Fourth Post: Constructing an Argument based upon ON BEING ORTHODOX AND GAY--- BY NICHOLAS ZYMARIS

Looking back on Zymaris' paper, I find that his argument begins with himself on a personal level. I say this because he is a practicing Orthodox Christian. This in itself answers one of the questions I seek to answer in this study project: That of whether or not there are practicing homosexuals in Orthodoxy. There are homosexual Orthodox Christians, and not only today, this group has existed before John Boswell popularized the notion. Another response to one of my questions is highlighted by Zymaris in his paper as well: that members of both the Orthodox clergy and laity can be and have been (or at the very least seem to have had no aversion towards such feelings) homosexuals. In supporting this statement Zymaris then cites several Holy figures, who I mentioned in my first post about On Being Orthodox and Gay: David and Jonathan, and Saints Sergius and Bacchus. These, in fact, are only a couple of the examples that I have been given as I have undertaken this project. Zymaris also makes two other very powerful arguments: first of all, that the Holy Fathers and the Bible say nothing against real homosexual relationships (loving, affectionate ones) and secondly, that the Church's Holy Fathers and the Bible only speak against heterosexuals committing homosexual acts. The first argument rings so deeply because of the grounds Zymaris founds it upon: Our God is a God of Love, thus he would never reject one form of natural love while accepting another. This clearly throws the gauntlet at those who are anti-homosexual proponents, as does the whole paper. In closing, I would say that Zymaris' paper answers three of my study project questions if not all four. Along with the responses to the two queries that I have already mentioned, Zymaris constructs an argument against conventional wisdom, saying that the Orthodox Church's attitudes towards homosexuals is not correct in being described as hostile towards gays and lesbians. Rather, that this has been brought about because of radical factions within, and outside of, the Church. Thus, the Orthodox faith does not immediately ostracize homosexuals, but rather individual members act upon their own personal prejudices to make Orthodoxy seem anti-homosexual.