From a Facebook friend:

“One of the hermeneutical principles I grew up with is that where the Bible is silent on a matter we are not to take this to mean it is prohibited. Rather, we are to use the existing principles and guidelines in Scripture to arrive at a position that does not contradict them.

While there are plenty who would argue that the Scriptures are not silent on this matter, many in this thread seem to be of the view that what the bible prohibits is something quite different from what we think about today as homosexual relationships.

So, if the Scriptures seem to advocate fidelity in sexual relationships between men and women, then such should apply to same-sex relationships. If the Scriptures condemn promiscuity in relationships between men and women, then that same should be applied to same sex relationships.

This principle is also a work, I believe, when people speak of the Gospel as proclamation to the marginalised and that the Church should fundamentally be an inclusive place. Our Western society has a long history of discrimination against gay relationships and those who are gay very often feel disadvantaged. So, if the church is a place to welcome all who are struggling in life, sexual orientation should be no more significant than one’s preference or otherwise for chocolate.

I think that our greatest problem with homosexuality is that even if we repudiate the view that the sex-act provides the germ of original sin (hence the Roman Catholic doctrines associated with the Virgin Birth of Jesus and the Immaculate conception of Mary) we still carry this underlying assumption that sex is dirty – especially outside of marriage and sometimes even if not procreational in intention.

Overlay on this idea the notion that the Christian life is essentially about holiness and the end result is a new kind of phariseeism – and as I remember it, Jesus had a few words to say about the pharisees.

I am of the view that the Christian life is about living in Relationship with God, through Jesus, and with each other as fellow human beings seeking to experience the fulness of life that the Scriptures talk about. Gay or straight doesn’t matter, but living life in and with God does.

I hope this is helpful.”