In an interview with TIME, Mohler said his statement on gays does not change his views on the morality of homosexuality. “There has been among evangelicals a fear or a misunderstanding that if a scientific causation of homosexuality were discovered that that somehow removes the moral responsibility of the persons making these choices,” he said. “But that is not true. The Scripture doesn’t say we are responsible only for the temptations we choose. The basic sinfulness of homosexuality, that wouldn’t change.”
Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, renews my respect for that denomination. As an Episcopal convert from the non-denominational generic flavor tainted with Southern Baptist and Independent Baptist leanings I have grown increasingly discordant over the Church in the modern world - particularly the evangelical branch. With its stick-in-the-mud approach to science, politics, art, religion, culture and anything intellectual, I have sought to maintain cordial relations while remaining spiritually distant from my spiritual family. It hasn’t been healthy.
Mohler adds an element of intellectual honesty to the role of spiritual leadership. There are likely theological points of discussion with which we disagree, but Mohler’s assertion that we are born with predispositions toward certain sins is something that has been on my mind lately. Who’s to say he’s not right?
One thing is certainly clear: We are all sinners and God makes it perfectly clear that no sin is preferred over any other. Yet most Christians treat homosexuality as if it is unpardonable. “Love the sinner, hate the sin” has been the sanctimonious mantra for far too long. It is intellectually impossible to separate the sin from the sinner; that is true if one adheres to a Biblical world view. We are what we do.
