Genesis 2:18-25

While I was still a closeted lesbian beginning to prepare for an LDS mission, I spoke with one of the missionaries I knew while I was still an investigator of the Church. I asked him how he approached the subject of homosexuality; especially with openly gay investigators. He told me that he would welcome them with love, but would still teach the doctrine of the Law of Chastity; that while sexual orientation itself is not sinful, all homosexual activity is, and that for any gay or lesbian person desiring to be baptized, and continue as a member in good standing, they would need to live a celibate lifestyle, or be engaged in a heterosexual relationship.

I am grateful that I have never had to teach someone that principle of doctrine. It simply would be too painful.         

Think about this for a minute. The Church has a single standard of morality that all members are to follow; abstinence from all sexual relationships prior to marriage with a person of the opposite sex. If a same-sex attracted individual was to follow that council, and cannot honestly engage in a heterosexual marriage relationship, then celibacy is the only way for them to continue their mortal and spiritual progression. They are as a result, companionless and alone.

But according to Genesis 2:18, it is not good for man to be alone. How can this be?

In the Garden of Eden, Adam lived in a perfect world. He possessed everything. He was in charge of the Garden of Eden, a manager of sorts. And Adam was “with God” He walked and talked with God through the Garden. He was not alone.

So when God proclaimed in Genesis 2:18 that it was not good for man to be alone, Adam must have been confused. After all, Adam was not alone! He was with God. How can someone be with God, and be alone at the same time? Adam must have wondered as well.

After Adam was told that it was not good to be alone, God creates the animals (Gen. 2:19). He brings them to Adam to be named. It is here (Gen. 2:20) that Adam realizes that there is no one “like him”, and for the first time, Adam feels alone. When Adam and Eve are presented to one another as companions (Gen. 2:23), Adam reacted with delight. This is illustrated by his statement, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Adam’s statement is wonderfully symbolic of the closeness and intimacy he felt with Eve.

Intimacy is God’s remedy to human aloneness. Intimacy replaced that sense of incompleteness and disconnectedness. It is not until after the Fall, that Adam and Eve would feel this aloneness again.

Many members of the Church shoot my argument down straight at the beginning, by saying, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” And that is true, in a very literal interpretation. Hell, I even supported their argument by showing the amount of love, and closeness that Adam felt for Eve. That’s because Eve was suitable for Adam, and Adam was suitable for Eve.

Remember that these events are still before the Fall, before Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Good and Evil. So it is fair to say that they could not have experienced same-sex attraction, for they knew not pain or affliction. And for anyone who has experienced homosexual feelings, knows all too well the pain, anguish, and despair it causes.

Let’s look at what the word “help meet” means. In Genesis 2:18, God says He will make a help meet for Adam. In Hebrew, “help meet” translates to ‘ezer kanegdo. ‘Ezer translates to “aid”. Kanegdo traditionally translates to “meet for”, “fit for”, or “worthy of”. God gave Adam a help meet, someone who was suited to him, someone who was worthy to be with him.

Genesis 2:18-25, shows the importance that God gives to committed relationships. For a heterosexual, the only suitable companion is someone of the opposite gender. For a homosexual, the only suitable companion is someone of the same gender. To say that gays and lesbians should not form committed, intimate relationships is to say that it is good for (some) people to remain alone.

If it was not sufficient for Adam to be alone, in a perfect state of being, then why is it sufficient for those of us, who live in a fallen and forsaken world, who experience same-sex attraction? When religious doctrine dictates that such individuals must choose to enter into a heterosexual relationship, or remain celibate, is that doctrine not saying that it is good for such human beings to be alone? To lack the sort of intimacy with another human being Genesis 2:18 says is good? I humbly suggest, that the Bible correctly states that it is not good for men and women to be alone... regardless of race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.