Sides A, B, X and Y are names for theological positions on homosexuality, which are used by some Christian churches and communities. In general, those who affirm same-sex marriage as valid fall under "Side A," [1] while those who do not affirm it fall under "Side B," "Side X," or "Side Y". [2]
Although differing on approaches to same-sex marriage, all four groups generally care about problems that affect those who identify as LGBT or struggle with same-sex attraction, like mental health, loneliness, and homelessness. [2] [3] [4] [5] In particular, Side A and Side B are generally opposed to conversion therapy and affirm LGBT identification (namely, accepting the term "gay Christian"), while Side X tends to affirm the desire to attain exclusive heterosexuality and use the term "ex-gay". [6] [7] Side Y is generally opposed to all identity politics [8] [9] and affirms Christian regeneration as the only meaningful transformation. [10] [11]
Despite these general characteristics, there is no official set of definitions for the four groups. For this reason and for others, individuals may not always formalize themselves as "Side insert letter here Christians." Some, especially Side Y Christians, may even favor more biblically based language, like "Bible-believing Christian" [12] [13] or "eunuch for the kingdom of God." [14]
Many LGBT-affirming churches align with the views of Side A and may describe themselves with terms like "affirming" [15] or "welcoming." Generally, they believe that monogamous same-sex relationships are just as valid in God's sight as heterosexual ones. Proponents of Side A may interpret the Bible through various lenses such as those of queer theology, Liberal Christianity, and Progressive Christianity. Therefore, those on Side A often see passages that seem to condemn homosexuality (such as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah) as being misapplied to modern-day same-sex committed relationships.
Out of the four sides, Side A is unique in that it fully endorses same-sex monogamy without qualifications. [16] People who align with Side A tend to believe that it's harmful for same-sex attracted people to keep themselves from living out their sexualities [17] [18] and may even argue that homosexual attractions are God-given [19] and therefore should be celebrated. [20] In this view, same-sex marriages in the appropriate context are blessed by God. In an interview, Rob Bell, the author of Love Wins, stated
I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it's a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs—I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are. [21]
Instead of "Side A," some people may instead identify themselves as "progressive Christians." [22] Along with this Liberalistic leaning, they tend to have syncretistic frameworks and often reject theologically conservative Christian beliefs, [22] such as penal substitution, the eternity of hell, and Christian exclusivism. [22] [23] Some on Side A also embrace deconstruction as a helpful practice [24] or have a preference to subscribing to truth claims loosely. [22] When it comes to the person of Christ or the role of scripture, they often place emphasis on their humanitarian elements [25] rather than their historicity. [22] [25] In One Faith No Longer, authors George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk write,
". . . progressive Christians tie much of their ideology to humanistic rationality and a desire for social justice." [25] [26]
Those on Side A include Matthew Vines, [27] Justin Lee, and Randy Thomas. [28]
Unlike Side A, the Side B position sees marriage as reserved for one man and one woman. [3] [4] Thus, those on Side B tend to advocate that all Christians either maintain celibacy [1] or marry a member of the opposite sex. [2] Some Side B Christians maintain celibate same-sex relationships, in which the two parties covenant with one another. [3] The Side B position was first explicitly outlined in 2010, by an Episcopal priest named Wesley Hill. [3]
Some on Side B point to the example of the love between David and Jonathan and consider a nonmarital form of deep commitment as acceptable for two people of the same sex. For example, Wesley Hill, in his book Spiritual Friendship, writes
What Aelred called "spiritual friendship" was a form of same-sex intimacy that sublimated or transmuted erotic passion rather than sanctioning its genital expression. [29]
Josh Proctor, the creator of "The Life on Side B" Podcast, describes that for Side B, queer identity is seen as "a healthy way of communicating one's experience and desires." [2] Some celibate Christians who identify as LGBT have criticized the term "Side B," saying it doesn't allow for more expansive experiences of the interactions between sex, sexuality, gender, and marriage, and that it divides LGBT-identifying Christians in an unhelpful way. [3] Other more conservative Christians criticize the term for acknowledging and allowing LGBT identification at all, fearing it could be a slippery slope to full affirmation of LGBT identities and relationships. [3] Proponents of the Side B position say the term is needed, to allow for LGBT-identifying Christians to distinguish themselves from the "ex-gay" position (Side X). [3]
Those on Side B include Wesley Hill, [30] David Bennett, [31] and Josh Proctor. [32]
Side X derives its name from "ex-gay". [2] Those on Side X often see sexual orientation change as the ideal solution for those who experience attraction to the same sex. Some of those on Side X may view the development of same-sex attraction as a result of early childhood detachment or experience of shame from one's parent of the same sex. [33]
Those on Side X include Joseph Nicolosi [33] and Joe Dallas. [34] Among the four Sides, Side X is unique in that its beliefs are not always tied to explicitly Christian convictions and that they may be motivated by therapeutic interests or by heteronormativity. [35] [36]
Like Side B and Side X, Side Y holds that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman. Those who align with Side Y hold that all Christians, regardless of their attractional patterns, should repent of their sin and live by a "holy sexuality," [37] [38] leading chaste lives until marriage.
