King's X Controversy
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When my friend Doug Pinnick first told me he was gay, I was pretty surprised. I wasn't shocked, nor did I respond with hatred and disgust. I believe in unconditional love, and this kind of revelation will test that commitment, for sure. Doug shared a story with me that has inspired me.
Doug was in a band with Ty Tabor and Jerry Gaskill in Springfield, Missouri. He told one of the members that he was gay, and this person went to the band manager to call a meeting to discuss this. They accused him of things that weren't true, and "were taking things way further than they were." Doug got so upset that he took off on his bike for a local park. Many of the members assumed that he had taken off to the local gay bars. Doug did not know where these bars were, although his accusers did. Ty Tabor and one other member looked for him and found him at the park. At this point, which was surely a low one for Doug, they affirmed their love for him as a brother. Of course, it was Ty and Jerry Gaskill who have stuck with Doug and lived up to that promise. This is the kind of friend that this editor wants to be. I do not approve of or agree with everything my friend does, but I stand by him and love him unconditionally.
What about "having nothing to do with a sexually immoral brother?" What about turning one "over to Satan, for the destruction of his flesh?" What about homosexuality? Doesn't God say that this is an abomination? Aren't sexual sins worse than other sins? It's ironic, I think, that the former lead singer for Lust Control is the one to whom these questions are coming. [I made it my ministry to address the issues of sexual sin from a Biblical viewpoint.] But it's not about a punk band that's seen better days.
This issue is addressed here because this magazine has covered King's X since the band's debut album in 1987. This magazine has shown respect to a band that has broken many barriers, both musically and directionally. People will expect us to say something about this issue as it becomes public knowledge.
Why is the Bible so clearly negative towards homosexual relationships? There are a few misconceptions about what the Bible does say about homosexuality and what God says about the people that commit homosexual behavior. Many are familiar with the passages. One principle that Scripture is consistent with is that God's law and His guidelines are for our benefit; not just arbitrary rules. For example, He didn't instruct His people about cleanliness to satisfy some neat-freak dysfunction. He cared for His people and revealed practical instructions for them that made them remarkably ahead of their time in areas of community sanitation. He also gave His law to protect us. Not killing and stealing from one another is obvious. When His Word discusses men committing indecent acts with other men, it reveals His attitude towards the actions, but we can deduce that this is for our benefit.
A man having a relationship with another man (or woman with a woman) will not bring about the satisfaction that a man/woman relationship will. While not all people will have a relationship with the opposite sex, it is clearly God's plan for sexual human relationships. He has provided a wonderful way for a husband and wife to share intimacy. God has provided a safe haven for sexual union, and that is heterosexual marriage -- a life-long monogamous relationship, where there is no break-up and therefore no ripping apart of the wondrous bonds formed in the sexual union of husband and wife.
God is our Father. The whole plan of salvation, with God becoming man in the form of Jesus the Christ, was a successful way of restoring or making possible a relationship with God the Father. While some won't ever marry while on this Earth, He is the perfect Father and friend. Not everyone will experience His design of marriage, they can still live a fulfilled life in relation to Him.
[What follows is the raw, uncut transcript of a discussion that took place on the phone while the band was on tour in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania sometime in February 1999. Following this discussion is an excerpt from a phone interview that took place sometime in May of 1998, where the subject of Doug Pinnick's homosexuality came up. We have placed discussion headings and slightly rearranged paragraphs to create a balanced read of the conversation.]
DP: (Concerning the story about the meeting with the former band) They started accusing me of writing certain things in my song about it, and I hadn't written anything about it at all. It was a nightmare for me, too, because it was the first time I had to deal with it at all with anyone. It was the first time anybody really knew, other than a handful of people, friends for a long time.
Ty came up to me and said, "You know, Doug, I'm not perfect. For me to judge you would just be wrong." He just stood up and said, "I love you and I support you." He didn't understand. Through the years, he's got to know me better and now he understands more about what I go through. We don't talk about it. It never comes up, but I know that he supports me, and Jerry also. Jerry told me I should talk about it and bring it up long ago, but I never did, because I was afraid.
He said it might help a lot of people that are struggling with that. I've gotten letters from people who have supported me -- not necessarily in being gay, but just dealing with those kind of dysfunctional, sexual kind of confusing things, and written me and told me they've been able to deal with it and talk about it.
Concerning Sexual activity...
DP: I'm human. That's all I'm saying. I'm not going out and being crazy, but I'm a lonely man who's never had anybody. I'm just as human as anyone else. I wouldn't stand up and say, ‘Oh, I'm just going to be celibate,' and then they come find or hear some story on me and get disappointed. I'm just saying, ‘I'm a human being, and I can fall like anybody else. Don't put me on a pedestal again.' People put me on a pedestal and I fall off. I just want to dispel the myth and say, ‘This is my life. I have to deal with this. It's between me and God, and only me and God. Whatever consequences, whatever happens, it's between me and Him, not anyone else.' I'm not out there destroying anyone else's life or teaching anyone that this is okay, or anything like that. I'm just saying, ‘This is what I struggle with.'
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