Religion and homosexuality: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Religious views of homosexuality vary widely. According to creeds and denominations within Abrahamic religions and others, sexual relations between people who are not of the opposite sex are forbidden and regarded as sinful. Other denominations, especially in recent decades, regard them as unobjectionable: others even regard them as a positive grace from God. Within these religions there are grounds for specific condemnation of homosexual acts within the sacred texts; however, the interpretation of the texts varies widely.

John Boswell, in Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality (1980) first extensively studied the history of these attitudes toward homosexuality in the Christian West. The documents he adduced challenged the widely current official view of the Catholic Church's past relationship to its gay members, among whom were priests, bishops and even canonized saints. Boswell's research ranges from the Greeks to Thomas Aquinas in legal, literary, theological, artistic, and scientific sources. According to Chauncey et al (1989), the result "offered a revolutionary interpretation of the Western tradition, arguing that the Roman Catholic Church had not condemned gay people throughout its history, but rather, at least until the twelfth century, had alternately envinced no special concern about homosexuality or actually celebrated love between men." Setting the study within the broader context of tolerance made this an essential study of European social history.

Other religions, such as Buddhism, do not believe same-gender sexual acts are inherently wrong. Buddhism in particular has no concept of sin.

Opposition to equal rights protections, same-sex marriage, and hate crimes legislation are often informed by religious faith. Some religions believe that non-heterosexuality, either behavior or orientation, is a sin; others emphasize that it is only the bodily act or the act of deliberately cultivating fantasy that are sinful: in other words, only an engagement of the will. Religious opponents of equal rights for non-heterosexuals believe that supporting "pro-gay" legislation would constitute approval of homosexuality and bisexuality, by promoting willful acts of homosexuality. They say that such approval is incompatible with their faith.

See also: Religion and sexuality, Christian views of homosexuality, Homosexuality and morality, Religion and heterosexuality

Reference

James Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality