Surfing curls: A life vest for gays

Monster waves, confronting gays in these changing times. Especially gay conservatives.

Gay conservatives adhere to traditional conservative values. But they want the deep commitment to one another to be recognized in the same way traditional marriage vows do, in the wider society. How to reconcile this, if you're straight, a committed Christian, and believe the Biblical texts that tell us homosexuality is wrong? More importantly, how do you reconcile this if you're gay AND conservative?

Because many, if not most, gays DO believe in commitment, and the spiritual cleanliness that brings to a relationship. That is conservative to the core. But in the present climate, bringing legitimacy to their relationships is, to say the least, problematic.

I can tell you that I, as a conservative, believe the traditional view of homosexuality is past due for a re-think. I say this because the science on sexuality shows convincingly that sexual orientation that departs from the ~normal~ male-female model is not an aberration, but a simple difference. That it has existed since humanity began -- and exists in other, non-human populations -- tells me that it is natural.

Therefore, we must re-think the Bible itself. Here is where I may turn off a good number of my fellow conservatives -- but we conservatives are nothing, if not rational, and logic dictates we must question our premises. I believe the Bible contains most, if not all, that we need to live a proper life (barring edits from the likes of Justinian and Eudora, and various politically minded popes, not to mention missing texts we're not aware of).

But I believe the Biblical writers whose text survived were in error, vis-a-vis sexuality. I believe it was THEIR interpretation that homosexuality was wrong, rather than Our Creator saying so. I believe our loving Creator would never punish us because of our sexuality -- because our Creator loves ALL of us.

And that brings me to California Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage.

I submit to you: Perhaps we should re-think the idea of "marriage." And, as a conservative, I'm not afraid to do so. NOT to do so would consign me to the trash-bin of stupid.

If you've followed me thus far, then I strongly encourage you to read Gay Patriot's assessment of what the California proposition might mean. He has the most honest, insightful look into why this is such a pivotal issue, humanity-wise.

I hope you get a sense of what we need to be thinking about, conservative-wise. And human-wise. (Heck -- anything-wise.)