Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: I read this book for a seminary course and I enjoyed it. Schmidt cuts away all the political correctness of our day in his analysis of homosexuality. The author looks at the issue from a Christian and Biblical perspective, but he presents enough medical evidence to convince a truly honest seeker that homosexuality is not consistent with the design for the human race.
Rating: 
Summary: A recipe for suicide
Review: Is Schmidt's book reliable, clear, and compassionate? A friend of mine took a swan dive off the fifth floor of a parking garage because his church and his family believed "compassionate" theologians like Schmidt. Many Gays and Lesbians, also friends of mine, swear never to set foot in a Christian church again, precisly because they were traumatized by this kind of "compassion." And many Straight people -- parents and friends of Gays and Lesbians who have learned that God loves homosexuals for who they are -- have left their churches because of this kind of "compassion."When I read a book like Schmidt's, and reflect that his is the line adopted by _liberal_ Christian churches, I wonder if Gays and Lesbians aren't doing the best thing for their physical, mental and spiritual health when they reject Christianity outright. Fortunately, there are ministers like Rembert Truluck, church leaders like Bishop John Shelby Spong, and theologians like Daniel Helminiak, who exhibit true compassion on this issue. Christians who seek insight in the debate over homosexuality may do well to look to their examples.
Rating:
Summary: A recipe for suicide
Review: Is Schmidt's book reliable, clear, and compassionate? A friend of mine took a swan dive off the fifth floor of a parking garage because his church and his family believed "compassionate" theologians like Schmidt. Many Gays and Lesbians, also friends of mine, swear never to set foot in a Christian church again, precisly because they were traumatized by this kind of "compassion." And many Straight people -- parents and friends of Gays and Lesbians who have learned that God loves homosexuals for who they are -- have left their churches because of this kind of "compassion." When I read a book like Schmidt's, and reflect that his is the line adopted by _liberal_ Christian churches, I wonder if Gays and Lesbians aren't doing the best thing for their physical, mental and spiritual health when they reject Christianity outright. Fortunately, there are ministers like Rembert Truluck, church leaders like Bishop John Shelby Spong, and theologians like Daniel Helminiak, who exhibit true compassion on this issue. Christians who seek insight in the debate over homosexuality may do well to look to their examples.
Rating: 
Summary: A thoughtful, charitable and intellectually honest analysis
Review: Much debate on homosexuality is highly charged with accusations of self-delusion, fear or bigotry being levelled freely. Thomas Schmidt enters this debate presenting a position against homosexual practice not based on homophobia or blind religious conviction but on sound medical, sociological and historical data. As an agnostic who lived the gay life for many years, and found it wanting, I find Schmidt's presentation compassionate and scholarly. His data and analysis confirm the position I came to after 20 years of living the gay life. No-one told me that my statistical chances of living in a monogamous same sex relationship was almost zero. No one told me of the physical damage I would end up doing to my own body and to the bodies of those I claimed to "love". Schmidt presents the unpleasant but honest reality. I wish this book had been around 20 years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Compassionate and Honest
Review: Much debate on homosexuality is highly charged with accusations of self-delusion, fear or bigotry being levelled freely. Thomas Schmidt enters this debate presenting a position against homosexual practice not based on homophobia or blind religious conviction but on sound medical, sociological and historical data. As an agnostic who lived the gay life for many years, and found it wanting, I find Schmidt's presentation compassionate and scholarly. His data and analysis confirm the position I came to after 20 years of living the gay life. No-one told me that my statistical chances of living in a monogamous same sex relationship was almost zero. No one told me of the physical damage I would end up doing to my own body and to the bodies of those I claimed to "love". Schmidt presents the unpleasant but honest reality. I wish this book had been around 20 years ago.