Those who may fall under Side Y include Rosaria Butterfield, [39] Christopher Yuan, [37] Becket Cook, [40] and Sam Allberry. [41] Butterfield states that sexual orientation "defines selfhood as the sum total of our fallen human desires" [42] and therefore is, "at best... a category of the flesh" that "simply will not survive to the New Jerusalem." [43] She states that in the resurrection, God's people will inherit their "souls reunited with [their] bodies walking at liberty and free from all vestiges of sin; and the Word of God that will be flourishing before [them] in a way that [they] can't even imagine." [43]
Side Y also generally maintains that the Bible is a unique text that is divinely inspired and preserved by God and therefore without error. [44] For this reason, Side Y Christians often stipulate the precise use of language and object to vocabulary that compromises a biblical anthropology.[ citation needed ] Rosaria Butterfield, a former lesbian professor and LGBT rights activist, states,
Adjectives in terms of grammar are modifiers; their job is to tell me what kind of Christian you are. The problem with a term like 'gay Christian' is that it modifies Christian according to a category of the flesh. [45]
Thus, Side Y Christians also generally forego the use of words that reinforce a secular paradigm of ontology, such as "straight Christian". [46]
Side Y tends to view same-sex attraction as a vestige of original sin, and sometimes indwelling sin. [43] [47] Many Side Y-ers adopt the Augustinian view that concupiscence (desiring something God calls sin) is in itself sinful, no matter how involuntary. [47] [48]
Former gay rights activist Rosaria Butterfield describes unchosen sin this way:
Side B gay Christianity says, "No, no, no, it's not a sin if you didn't choose it; it's not a sin if you're not physically acting on it." But that makes no sense because in order to actually pull that off, you have to throw away the tenth commandment (Exodus 20:17). . . That says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife," not "Thou shalt not take thy neighbor's wife." . . . And then in Romans 7, you have probably the most majestic words in the Bible understanding indwelling sin, where Paul says, "Why do I do what I don't want to do? It is not I; it is sin in me." So there Paul is saying, "it's sin; it's in me; and I didn't choose it." [49]
This position largely comes from the belief that Adam's first sin was imputed to the human race, [50] which makes every human being guilty of original sin since conception (Adam having failed as a representative for all of humanity). [51] For many Side-Y-ers, this fallenness of man is closely tied to the Calvinistic idea of Total Depravity and the belief that Christ must do the work of regeneration in a sinner before he or she can come to saving faith. In this, Side Y holds that all those who repent and trust in Christ (the second Adam) has his righteousness imputed to them. [52]
In contrast to the Roman Catholic view, which holds that unchosen disinclination toward God's law is not inherently sinful, [47] [48] Side Y claims that though one may not have actively willed to sin, one can still be guilty of the internal pull toward the sin. [53] Therefore, they believe that Christians, by being rooted in scripture, must resist their original sin [54] (in whatever form it manifests itself) and starve their indwelling sin, such as the romantic desire for the same sex. [55]
Because Side Y does not see marriage as a biblical mandate for every single Christian, Side Y Christians do not believe that all people must become heterosexual upon conversion. At the same time, many also see complementarian marriage as a calling and option for some, and may, in those instances, positively affirm such individuals' desires to enter into a heterosexual marriage. [56] Side Y also sees lifelong singleness as an equally valuable calling, citing the examples of biblical chastity, including that of Jesus and the Apostle Paul. [57]
Mindful of the modern perception that singleness dooms one to loneliness [58] [59] and obscurity, [60] those on Side Y often stress that Christians who do not struggle with same-sex attraction have a responsibility to become the new family promised by Christ to those who leave their LGBT family. [61] Side Y Christians also often seek to dignify the calling of singleness. [62] In his book 7 Myths About Singleness, Sam Allberry writes,
"If marriage shows us the shape of the gospel, singleness shows us [the gospel's] sufficiency." [63]
