UCG’s Dan Dowd on LGBTQ Folks

Dan Dowd of the United Church of God recently delivered a sermon entitled And Such Were Some of You on how the church should respond to the LGBTQ community. He began by providing some historical background for our current circumstances. Predictably, Dowd sees the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s as the origin of our society’s present attitudes toward LGBTQ related issues. For him, the pill (birth control), declassifying homosexuality as a psychological disorder, and greater acceptance of alternative “lifestyles” within the larger society are all symptomatic of the larger problem.

Dowd made clear that he believes that sexual identity is central to LGBTQ folks. He believes that their identity is their religion – that things like love, morality, interpersonal relationships, finances, and other interests are secondary to them. Indeed, Dowd asserts that these folks have set themselves up as their own gods – that they get to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. In other words, he makes no allowance for the fact that these folks are the same degree of human as everyone else around them. It appears to be inconceivable to him that these folks might be motivated by the same wants and needs which motivate him and other heterosexuals.

Mr. Dowd also talked a great deal about gender fluidity, and how our society has gotten away from the binary gender status which God assigned to the human race at the beginning. Interestingly, he quoted from the story of Adam’s creation in Genesis to make his point, but he completely ignored what is said and suggested there. In the first chapter of Genesis, we read: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Verse 27) Likewise, in the second chapter, we read: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Verse 23) The clear implication of both passages is that the essence of both genders was present within man from the beginning – that “Adam” had both genders within him!

Mr. Dowd’s binary perspective on gender is also not consistent with what science and nature have to teach us on the subject. In the real world, we see that most folks exhibit both masculine and feminine traits – that just like the pH scale, most of us fit somewhere on a continuum between the two extremes (male and female). Some men have higher levels of estrogen coursing through their veins, and some women have higher levels of testosterone. It is, simply, part of the very complex chemical and biological mechanisms which make up the human organism. Mr. Dowd’s perspective also fails to account for the real world phenomenon of the intersex human – the person who is born with some of the physical equipment of BOTH genders.

Mr. Dowd also made clear that he personally believes these aberrant behaviors are motivated by a desire for acceptance and validation. According to him, these unfortunate folks are looking for love (In the words of an old Country classic, “in all the wrong places”). Which, incidentally, would seem to contradict his assertion that sexual identity is the religion of these folks. In other words, he appears to be acknowledging that these folks might be motivated by some of the same things which motivate heterosexuals.

Mr. Dowd went on to assert that all of this aberrant behavior stems from a rejection and/or ignorance of God’s Law. In this connection, he referenced most of the classical “clobber” passages which Christians have employed over the last fifty years in their war against LGBTQ folks and their “sinful” behaviors.

Predictably, he referenced the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the nineteenth chapter of Genesis as an example of God’s perspective on the sinfulness of homosexuality. However, Dowd failed to account for the fact that it is both irrational and unsubstantiated to claim that the entire male population of any city could be homosexual. Indeed, in our own time, cities which are intimately identified with the gay community (San Francisco, New Orleans, New York) are universally acknowledged as being majority heterosexual. Moreover, Scripture itself suggests that there were a number of sinful behaviors present in those cities (see Ezekiel 16:49-50). Finally, hopefully, we can all agree that gang rape is fundamentally different from consensual sex. Again, hopefully, we can all agree that raping someone is inconsistent with loving someone as ourselves or treating others the way that we would like to be treated – that it is inconsistent with doing no harm to our neighbor.

Dowd went on to reference both of the passages in Leviticus which have traditionally been identified as prohibiting same gender sexual relationships (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13). Of course, he immediately dismissed any suggestion that (whatever these passages command) they are completely irrelevant to Christians operating under the New Covenant. In this respect, at least Mr. Dowd is true to the philosophical basis of Armstrongism – that Torah (the tenets of God’s covenant with Israel), or a substantial portion of it, is binding on Christians. In other words, like Herbert Armstrong, Mr. Dowd believes that Christians are obligated to keep many of the 600-plus commandments of the Law of Moses. Likewise, Mr. Dowd dismissed any suggestion that these passages were referencing behaviors within the context of a primitive agricultural society and are consequently NOT analogous to modern sexual behaviors or relationships (e.g., the fact that they had male temple prostitutes is not relevant).

Likewise, Mr. Dowd referenced the first chapter of Romans (verses 18-31) and the sixth chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the saints at Corinth (verses 9-11) as prooftexts that homosexual behavior of any kind is sinful. Once again, any suggestion that the behaviors described in these passages may not be analogous to modern same sex behaviors is dismissed out of hand. Indeed, Mr. Dowd ridicules any suggestion that the sinful behaviors described in these passages might apply to heterosexual folks. Far be it from any “normal” heterosexual person to engage in any kind of sexual relationship with someone of his/her own gender!

According to Mr. Dowd, homosexuality is a choice. In the complete absence of any definitive scientific findings on the subject (which he acknowledges), he asserts that sexual orientation is not determined at birth. Of course, he then failed to give any account of his own decision in this respect. He did not share with his audience the events surrounding his own determination that breasts were more attractive than pecs. Indeed, Mr. Dowd appears to be oblivious to the absurdity of the notion that anyone has a choice in their sexual orientation. He appears to be at odds with the notion that sexual attraction is something that comes naturally to most folks. In other words, most of us never had to decide that Mary was hot, and Billy was not (or vice versa)!

Mr. Dowd then proceeded to remind us that sin has consequences. In making this point, he cited a whole host of statistics about how LGBTQ folks are more susceptible to things like drug/alcohol addiction, depression, suicide, and disease. Once again, he dismissed any suggestion that these afflictions could be related to the way that society (including the Church) has treated these individuals. For example, is it possible that being isolated, bullied, and continuously ridiculed and/or disparaged might lead to someone experiencing depression, or even contemplating ending their own life? I don’t know about you, but if we’re talking about cause and effect, it does seem like the two might be connected to me!

Nevertheless, in what was mostly a recitation of the traditional perspective on LGBTQ folks and their behaviors, there were a few bright spots in Mr. Dowd’s presentation. He did acknowledge that Christ met people where they were at that moment in time. He also reminded his flock that they were obligated to try to live at peace with EVERYONE. And, most importantly of all, Dowd affirmed that it isn’t part of our calling to condemn or judge the world. Well, that’s a start!