A Gay Jesus and True Prejudice

What would a gay Jesus do to the Christian faiths of the world? It is hard to imagine that good church-going folk would all stick with their Christianity if it was proven that Jesus was homosexual. Fortunately for them, proof from a time without cameras and other modern technologies is not possible.

The thought occurred to me when a friend flinched noticeably at the suggestion that her son might be gay. This was an open-minded woman who had even played around with bisexuality herself, and had both gay and lesbian friends. She - like many other people - thought she was entirely okay with homosexuality. There is nothing wrong with it, she would agree. But the moment it is her own son, her deepest prejudices are betrayed.

Now, I am sure that some people would argue that they can accept people as they are, but worry about the social consequences of their own children being gay. That argument may have had some force at one time, but no longer, at least in the developed nations of the world. There is little institutional discrimination now, and fewer negative consequences in general. In fact, it isn't hard to argue that just being born ugly would lessen a persons opportunities and add to their difficulties more than being born homosexual. Yet I suspect that many of these same "open minded" individuals who accept gays while worrying about the sexual orientation of their own children, would not be as worried about their child being unattractive. If that is true it seems to point to a true prejudice against gays, despite a surface tolerance or acceptance.

A gay Jesus, of course, would bring this true prejudice to the surface more noticeably. It is speculation, but I bet the Christian churches of the world would lose a large percentage of their followers if it was common knowledge that Jesus was homosexual. And I suspect that not only right-wing conservatives would flee their congregations, but many left-leaning liberals as well.

In part, Christians would have a problem with a sexual Jesus period. Most prefer not to think of him as a human being with sexual urges of any sort. But the thought of him wanting to have sex with a woman is at least tolerable for many, while the though of Jesus Christ going down on a man is just too disturbing. Why?

Why couldn't Jesus be homosexual, and why should his sexual orientation have any bearing on the message in his teachings? Unless a person truly believes that there is something wrong with a person being attracted to the same gender, how could that person reject a gay Jesus?