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I wanted to see it, but I didn't want to see it. I'm talking
about the "gay cowboy" movie
called Brokeback Mountain
(even though I read Jake Gyllenhaal,
one of the two major actors
- “Jack Twist," wants it to
mean much more than that to
its audience). I didn't want
to see Brokeback Mountain
because I felt it could be
considered some type of tacit
approval of two men “falling
in love,” which goes against
my Christian grain and biblical
beliefs, but I wanted to see
it because I am humanly "gay
all the way." However, I am
not a practicing homosexual
(some would say I'm a professional
one!), sober and celibate
by choice, so help me God,
because of deep spiritual
convictions. I went and ran
errands with a gay friend
(who knows my beliefs and
knew me wild and now knows
me tame), visiting his "lover"
in the Bowling Green, Ohio
jail where he's doing ten
days for a drunk driving,
donated an autographed copy
of my book Beyond Babylon:
Europe's Rise and Fall to
the main library in downtown
Bowling Green (since I was
born there 46 years ago, but
never lived there), we picked
up some fast food and visited
my friend's mother where we
ate and then he asked if I
wanted to see Brokeback Mountain
that would be showing at Franklin
Park Mall (now called Southfield
or something since the Brits
took it over) in Toledo shortly,
so I said yes and we rushed
to get there and made it --
ten minutes late. He had seen
it a week earlier up in Michigan
with some gay and lesbian
friends, thinking it wouldn't
be shown around here -- wrong!
Immediately you have to stand
in awe (or sit and watch)
the scenery that is most spectacular
and moving, especially as
the sheep are being herded
and moving on the big screen
in front of you like you could
reach out and pet one, and
the mountains are majestic
aspiring to reach Heaven with
their snow-capped tops and
trimmed with forests here
and there, evergreens, and
of course I couldn't help
but think of the irony of
nature playing such a prominent
role in this film that the
Apostle Paul would say is
against nature.... I was surprised
to see so many older folks
in the audience. I thought
they would all be set in their
ways (I'm not saying that's
wrong in some ways), traditional,
opposed to such a real or
imagined threat to "family
values." Maybe they just wanted
to watch a movie that looked
interesting or they're also
jaded, or desensitized to
the seriousness of sin like
too many, or recognized that
it could provoke discussion
or a greater understanding
(without necessarily approving
of it) of this whole issue
of homosexuality. I thought
the first sex scene was rather
abrupt, nothing really leading
up to it, no mating game or
cruising or furtive glances
or hints of anything out of
the ordinary. Must have all
been buried underneath all
that butch (masculine) appearance,
simmering somewhere, and the
fuel on the fire was a tad
too much liquor, true to life.
Alcohol can strip away any
inhibitions some might have
or offer an excuse later to
help cover your butt (which
is why I am sober and celibate
by the grace of God). The
movie does help blow the stereotype
that all homosexuals are limp-wristed,
sissy faggots - but didn't
Rock Hudson already prove
that? Among others. The whole
idea (or unwholesome idea)
of two men on a mountain,
far away from rules and regulations
and norms, reminded me of
a passage within a little
booklet I wrote years ago
("God and the Gays: What the
Bible Really Says About Homosexuality")
to address many of the issues
Brokeback Mountain broached:
about how some men who are
basically “straight” (heterosexual)
will engage in homosexual
acts while in prison or a
monastery, but will quickly
revert to their preferred
heterosexual passion as soon
as possible and pretend nothing
ever happened. In BM, which
we called “Bareback Mountain”
among ourselves (no “safe
sex” practiced in it among
the men or women involved
since it was set in the sixties),
the fellows went their separate
ways initially and got married
and thereby proved they were
hybrids - bisexuals - since
they could obviously get sexually
stimulated by men and women.
A curiosity to both heterosexuals
and homosexuals. But the first
chance they had to get back
together, in every way, they
jumped at it like a raging
bull let out of his cage.
“Free at last, free at last!”
I've watched Oprah have men
on her program who have been
married for years, with children,
who have suddenly “discovered'
they're gay, and in “finding”
themselves - isn't that just
interestin'? - lose their
wife and children. What about
the commitment they made before
both God and man? I don't
care if you're gay or straight,
if you make a vow you should
keep it! Why make victims
of the truly innocent wife
and children who didn't ask
for it? Of course some will
say they're all victims, and
that's true to an extent,
but even if someone has “feelings”
they should control them or
nip wrong thoughts in the
bud -- not permit them to
take root and grow. Why do
some find it fascinating for
a man to cheat on his wife
with another man, but would
stone someone who was going
through his “midlife crisis”
sleeping around with younger
women to prove some point
to himself? It's not that
the thoughts aren't there,
it is possible to lust after
your neighbor's wife or husband
(or both), but you're supposed
to rein in such maverick thoughts
and not let them run roughshod
over your life and marriage!
Of course two men can fall
in love, or a married man
and woman can fall in love
with someone other than their
spouse, but you're not supposed
to set yourself up for a fall,
you're not supposed to let
yourself flirt with forbidden
love, you're supposed to control
the thoughts rather than let
them control you (Genesis
4:7). Brokeback Mountain forcibly
brings all these tumultuous
thoughts, tormenting conflicts
of interest and personal struggles
to the surface, surging like
lava from a volcano, which
I'm now wrestling with and
pouring out for others to
consider. We can feel hopeless
and all too human or we can
transcend human relationships,
overcoming sin rather than
being overcome by it, by going
up to the Mountain, following
the path paved by the Suffering
Servant (Isaiah 53), who gave
His back to be beaten for
us to break the power of sin
over us, by whose stripes
you are healed, who bears
our heartaches, sorrow and
sin; by going up to Mount
Zion and “to the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels...” (Hebrews
12:22). Instead of wrong desires
that only lead to self-destruction,
please let us yearn to return
to Zion, time and again. David
Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist
writer in Ohio and author
of Beyond Babylon: Europe's
Rise and Fall. With a focus
on the Middle East and Jerusalem,
his analytical articles help
others improve their understanding
of that troubled region. Check
out Beyond Babylon. |
