Homosexuality - God's Judgement?

I've been thinking about Romans 1:26-27 again.  I recently read an article which suggested that homosexuality is some kind of punishment from God.  These two verses are the most common verses used from the New Testament to condemn gay and lesbian relationships.  It says:

That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.  And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

I've previously discussed this passage and I don't want to repeat that again, I still think the key words here are "lust" and "shameful" - which I struggle to fit into loving gay and lesbian relationships.  I believe that this passage is not a condemnation of loving same-sex relationships, you can read why on this blog.  Instead I want to think about how we would apply this passage if it were talking about God's judgement. 

To see where the idea that homosexuality is God's judgement, it's important to read the whole passage in context - Romans 1:18-32.

Is it judgement?  In context I don't think so.  Verse 26 doesn't say that God gave them shameful and lustful desires, they had these desires already.  Verse 27 doesn't say that the penalty they suffered was inflicted by God.  It could merely be a consequence.  

But for the sake of argument, let's say it is a judgement.  Judgement for what?  Verses 18-25 are all about people who reject the one true God and worship false gods.  About a third of the world's population claims to be Christian.  So, we would expect to see more gay men in countries where Christianity is not the dominant religion. But we don't.  In every culture, about 4% of men are gay and 1% of women are lesbian.  The other problem with this view is people like me.  If being gay is a punishment for rejecting God, how do we explain gay Christians?  And wouldn't we expect to see more gay and lesbian people given that countries like the UK, Australia and the USA are becoming more and more secular?

Maybe the argument would only be that the penalty is the punishment.  Paul's wording is very specific - "they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved".  The NRSV says, "received in their own persons the due penalty for their error".  So clearly this penalty is something you receive in your person.  What could that be?

Some have said the penalty is HIV/AIDS but I have a couple of problems with that.  Firstly, Paul uses the past tense, people were suffering this 2,000 years ago.  HIV/AIDS is a modern illness, so it cannot be what Paul was talking about.  Secondly, lesbian sex is the safest sex someone can have in terms of STI's.  Given that Paul is talking about women here as well, any STI would not fit because lesbian sex is quite safe.  Heterosexuals and gay men are much more at risk!  Finally, I have a problem with what that would say about God.  I did not choose to be gay, or to fall in love.  Am I to be punished with such a horrible illness because of something I did not choose to be?  What kind of God is that?

So, what's the penalty?  Can I suggest that the rest of this chapter provides the answer?

When a person rejects God, and suppresses their conscience, they lost touch with their Creator, with no moral absolutes there is nothing to guide them.  When a society rejects God, there is no restraint on what is acceptable.  CNN reports what life in North Korea is like at the moment - and we saw similar stories in communist Russia as well. In Muslim countries gay men are subject to heavy penalties for having sex with another man, ranging from flogging, to imprisonment and the death penalty.  

I believe that the penalty "received within themselves" is a change of personality and values. It's the consequences of being actively guided by self rather than the Holy Spirit.  The changes within a person, and their societies, is the penalty deserved.  But that leaves a question.  Isn't this penalty for homosexuals?

No.  The people Paul is talking about are not homosexuals, they are worshipers of false gods who practiced temple prostitution.  This fits what Paul wrote from verse 18 onwards, and what we know of Roman society in Paul's day.

I do not think that anything in Romans 1 condemns gay and lesbian relationships, and I do not believe that we are subject to "special" judgement because we fall in love.

Image: Google Images