An angry fundamentalist calls the Evangelical Lutheran Church a ”gay church” that is ”leading people into the fires of hell.” The news reports that Paris Pride has been canceled due to a heatwave. The comment section fills up with angry and malicious comments, mostly from middle-aged men. This shows that Pride and the advocacy for human rights are needed more than ever. Discrimination against sexual minorities is one example of ”othering.” People who are different have been discriminated against throughout human history, whether they are gay, trans, immigrants, disabled, or mental health rehabilitants. Many justify their hatred with the Bible or other holy texts instead of thinking about what is actually ethical and right. Diversity is a strength, both in nature and in human society.
It is dangerous when someone bases their entire way of thinking and morality on some old book or doctrine. These books and doctrines are not absolute truth but are views of imperfect human beings bound to the context of their era. Holy texts contain many good ideas, but in others, they fall short. Ethics is objective and universal, and it can be found through reason, wisdom, compassion, and philosophy—sometimes through religion as well. Often, old books reflect people’s own traumas. A good example from the Old Testament is the fear of lepers, which was based on phobias and traumas.
If the Law of Moses, written about 3,200 years ago, says something, it does not mean that it remains true. The world and human thought have developed tremendously since those times. In fact, Jesus refutes many of the laws of Moses as harsh. Jesus says: ”You have been taught in the Law of Moses: ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say: ‘If someone strikes you, turn the other cheek.’” Jesus was a friend to those who were marginalized. For me, as a Christian, God is a God of Wisdom and Love.
Modern theology does not see homosexuality or people belonging to sexual minorities as sin or sinners, and humane people who think this way have always existed within Christianity. Science does not in any way support claims that homosexuality is some kind of disorder.
Dogmatic thinking is dangerous. Old books and holy texts were written by imperfect and fallible people. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul speaks about how he is fallible and sees the truth as if through a dim mirror. He emphasizes that love is the greatest Christian virtue. Christianity is a religion that emphasizes grace and love for one’s neighbor. The message of Christianity is not that a person cannot be themselves, nor does it teach that people should judge others. Jesus teaches to treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. Who in their right mind wants to believe in the fundamentalists’ god of hate? Such a god would be blind, unethical, and not worthy of worship. Fundamentalists are often afraid, and their faith is based on fear.
Reading the Bible or any other holy text ”raw” without knowing the context, concepts, symbolism, metaphors, and conventions, and without a basic understanding of theology, is actually very dangerous. A former bishop stated that along with the Bible, believers should read theology. The Bible contains descriptions that do not fit with the image of a true God: God commands the genocide of people, the sacrifice of animals, and allows slavery as well as the discrimination of women and minorities, etc. This is not the true God, who is a God of wisdom and love. The Old Testament is, in parts, very bleak reading, and its image of God is very badly unfinished. In the New Testament, the image of God becomes clearer when God comes to earth in person to teach humanity.
I am speaking here of what theology teaches. If you do not believe in God, you do not have to, and it is not the purpose for me to try to convince you of the existence of God, nor is my intention to change your beliefs. Freedom of religion is one of the most important values of an open and free society. I just want to bring forth what modern theological thinking says.
The philosopher Michel Foucault wrote a lot about ”otherness.” He was gay himself and studied the discrimination of people and the exercise of power, for example, in prisons and psychiatric care. Where there is power, there is often the abuse of power. Often, people think there is ”us” and ”those others.” This leads to coldness and hostility. The dignity of the other is no longer seen. Often, the fear of difference lies in the background.
Evolutionary biologists have found reasons for human evolution: for instance, the fear of immigrants is likely partly due to the fear that ”strangers” would bring infectious diseases with them. In some early stage of our evolution, this fear was partly logical, but in modern society, it is just a primitive, unrealistic fear of contamination and an evolutionary trauma.
People also often project their own fears onto others: someone might, for example, think immigrants are dangerous and therefore see ordinary immigrants as dangerous terrorists. Psychologists talk about Neisser’s perceptual cycle: a person’s prejudices guide their perceptions of the environment, and these observations support their previous views. People also often project their own evil and negative feelings onto other people and even animals: the wolf is seen as dangerous, even though in reality, the dangerous one would be the human themselves. They just see their own evil and negative feelings in an innocent animal.
Homosexuality was still a crime in the 70s and a psychiatric diagnosis until the 80s. In reality, homosexuality is a normal and natural, innate sexual orientation, in which there is nothing sinful, wrong, or unstable. It is terrible to think that in the very recent past, homosexuality was considered a sickness and a crime. Still, some people think this way and feel immense hatred toward sexual minorities. The ethical development of humanity is far from complete. There is hope in a better and happier world of the future. I believe we can achieve it.
Discrimination against sexual minorities is on the same continuum as racial theories and racism. Fear and othering are deep within many people. Often, these ”haters of others” are very broken and traumatized. They do not accept things within themselves and project these traumas onto others. Their speech shows a deep ignorance and a lack of intelligence, empathy, and compassion.
In reality, everyone is allowed to be who they are, as long as they live ethically and respect others. A good world is diverse and respects difference. Evolutionarily, diversity is a great asset that creates synergy and promotes the survival of communities. Diversity in society, for instance, creates new perspectives and ideas, makes innovations spread, and different people have different strengths and gifts that support and complement each other. This has helped human societies survive throughout our evolution. In Nobel laureate John Nash’s game theory, one of the most significant findings is that cooperation, altruism, and compassion enable success and survival better than selfish pursuit of one’s own interests.
Daniel Elkama