Amid the tumults of holy water, blazing torches and rainbow flags, I believe something has been lost: truth. I believe the debate about homosexuality and gay marriages has led many Christians to shed one of the fundamentals of Christianity: love thy neighbor. Although the Christian Church remains divided on the subject of gay marriages in the United States, allow me to clarify the Christian view on homosexuality.

Christians believe homosexuals are infinitely valuable people and loved by God. However, the Bible is clear on its stance of homosexuality. It is a sin. Christians cannot see these actions as normative because we believe God is the author of sexuality, and he has designed the proper boundaries for a sexual relationship. Christians are criticized for being hypocritical in this light, advertising their love and open arms yet not accepting the actions of gays. Again clarification is needed.

Author Stuart Briscoe explains acceptance in terms of a rebellious child and a parent. No matter what the circumstance, the parent will always welcome their child back home. However, they cannot welcome their behavior. In the same way, Christians accept gays and lesbians as valuable people under the same God, but cannot accept their lifestyle as normative. We can love our gay and lesbian neighbors while still rejecting their practices.

The foundation of this perspective is Biblical, and some would question the integrity of the argument. In her Nov. 9 column "Gay marriage defended in wake of election," Patti Murphy said, "Obviously there are some parts of the Bible that simply cannot be taken literally."

The author pointed to a command in Deuteronomy 22 that says a man may stone his wife for having premarital sex to underscore her point. This is simply illegitimate and demonstrates a lack of understanding about the Bible. This command is specific to the Israelites — not to the world — to demonstrate God's seriousness in keeping the community sexually pure. In contrast to this is the universal mandate that man and woman be joined together in marriage and as one flesh. This applies to all people.

To pull it out of its context, apply it against today's standards and deem the Bible unfit to be taken literally is unfair. To gain an understanding of the Bible, it must be taken as a whole and the significance of Jesus' death on the cross must be understood. What's more, to say it hasn't proven to be a very good guide in life is to discount and disrespect millions of people.

In that light, the Bible's message is not merely to love our neighbors. For this, thousands would not have died for its name. No, the Bible is so much more than learning to share and respect and be compassionate. The Bible is a history book about God, written so we might come to know who Jesus is and have a relationship with him.

Some say Jesus was merely a wise man — that he was a really extraordinary guy that we should tip our hats to, but that's the end of his importance. Christians set him apart as God. C.S. Lewis explained it best in "Mere Christianity," saying, "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic or else he would be the Devil of Hell. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Despite the future legislation on gay marriages and gay rights in America, the Christian community bases its stance on the authority of the Bible and Jesus. Though we may not agree with homosexual behavior, I hope we can see through misrepresentation to the real Christian perspective and disagree without being disagreeable.

Lavery is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.

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