The Wise and Perverse

Biblical wisdom is that ability to rightly discern the created order (and twisting thereof), which logically produces action consistent with that understanding. Romans 1 speaks of the inability of a sinful mankind to comprehend their rebellion against mankind, which in turn produces action consistent with that rebellion--namely, participation in the fallen order and the twisting of creature-to-creature relationships (for example, homosexuality). Thus, homosexuality speaks of the brokenness of this world and the wisdom that desires it rightly ordered.

That said, the perverse may still be instruments of insight. Christopher Isherwood, gay author of The Single Man, portrays that lifestyle as more of a philosophical critique of society than a caving to perverse desires. Such a portrayal demands a nuancing of homosexuality that is quite foreign to many Christians. Even in the foolishness of his rebellion, Isherwood has the ability to step back and view his lifestyle in relation to a quickly-crumbling American society. Having cast off notions of a higher authority, Isherwood saw Americans as unwitting players in a sort of social determinism: studying, graduating, marrying, working, reproducing, dying. Their ignorance concerning their numb, mediocre existence made Isherwood's homosexuality alluring--not merely as a lifestyle choice, but as an act of rebellion against a social structure gone mad.

Thomas Hardy once wrote that "If a way to the better there be, it exacts a full look at the worst." This means not only a clear-minded view of homosexuality and the sadist heterosexuality of a Normal Mailer, but also an understanding of the gravity of their depravity. In other words, those in the muck often see the muck better than the self-righteous, and offer sterling insights that enable those with loyalty to the King to better understand the perversity of the world. Social determinism numbs the heart and mind to true beauty and genius; social Darwinism allows for wicked ideals to ravage true community while the blind remain blind. America, in its advanced state of science of technology, has detached itself from the reflective roots which produced some of the most ingenious documents and societal foresight and given itself over to shallow, unreflective living and entertainment-induced passivity.

And in the knowledge of the vacuous and mundane, a need for a better existence is impressed upon the human heart.