Review of Brokeback Mountain misses the point

David Lazar's Review of Brokeback Mountain Misses the Point 1/6/2006
By Mark Landsbaum

Homosexual relationships are wrong – that’s why they shouldn’t be celebrated.






Mr. Lazar is correct. The “lovers” of Brokeback Mountain are neither heroes nor courageous.


Mr. Lazar’s error is seeing the problem merely in its consequences (infidelity, broken families, suicidal depression), rather than in its cause: homosexual lust.


Mr. Lazar looks to the consequences of the sinful act as if they can be tweaked, as if the sin can be committed in a better way (by self-sacrifice, consideration of others, without shame) in order to alleviate its dire consequences.


The Bible says this is calling evil good and good evil. It compounds the error. It doesn’t fix it.


The reason for these horrid consequences isn’t that the sin wasn’t committed in a kind, compassionate manner. The reason is the sin itself. No good can come from evil. Thinking that what is an abomination before God can be made acceptable if it’s merely taken out of the closet and performed in a kindly manner is foolishness.


Homosexual sexual relationships are wrong. That’s the reason they should not be celebrated. Not because they haven’t yet been ingratiated into the public conscience or shamelessly accepted by their practitioners.


The reason people are repulsed by homosexual sex isn’t because people are bigoted. It’s for the same reason people are repulsed by pedophilia, theft, murder and lying. It’s because God is repulsed by sin and we all inherently understand right from wrong. (See Romans 1.)


It is no surprise that when sin is embraced, the consequences are shame, dishonesty and other natural fruits of selfish desires. Man is more than inherently flawed, as Mr. Lazar has noted. Man is fallen in sin. Accommodating sin doesn’t fix the problem. Only repenting and giving one’s life to Christ remedies the problem.


But we don’t give our life to the Savior if we unrepentantly seek to justify our sins. (See Isaiah 5:21.) What is an abomination to the Lord is an abomination. (See 1 Corinthians 6:9.) There’s no correlation between skin color or ethnicity and the sinful perversion of sexual relations among people of the same sex, as Mr. Lazar seems to imply. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Gentleman’s Agreement dealt with bigotry. There is no bigotry involved in recognizing sin.


There never will be a moral argument in favor of making good what God considers sinful. Those who try, commit additional sin.


“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20, NASB).


The challenges homosexuals face each day aren’t about how to “come out” in an agreeable manner, but instead how to turn from their sinful impulses, just as the liar, the pedophile and the thief must. “Normalizing” the sinful urge for unnatural sex is no more correct than normalizing lying, pedophilia or theft.


Persuading themselves and others that their sinful lusts are good things doesn’t change the nature of their sinful lusts. It only draws others into their sin. And it doesn’t fool the Lord for one minute.


As Jesus said, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).


This is the message that must be delivered to those who are tempted by homosexual desires if they are to conform to God’s will and to avoid the dire consequences of their acts in this life, and the far more serious consequences in the next life.