by Ellsworth Johnson
July 12, 2009
Several years ago, I listened to a radio commentator observe that, back in the early 1970s, homosexuality was largely still a “fringe” position in the media, something stigmatized and to be ashamed of, and people who openly advocated it were ridiculed, attacked, marginalized as someone who is truly radical. Anita Bryant, the very image of the clean-cut all-American mom, was out front-and-center, campaigning against it. Christians who stood up for traditional values were not only accepted as part of the mainstream, but seen as champions of what was right, good and true.
As time went on, though, the moral center in this country changed in a very deliberate way. Television shows and movies de-demonized homosexuality (AND homosexuals), and made it “OK” to practice, discuss and advocate this type of behavior. Gay-pride parades and gay bars became an accepted part of the social background, yet the Christian voice on these developments did not keep pace with the flood of “gay-positive” media exposure of the 1980s.
By the 1990s, homosexual characters had taken up permanent-resident status on our 
mainstream television and movie landscape: at that point, it had become accepted to see these characters as “normal”. Given the rise of “political correctness”, the Christian position that homosexuality (and by extension, its advocacy) is a sin against God was now seen as the radical-minority position, condemned as “hate speech”, “intolerant” and “divisive”, and voiced less and less in the traditional media (let alone private conversations). It was certainly dwarfed by the avalanche of pro-gay publications, positive media exposure and de-facto positioning of homosexuality as a normal, accepted “alternative lifestyle”.
In the next decade, the first of the new millennium, the commentator lamented that the reversal was finally complete: WE as Christians are the ones whose position is marginalized, “in the closet”, afraid to speak out for fear of ridicule, the ones who are “weird”, “radical” and “out of step with the mainstream”, while homosexuality enjoys unprecedented acceptance, celebration, legally-protected status, and widespread practice. One can scarcely watch a single prime-time (or, now, even DAYTIME) television show which does not have a homosexual storyline in at least some of its episodes, a development which is taken as “normal”.
All because we stopped talking about it.
Well, ladies and gentlemen… *I* intend to start talking about it again. Quite a bit. This, and many other things.
First, a little about me: I am male, late 40s, Black (my sensibilities pre-date the term “African American”) and work as a high-school math teacher in suburban Houston. My wife is a stay-at-home mom to our four-year-old son, so in that respect we are the picture of what used to be the traditional “normal” American family. 
I believe in God, and hold that the Bible is His completely true and divinely-inspired word – this, too, was at one time seen as traditional and “normal”. I’m hardly a fire-breathing Bible-thumper; just someone who believes that the Creator of the universe knows a little bit more than we do about life and how it was meant to be lived. I also believe that this God has made His position on many subjects abundantly clear, and since we are playing in His sandbox, by His good pleasure, He gets to make the rules.
We attend Fairfield Baptist Church in Cypress, Texas, and that is where this conversation really started. Today started a new sermon series called “Politically Incorrect” which promises to tackle subjects like homosexuality and abortion and, yes, gives us permission to discuss and perhaps disagree about them, but always in a way rooted in God’s word.
Sitting there, I really began to think: what do I **REALLY** want to say to a real, live, living breathing homosexual? How about to a doctor who performs late-term abortions without giving it a second thought? I need a useful and productive conversation, something more engaging than “you’re WRONG, and going to HELL!” I recognize this as an area of personal growth…
I can start by asking lots of questions. Do you believe in a Supreme Being? Do you believe in the God of the Bible? What do you think He thinks about what you’re doing? Do YOU think what you are doing is wrong? Why do you do it? How does it affect other people, or is this even a consideration?
The hope is that they, too, will start asking ME questions: what do I believe, why do I believe it and so on. In his message today, Executive Pastor Daron Adkison advised us to “build bridges which Jesus can cross”. By talking, and seeing each other as normal, two-eyed human beings, and not as horned pitchfork-wielding demons, this “building project” can proceed apace.
Yes, not only CAN we talk, we SHOULD talk, and are in no way legally prohibited from doing so! Talk to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, Facebook contacts, cell-phone buddies… whoever is in your circle.
If you’re bold, take the conversation directly to the “other side”: gay friends, associates or your local homosexual support group or media outlet.
I’m starting the conversation, right here, right now. Stay tuned and see how it unfolds.
Copyright 2009 by Ellsworth Johnson. All rights reserved.
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