Rosaria Butterfield emphasizes that Christians who do not struggle with same-sex attraction should not pressure individuals to get married [53] and clarifies that "the solution for all sin is repentance." [64] In 2016, she spoke at Liberty University, saying that although God does not promise to take away temptation in this life, God "pledges to you His kind company and power in the midst of this struggle" and will carry "the heavier part of the cross". [65] Butterfield describes each person who battles unchosen same-sex attraction in "God's way" as "a hero of the faith". [65] At the same time, she also warns that the false expectation that same-sex desires always fade away completely can make people blame God and become bitter. [66]
People on Side Y tend to practice intentionality in their word choice and thus reject words like "gay," "queer," and "LGBT," as identity markers. [67] [68] If they are same-sex attracted, they may opt for descriptors like "Christian who struggles with (unwanted) same-sex attractions." [69] [70] To describe their pre-Christian selves, they may allow for phrases like "gay identity" [71] or "life as a lesbian," [72] but then use explicitly biblical terms like "born again," [73] [74] "eunuch for the kingdom of God," [75] or simply "Christian single," [75] to characterize their current selves. Side Y's insistence on such terms comes from a commitment to a biblical anthropology and ontology,[ citation needed ] which they deem inconsistent with the worldview implications that, according to them, come with identifying as gay. [68] [76]
Some, like Rachel Gilson, author of Born Again This Way, who border on being Side Y, may accept terms like "gay and lesbian people," [77] [78] while still being wary of full-fledged LGBT identification. Gilson writes, "[People] would most likely hear 'gay Christian' and think that person is pursuing a same-gender relationship and Jesus Christ. After all, this is what affirming Christians mean when they use that language. This is exactly what those of us who hold the biblical majority view do not want to say." [79]
Unlike Side B, which provides room for a nonmarital commitment in same-sex friendships (sometimes called "Spiritual Friendship"), [80] Side Y tends to see such unions as an appropriation of marriage and misuse of friendship. [81] Christopher Yuan, the author of Holy Sexuality and the Gospel, states, "[Lifelong same-sex partnership] is a ceremony: [The participants] covenant together, they live together, they own property together; it's from every other [angle], same-sex marriage". [82] Some also fault Side B for being informed by a Darwinian and atheistic view of humanity, rather than by that of the Bible and Christianity. [83] Others have also spoken against the Revoice movement for denying homoerotic desire as a fallen desire and presenting it as morally neutral [84] and presupposing an intersectional identitarianism [85] and "gender ideology". [86] Because of these worldview differences, [87] there is a growing movement among Side Y Christians toward viewing gay Christianity as a different religion altogether. [39]
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged in the first millennium AD, and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
The relationship between religion and homosexuality has varied greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and denominations, with regard to different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality. The present-day doctrines of the world's major religions and their denominations differ in their attitudes toward these sexual orientations. Adherence to anti-gay religious beliefs and communities is correlated with the prevalence of emotional distress and suicidality in sexual minority individuals, and is a primary motivation for seeking conversion therapy.
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The relationship between religion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people can vary greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and sects, and regarding different forms of homosexuality, bisexuality, non-binary, and transgender identities. More generally, the relationship between religion and sexuality ranges widely among and within them, from giving sex and sexuality a rather negative connotation to believing that sex is the highest expression of the divine.
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