Editor's note: This article does not constitute an endorsement of X-Men: The Last Stand. For a full review of the film, visit our sister site, PluggedIn.

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Though I was an old Marvel Comics fan (we're talking '60s and '70s), I never really got into X-Men: The series hit its stride about the time I was shifting to other interests. But I always understood the characters' appeal, which has translated well to the movies. Besides featuring a variety of cool powers and interesting personalities, X-Men was built on themes of alienation and prejudice which were easy to relate to for many people, especially teenagers.

The message — the need for acceptance of people's differences — was powerful, important and, by and large, morally positive. But it's also one that can get twisted into a morally distorted form. And our culture just so happens to be susceptible to that sort of distortion.

Before we get to that, though, some background is in order.

The premise of X-Men, for those who don't know, is that the world contains mutants. Most look perfectly normal, others stand out in a crowd (blue skin, fur, tails, etc.); nearly all have some sort of superpower. When they're recognized, they typically face unease, fear and hatred. So many hide their identity; others, militantly asserting it, become aggressively antisocial (most notable the X-Men's prime adversary, Magneto) and declare themselves enemies of humanity.

But in this world we also find Professor Charles Xavier, a mutant himself (with powerful mental abilities) who starts a school for "gifted youngsters," namely other mutants. Here, mostly young people can come to find acceptance and mutual support, to say nothing of training in the use of their abilities. A few of them, the X-Men, become superheroes who battle forces both human (including hostile government and private agencies) and mutant in an effort to forge a world where people can, more or less, get along.

So far, so good. It's worth noting that few of the mutations in the series were morally relevant: From the perspective of the series, people were to be judged not by the condition of their genes but by the content of their character. Cruelty and persecution were deplored, kindness and brotherhood affirmed. Anyone who's ever been picked on for being different (and how many of us know what that's like) could testify to how precious these themes can be.

Again, though, even such a positive message as this can be distorted — and has been.

Case in point: Homosexuals have embraced X-Men as a metaphor for their experience, seeing themselves as persecuted victims of a society driven by no more than fear, ignorance or bigotry. And it's fair to say they've had some encouragement from a number of people involved in the comics and movies — especially the latter.

Though all the characters are straight, the last two movies have featured thinly masked "coming out" scenes where young people have to tell their parents they're mutants, and the parents respond with shock and sometimes-strong resistance. Bryan Singer (director of the first two movies) is openly gay, and actor Ian McKellen (who plays Magneto) outspokenly so: Neither has made any secret that they intended to deliver gay messages.

Things come to a head in the third and latest movie, though Singer is no longer in the director's chair. A major plot point is that a formula is invented that can cure people of mutancy. The very idea that the condition needs to be cured is outrageous to most (though not all) of the characters, heroes and villains alike. The parallel to ex-gay ministries is all too obvious, and the likes of McKellen have been explicit about the connection. "[The producers] will tell you one of the demographics that X-Men appeals to is young gays.... There are enough people in this world who think that the answer to the 'problem' of being gay is to be 'cured' of your abnormality."

You can see where they're coming from while still maintaining that they're wrong. It's true that many have agonized over their sexual impulses in their teens, experiencing mockery from peers and rejection from peers and adults alike, to say nothing of (often) a measure of self-loathing. They didn't consciously choose to be gay, and once they decide they can't change they naturally want to believe they shouldn't change. As with the mutants, they're just being what they were born to be. And as with the mutants, anyone who resists that is liable to be moved by fear, ignorance or bigotry. Isn't that just how things are with those who are "different"?

There are numerous problems with this view, from the flimsiness of the science behind the "born gay" claim to the short shrift given the motives of people who oppose homosexuality. But the one that perhaps deserves most attention is the one that attracts a lot of people besides gays: the temptation to blur the distinction between different kinds of differences, and put them all under the category of things that merit "acceptance." The truth is, not all differences were created equal.

And "created" is a key word. At this point, we've got to do some God talk — because you can't talk about what we're supposed to be without reference to our Designer.

God made us with a vast amount of diversity, and was pleased to do so: He testifies to it repeatedly (see, e.g., I Cor. 12). But the diversity isn't infinite, and isn't supposed to be. Moreover, some of it comes not from God's plan but from the corruption of God's plan. It sounds elementary, but some differences are good, others bad, others indifferent: We need to know which is which.

On one level, the latest X-Men movie recognizes this. (Warning: spoilers ahead.) Some characters abuse their powers and need to have them removed. One has her vast powers go out of control; another voluntarily removes hers because they're unavoidably destructive (life-threatening, in fact) to the people she cares about.

But there are more kinds of destructiveness than that. People who are caught up in homosexuality are caught up in something destructive too — destructive to their emotions, their bodies, their souls. The causes of homosexuality vary (certain kinds of bad relationships with the parent of the same gender seem to be the most common), but there's one constant among the people afflicted with its impulses. Far from fulfilling their true nature, they're in conflict with the nature God gave them.

Some people know this, and have taken steps to rediscover their nature as men and women, often with the help of groups like Exodus Ministries and the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. But the process can be difficult and challenging, delving into deep emotional wounds often sustained in childhood. So it's tempting to default to the Ian McKellen position — that there's nothing wrong so no "cure" is necessary.

And that notion doesn't just tempt homosexuals. It tempts ordinary people who think they're being kind to homosexuals to accept them "as they are," and leave it at that.

Christians, especially, should flee that temptation. As always, we should speak the truth in love, conscious that we are all sinners in need of Christ's salvation. But we do no one any favors by pretending that sin isn't sin — that it's just another way of being "different." We serve best by holding out the light of truth, and coming alongside our brothers and sisters in their journey toward it.