Rhoades Less Traveled:

At the root of the plethora of disagreements folks have when it comes to homosexuality is an abiding, maddening question: Are people born gay, or do they choose to be?

I mean, if one is born gay, who could blame him or her?

The person would be part and parcel of nature playing out, and if one believed in God, it would follow that God created gays just as he did heterosexuals, but with a twist.

If one chooses to be gay or lesbian, it’s a whole different ballgame.

My view leans to the former, which makes sense and which science, more and more, is beginning to bear out.

Simply put: In a society that discriminates against gays and lesbians (not to mention the belittling and ridiculing that goes on), why would anyone choose to be the object of such scorn?

Moreover, homosexuality exists among all species and has been, I’m guessing, since the beginning of life on Earth.

But I realize that view doesn’t jibe with the Bible, if you’re reading the Bible literally.

Which brings us to the pitched battle pitting St. James Anglican church against the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. St. James parted ways with the Episcopal Church in 2004 because of theological differences and the church’s consecration of a gay bishop in 2003.

Well, the Episcopalians want their Newport Beach property back, but St. James is digging in.

Meanwhile, the case is wending its way through the legal system.

Most recently, an Orange County Superior Court ruled that St. James can continue its battle with the diocese over the ownership of the church building.

The California Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the diocese in early 2009 before the court modified the decision to allow the lawsuit to remain open.

Next step?

Quite possibly, it’s the United States Supreme Court, where congregants of St. James hope to challenge the constitutionality of a larger religious body forcing a parish off its property.

“The case is far from over,” said attorney Eric Sohlgren, who represents St. James.

I have yet to form an opinion on the property rights issue, but I have two somewhat random opinions about the goings-on.

First, by any objective measure, the Bible comes down strongly against homosexuality (which, according to the Good Book, strayed from God’s original creation of man and woman), so how can you be a Christian and a supporter of gay rights?

Which is to say that St. James is, at least, consistent with the Biblical directive on this issue and the diocese is not.

Secondly, how can people — in the Bible and in present-day society — be so intolerant of gays and lesbians?

Of course, a literal reading of the Bible — ah, the glorious violence of the Old Testament — would require you to stone your child to death if he or she disrespected you.

And maybe that — how one chooses to read the Bible — is the key.

So I guess that means that, figuratively speaking, I’m throwing stones at St. James for its intolerance, and I answered my own question posed a few paragraphs ago: Whatever the religious text, read it not literally or fanatically but thoughtfully and critically.

Wouldn’t that make your faith that much stronger?

BRADY RHOADES is the Daily Pilot’s editor. He may be reached at [email protected] or at (714) 966-4607.