Embraced by God...

The debate: Is God’s pattern of creation only male-female, meaning that queers must somehow be the result of sin, not God’s will for creation?

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it....Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal...and brought them to the man....but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man....And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man....And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. (NRSV)

Deep thoughts: Let’s keep this simple: the story of creation isn’t at all interested in answering our questions about the morality of homosexuality, bisexuality or transgenderism. This non-scientific story is merely claiming to know that GOD created the universe and everything in it. Beyond this, little can be said, for all else can never rise above conjecture (i.e., Reading between the lines isn't an accepted technique of Biblical scholarship). The fact is most of our questions about creation go unanswered in the book of Genesis. For example, children often ask how dinosaurs fit into this story of creation. 

As for "patterns," does anyone really believe God makes people with a cookie cutter? Variation abounds! None of us are the same—not even identical twins. Sexual orientation, for example, is likely just one of the many aspects within our genetic code that combine to make each new life a celebration of God’s creativity.

More to the point, it is totally absurd to claim that Adam and Eve could be a pattern of anything—patterns can only be witnessed over many generations. Yet, from our 21^st century vantage point we can calmly note that in the history of human sexuality the pattern is pretty clear—queers are everywhere! Therefore, since God is sovereign and actually works with a plan, let’s just guess that our huge numbers indicate God has got more ideas for human sexuality than simply populating the earth. Let the truth be known: our God is a creative genius with a playful love of variation.

Bottom Line: This story of creation makes no comment on GLBT persons, and it needn’t be considered to exclude our genetic presence in creation, or if you prefer, the evolution of human beings. So what does the Genesis creation story tell us about how queers came to exist and what's God's opinion of them? Absolutely nothing.