Someone engaged me in a dialogue this week that I thought was worth sharing. This person is a thoughtful, kind woman who was talking about how we as Christians are in constant battle against our own "dark urges", which range from simple every-day things like jealousy or laziness, to more insidious urges like gambling or adultery. In fact, it was her point that everyone has them, and that being a Christian meant a lifetime of daily battle with those "less holy" aspects of our natures.
She was pondering the question of "Is homosexuality wrong?" She clearly had no bias against gay people and in fact ended her thoughts with, “In the Bible, it's wrong ... however I know so many nice, good people who are gay."
It was the “however” that rang my logic-alarm.
Of course there are many nice, “good” people who are gay. There are also horrible people who are gay. Their sexual orientation has nothing whatsoever to do with how good or nice they are! To say, “I know many perfectly wonderful people who are gay" is nice to know, but utterly irrelevant. That gay people are awful human beings was never the claim! It’s a classic straw man fallacy. One may as well say, “I know plenty of gay people who wear a size 8 shoe.”
So what is the “real” question, and how does the thoughtful Christian answer it? The real question is: "Is homosexuality one of many dark human urges that Christianity insists we battle, or is it simply one of many human traits – like hair color or height – that have no inherent moral value?"
The honest answer of a secularist might be, “Homosexuality is not a dark urge. It is just the way some people were born. We don't blame people for being tall or short or fat or thin, why should we hold someone accountable for being gay?"
I might then agree or disagree with that person, but at least they would be responding intelligently to the argument at hand, rather than knocking over a cheap straw man.
Another common misnomer is that because something is “natural”, or because you’re “born that way”, it is inherently good. There are many things we’re born with that we are called upon to battle every day in the name of decency. It could be an aggressive nature. Or crippling shyness. Or a speech impediment. Or a propensity toward alcoholism. We are certainly not encouraged to celebrate these things just because we were born that way! Whether homosexuality falls into this category we honestly don't know, but it's not valid to assume that because a trait is natural it is to be celebrated.
It's very likely that the Christian and the Secularist will never come together on this particular issue. But my hope is that as we continue to discuss and debate these difficult issues we do so with deference and respect.
Sadly many people prefer the straw man because it enables them to engage in ad hominem attacks; “Christians are intolerant”, or “You just hate gay people”, or "You're a bigot" - like a petulant child the offender shouts out insults, shuts down the discussion and walks away fraudulently claiming victory.
I guess in the end we all just have to demonstrate the courage of our convictions while maintaining respect for peacefully opposing viewpoints. It is, after all, the Christian thing to do.