I need to make it clear up front that I am not a "gay basher". I do not hate gay people but I do hate their lifestyle. Most people do not really understand how it is possible to hate the sin but not the sinner. This is because secular society has come to believe there is no sin, right and wrong is relative to what an individual feels is right and wrong for them. This is the basic problem with a trend to promote diversity in the workplace.
I was going to stay out of the diversity fray until I read a letter in an employee newsletter where I work discrediting the morality of the Bible to justify the acceptance of homosexuality. This letter referred to a teaching of Jesus in Matthew 19:9 that a second marriage can represent adultery. The writer's point was that gay partners should qualify for company benefits the same as second wives.
There is however a big difference between second marriages and gay lifestyles. Sincere study of the Bible will reveal that a second marriage may or may not involve adultery. Jesus Himself gives an exception in Matthew 19:9 and who is to know if an adulterer has repented or not? Society gives second marriages the benefit of the doubt as it should. But there is no doubt in the case of a gay lifestyle. When a gay person truly repents, they must cease to practice homosexuality or they are not really part of the kingdom of God, see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. The Bible makes it clear what God has to say about homosexuality (called sodomy in the King James Version), see also Romans 1:26-27, Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13, and Genesis 19.
There has recently been "scientific" evidence that homosexuality is inherited giving rise to the argument that society should accommodate gay people because they were born that way and can not help themselves. There may well be a "gay gene". A person may inherit a propensity to be gay, but they do not have to give in to it. Just as many hereditary disease symptoms can be avoided, homosexuals can change. We all have our crosses to bear, for some it may be alcoholism or overeating, for others gay tendencies. Thousands of homosexuals who have wanted to go straight have been helped by Christian groups like Exodus International and Genesis Counseling.
Recognizing age, gender and racial diversity in the workplace is a good thing. But it is possible to have too much of a good thing when diversity becomes the argument for endorsing immoral behavior. Public acceptance of homosexuality is one more chink in the armor of family values. The trend away from our Christian heritage and toward relaxed morality has already had disastrous effects in our society.
Between 1960 and 1990, illegitimate births increased in the U.S. from 5.3% to 28%, the divorce rate went from 12.5% to 38.6%, and the teen suicide rate grew from 3.6 to 11.3 per 100,000 according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Any policy that legitimizes immoral behavior will accelerate the erosion of family values. The gay pride movement is all about breaking down our moral standards. If you think things are bad now, stay tuned, they can get worse.
We need to put limits on what we will accept in the interests of diversity. Sexual preference is not the same as race, age, or gender. The sooner we realize this as a society, the better off we'll be. Let's keep homosexuality out from under the umbrella of diversity.