Rating:
Summary: Accepting Homosexuals in the Church
Review: Professor Schmidt clearly lays out the debate between revisionists and traditionalists on the Biblical issues surrounding homosexuality. He explains what the various arguments are in terms lay Christians can understand. While doing this he remains true to his focus of remembering that the issue is really about an individual, not about lifestyle, orientation or ideology. If you are looking for a book that "justifies" homosexuality through misinterpretation of Scripture this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a book that "justifies" your anger or resentment of homosexuals this is not the book for you. If you are a person who wants to better understand the issues surronding the Christian faith and homosexuality this is an excellent book for you. Unfortunately, the critics of Schmidt's conclusion don't tackle his agruments, they merely resort to lumping him into a category (homophobe)they immediately dismiss. Those critics should read his book again because they missed his love and compassion for them as individuals regardless of whether they are homosexual or hetrosexual.
Rating:
Summary: Very fair-minded and clearly reasoned.
Review: Schmidt's great strength is a very simple one: he treats homosexuals as human beings. Not as enemies, monsters, aliens, or vermin, but as human beings - and that, given the fraught atmosphere in which these issues are so often discussed, is sheer gain. Far too often, Christians wave verses at gays as if they thought that they could make "those people" vanish. It is not going to happen. Schmidt does not forget that he is talking about real people, even while he disagrees with what Boswell and others have written. Those who wish to track his arguments to their sources, have plenty of references to wade through. All too often, straight Christians are the very last people on this planet to have any understanding of what it is like to realise one is gay - I hope this book will help to dispel that sort of attitude. Schmidt dismisses the attitude which is summed up so often in the much-abused and threadbare words, "Hate the sin, love the sinner" - it really amounts to loving people not at all, because it does not treat them as persons loved unconditionally by God. It is one of Schmidt's virtues that he sees this. As a Catholic, I did not notice any kind of bias - it complements the slightly more clinical books of Father John Harvey well.
Rating:
Summary: A thoughtful, charitable and intellectually honest analysis
Review: Thank you, Dr. Thomas Schmidt, for providing a book with intellectual integrity that avoids the sensationalism of the ideologues on both sides of the homosexuality issue. The author is extremely well qualified for the task he has undertaken with caution and candor. This is no "bashing" or "trashing" treatment of those who promote "gay theology." It is a respectful, intelligent analysis of the evidence, honed by the author's unquestioned competence in the biblical languages and historical context. Boswell et.al, notwithstanding, this is the book that accurately exegetes sacred scripture on this issue. No "agenda" is read into the text. The plain teaching of the text on the issue of homosexuality is captured and presented. One may not like the author's conclusions, but one cannot contest the author's argument and evidence without doing violence to the biblical text and its historical context. This amazingly balanced volume should be on the table every time this issue is discussed. Schmidt has done us all a very great service, and I highly recommend his work to everyone interested in the topic.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written and comprehensive Christian summary
Review: The author does a good job of summarizing the traditional Christian position towards homosexuality. He offers strong evidence, both scientific and Biblical, that male homosexuality contains pathological and/or morally unacceptable elements. The book does not treat lesbianism in as much depth. In particular the connection between lesbianism and a certain type of radical feminism based in antipathy toward men is left unexplored. Prof. Schmidt prophetically suggests that although the Christian tradition has truth on its side in this debate, Christians face a real possibility of losing the "culture war" on this issue. This raises the sobering thought of Christian churches suffering persecution at the hands of a government bent on enforcing moral approval of homosexuality. I hope Prof. Schmidt's vision is overly pessimistic, but fear it may not be... Straight & Narrow is written in a respectful, decent style toward its subject. I only wish more of the debate was like this.
Rating:
Summary: "Christian" and Christian
Review: There are "Christians" and there are Christians. What I mean to say is, there are multiple forms of Christian theology, and each has its own approach to homosexuality. This is one approach. It happens to be a bigoted one and no greater a breakthrough in theological writing than 19th century defenders of slavery put together. If you believe literally in Biblical disprobity of homosexuality as this author does, we must also hope that you put your child to death for talking back to you, among a great many other things the Bible advocates. I think most reasoned people and most mainstream Christian denominations increasingly see that homsexuality is a genetic state, not a behavior, no more immutable than your eye color. If you find yourself in a struggle between your religion and your or someone else's homosexuality, do not begin by reading this book: begin first by changing churches to one of the countless that are gay-affirming if not pro-gay. Then read some books like these: Stealing Jesus Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality Coming Out of Shame Outing Yourself
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