Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thursday Thinking - Faith, Sexuality, and Identity

Josh Weed, a marriage and family therapist in Auburn, Washington, writes a blog called, The Weed. I wasn't familiar with Josh or his blog until he published a lengthy post in early June 2012 about being gay, and Mormon, and married to woman, and raising a family, and being happy, and being madly in love.

The bottom line is that Josh Weed is honest about his same-sex attraction, but he is genuinely committed to not letting this be what defines him as a person. He has chosen to be defined by his beliefs and convictions, rather than by sexual attraction.
Deciding not to give this up--these profound spiritual beliefs that I feel in the deepest parts of my soul to be true--in favor of my sexual orientation required a great deal of faith, but I can honestly say that, for me, it has been completely worth it. I have not regretted the decision one day of my life. My life is filled with so much genuine, real, vibrant joy that I would be remiss if I didn’t thank God for blessing me for my obedience and adherence to His guidelines as I understand them.
READ THE COMPLETE STORY HERE 

The complexities of human sexuality and personal identity are immense. Weed has important things to say and his story deserves to be heard.

A Word about Comments: I'm not looking to stir up attack or advocacy arguments here, so comments will be screened carefully. Please make your comments a specific response or reflection on Weed's post, not a general reaction or opinion on the topic.

3 comments:

  1. VERY interesting and worth the time it took to read! Can't help but respect the guy's convictions and level of honesty and desire to encourage others.

    I especially appreciated this statement: "Being gay does not mean you are a sinner or that you are evil. Sin is in action, not in temptation or attraction. I feel this is a very important distinction. This is true for every single person. You don’t get to choose your circumstances, but you do get to choose what you do with them."

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  2. ...though I suppose one needs to contemplate Jesus' statement that when a person lusts after someone they have already committed adultery with them in their heart. Methinks that means there's a difference between attraction and lust.

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  3. I applaud Mr. Weed for his bravery. I imagine making this public has been anything but easy given his Mormon background (including having family members in Mormon leadership), which I think is quite different than "coming out" with a mainline Christian or evangelical, or even non-faith background.

    The context of his relationship with his wife and family is very extraordinary compared to a "stereotypical" in-the-closet, married, with children, homosexuals. But I suspect there are more people like him out there that are afraid to come forward, breaking that stereotype.

    Hard for many to understand, but absolutely primary in "defining" homosexuality is not lifestyle. It is sexual orientation. As he says, "Heck, if sexual orientation were defined by sexual experience, I would be as straight as the day is long even though I’ve never been turned on by a Victoria’s Secret commercial in my entire life. Sexual orientation is defined by attraction, not by experience. In my case, I am attracted sexually to men. Period. Yet my marriage is wonderful, and Lolly and I have an extremely healthy and robust sex life."

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