Pastors’ Disclosures May Stir Empathy, Some Evangelicals Say - New York Times

'n Berig in die New York Times oor die moontlike effek wat onlangse bekentenisse deur prominente 'evangelical' leiers in die VSA dat hulle homoseksueel is kan hê op die houding en gesindheid jeens gays.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 — Confessions by two evangelical Christian ministers to having same-sex relationships could lead evangelicals to feel greater compassion toward gay men and lesbians, especially those in their congregations, some evangelical leaders said Tuesday.

But none expected a broader re-examination of the belief, widely held by evangelicals, that homosexuality is sinful.

On Sunday, the pastor of a suburban Denver church, the Rev. Paul Barnes, resigned after admitting to having had sex with men. Mr. Barnes said he had often cried himself to sleep, begging God to end his attraction to men.

Mr. Barnes’s departure came just a few weeks after that of the Rev. Ted Haggard, who had been president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A male prostitute said Mr. Haggard had had a relationship with him for three years.

“I honestly don’t think there is significant rethinking on evangelical positions on homosexuality, but I think there may be greater compassion,” said the Rev. Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn.

“Those who don’t have homosexual inclinations can be judgmental towards those that do,” Mr. Anderson said. “When you discover people you know and respect are struggling with homosexuality, suddenly you’re more compassionate because they are real people who are around you, members of your church and community, and the compassion level rises. It should.”

The Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo, an American Baptist minister and a professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania, said he was opposed to what he called “same-gender eroticism.” Dr. Campolo said that many evangelicals, influenced by Christian radio, had come to believe that homosexuality was largely a choice and that homosexuals “choose to be evil.”

Others, he said, subscribe to theories, now discredited by psychologists, that men become gay because they had a domineering mother or were victims of sexual abuse as children.

“People on Christian radio have portrayed gays as insatiable, promiscuous people, which they are not,” Dr. Campolo said, “and they describe gay people as fungus on society that must be exterminated.”

Given the sadness many evangelicals say they feel for the former pastors, he added, “what we’re seeing here is a growing awareness among evangelicals that they have oversimplified, made false judgments and been very, very mean to the gay and lesbian community.”