greeks and Romans instead of Medes and Babylonians — but the practices were still the same. So Paul makes it clear — Jesus is different, which is why He forbade gay sex as it was a form of idol worship. But times have changed. Our neighbours know what Christianity is now, and they know who we worship – so that whole separation thing, which was essentially public relations, isn’t necessary. I believe that when Jesus gave us the command to love – “This is how they will know you are my disciples” – it was exactly this that he was trying to address. And, unfortunately, there wasn’t much love in that meme you shared.
One of the other themes that carries on throughout both Testaments is that God values women and children. Now, you’ve got to remember, women weren’t allowed to work or inherit property in those days — not in Israel, and not in any Ancient Near Eastern culture — so God gave the responsibility of looking after them to the men, who had all the income, power and property. When a woman became widowed and didn’t have a son to look after her, it was the responsibility of her husband’s brother to marry her. This wasn’t a sexual thing, it was a welfare thing — he had to provide her with a son so she would have someone to look after her in her old age. This is why the Old Testament forbids pre-marital sex — because God didn’t want men roaming the countryside impregnating women and scarpering off without supporting the women and children whose lives they’d changed, because there was no welfare then. There was no single parent payment. The only form of welfare was marriage. And because men were the ones putting their lives on the line in war, there were more women than men — which resulted in men being expected to have more than one wife. But, like so much in the Old Testament, we’ve (thankfully) evolved beyond that, so those laws don’t apply to us any more — and I’m sure I’m not alone in breathing a sigh of relief at that.
But this is why, in the Old Testament, same-sex relationships were forbidden — because men had an obligation to marry and provide for women, and they simply couldn’t do that if they were in a relationship with another bloke. It wasn’t a matter of happiness, or attraction or love back then, it was just duty. And just as women were expected to remain faithful to blokes they weren’t in love with, so were men. It doesn’t sound like fun, but they made the best of it.
But our society is worlds apart from the cultures of the Old and New Testaments. Women have agency, we can work, we can own property, we don’t need a husband any more — and I’m sure a lot of women (and men) are grateful for that. But reasons that the Old Testament banned gay sex just don’t exist any more — so there’s no reason to disapprove of relationships that make people happy. Those people just couldn’t forsee a society where women were independent, and didn’t have to rely on a husband to care for them, so they wrote laws for the society that they had — a society that’s now extinct.
But here’s another point Israel — and this relates to the nature of God. One of the foundations of Christianity is that God is full of mercy, God is full of grace, God embraces anyone who wants to know him. And every single gay person I have ever met has always, always known that they weren’t straight. Always. From the age of four or five or six — well before they knew what sex was, they knew what their heart wanted. When people told them “you’ll grow up and marry a nice person of the opposite gender,” they knew that wasn’t right for them. The same goes for transgender folks, who have always known that the gender people said they were was not who they really were. Because this is not a sex thing — this is a heart and soul thing. This isn’t a perversion, or a preference, or a choice, this is how they were made. It’s how God made them. And, I’m sure you’ll agree, when God creates things, He doesn’t make mistakes. So how then can we say that our God, who we say is merciful, who loves, who doesn’t make mistakes, has messed up, and will punish his children for something they didn’t choose? It makes no logical sense and doesn’t fit within the nature of God. The New Testament’s overarching message — Jesus’ overarching message — is love. Love, which shows itself in acceptance, mercy and grace. And none of that — absolutely none of it — fits with the idea that God is sending LGBTIQ people to hell for being who He made them to be.
But here’s what I want you to understand most, Israel. The fact is, there are a lot of people who think like you do. They, too, do not at first understand the purpose of the Bible’s words, they think that those ancient words that were written for a different society apply to us far more than they actually do. These are the people who have been telling us, for centuries, that LGBTIQ people are worth less than us. They’ve used words like abomination, freak, and pervert for far too long. But those kids — those four and five and six year old kids, who know they’re not straight or cisgendered, they hear those words and they start to hate themselves. They hate the way God made them, and sometimes that hatred manifests itself in cutting, or depression, or suicide, and beautiful souls are crushed and extinguished without ever having a chance to soar. And a lot of people admire and look up to you Israel — kids and adults alike. You’re not the same as an anonymous person on the street — your ability to make magic things happen with a football gives your words influence. So when you post stuff that says gay people are bound for hell, you tell those LGBTIQ kids, teens and adults that they’re not enough. You tell them they haven’t been created right, that they’re deficient, and that they’re worth less than you. And that, Israel, is a message that would make Jesus weep.
But you can make this right my friend. You can repent, you can speak to the media, and importantly, you can speak to those LGBTIQ people you’ve hurt. I am offering to help you craft a message to the media that honours God, honours your faith, and also honours the people who have been hurt by this. Who knows, we might even get Rugby Australia to reconsider their position — because I’d love to see you diving over the try line for Australia again. Have a think about it — because I know you just want to do the right thing. I’d love to help you do that.
Follow the author on Twitter at @katticus28