Homosexuality

[Helena Bertinelli]

Simple.
You look to the Bible for answers.

Don't you think that God would have some voice in whether it is wrong or right? Why do you think that he made it so that only a man and a woman can have a child?

Just curious to see the replies or if it spawns further discussion.  

[Priestley]

Why did God invent asexual reproduction or, for that matter, hermaphroditic animals? The Bible doesn't specify a reason.

Just because two people are able to do something together does not mean that they should, nor does it mean that they should not.  

[Whispers of Darkness]

The book of romans talks alot about the issue of homosexuality. To be honest it sickens me to think that it has become more of a norm these days. And this whole thing about being "bisexual" not that I am, they are no better than being lukewarm.

I've been on the otherside of having a bisexual girlfriend she broke up with me and went lesbain on me not once but three times. I thought she had changed.  

[Priestley]

Shichiyoushinobi

The book of romans talks alot about the issue of homosexuality.

You have to be specific about where by quoting the text. Also, please read the threads containing discussion about homosexuality if you haven't already.

Shichiyoushinobi

To be honest it sickens me to think that it has become more of a norm these days. And this whole thing about being "bisexual" not that I am, they are no better than being lukewarm.

Has it become a 'norm'? How?

Why would it sicken you if homosexuality has indeed become a 'norm'?

How does bisexuality compare to spiritual tepidity?

Shichiyoushinobi

I've been on the otherside of having a bisexual girlfriend she broke up with me and went lesbain on me not once but three times. I thought she had changed.

It is sad that you were hurt by her actions. Hopefully you can forgive her for it. Perhaps there was more to your parting than her sexuality. Nevertheless, I am sure that your experience should not affect your reasons for or against homosexuality.  

[Whispers of Darkness]

Romans Ch1 Verse 24-27 (New American Standard)

Quote:

"(24) Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
(25) For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(26) For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, (27) and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the women and burned in their desire towards one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."

 

[Priestley]

Shichiyoushinobi

Romans Ch1 Verse 24-27 (New American Standard)

Quote:

"(24) Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
(25) For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(26) For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, (27) and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the women and burned in their desire towards one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."

And in context:

Romans 1:18-23 NIV

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

The entire passage from verses 18 to 27 is talking first about idolatry and then the worship of those idols through sexuality. The reasoning goes first from God being revealed through nature, to man seeing God in nature, to man deciding to worship nature rather than God, to God shaming man by letting it worship nature sexually. The passage is most certainly about temple prostitution.  

[no_name_avalible]

being gay is against the bible  

[Lazarus The Resurected]

See, this is why i give so much s**t to Christians. you cannot make a blanket statement like that and imediatly decide that you are right. at the very least post the verses supporting the statement. then of course you have to factor in anyone who may not agree that your bible is the absolute truth as far as i'm concerned the bible can be damned right along with the bible thumpers.

Homosexuals tend to have been homoseuals thier whole life so this would infer that they were born that way. if you belive that "God" created all of us exactly the way "He" wanted to than wouldn't this mean "He" actualy made gyas and lesbians??  

[zz1000zz]

Lazarus The Resurected

See, this is why i give so much s**t to Christians. you cannot make a blanket statement like that and imediatly decide that you are right. at the very least post the verses supporting the statement. then of course you have to factor in anyone who may not agree that your bible is the absolute truth as far as i'm concerned the bible can be damned right along with the bible thumpers.

Would you criticize all black people for the "thugs" who rob people? Would you criticize all Muslims for the extremists who kill themselves in suicide bombings? Would you criticize all white people when one of the dozens of "Aryan Pride" whackjob groups decides to lynch a black person?

None of these cases, including yours, is a legitimate form of reasoning.

Lazarus The Resurected

Homosexuals tend to have been homoseuals thier whole life so this would infer that they were born that way. if you belive that "God" created all of us exactly the way "He" wanted to than wouldn't this mean "He" actualy made gyas and lesbians??

Actually, the current understanding of human sexuality is quite poor. Many people latched onto this "gay gene" idea, but the science behind it was never sound, and it has not been supported by further research. Beyond this, most Christians do not claim God created each person's unique biology individually.  

[dawgwhisperer]

Love the sinner, not the sin.
It's hard to understand
how or why...
unless it affects u personally.
(Let him who is without sin cast the first stone)

I believe that the root of it
is very deep and began very early,
maybe even before birth.

Our perception of self,
who we trust and admire
is our safety zone.

Sucking our thumb, having a linus blanket
is not the norm for older kids.
It is for Eli in our Sunday school.
We love him,
make him feel safe with us
and PRAY for him
cuz he does not want to be different.


WWJD???????

...be kind and tender hearted
to those who are different
Share the AGAPE love of God
I let Him do the rest

 

[Matt Pniewski]

We've been over this before. There are plenty of threads about how it's a sin here on gaia. And just as many about how it's not. Nothing is going to be solved.

But can we at least all come together and agree that the discrimination of homosexuals is an atrocity? That we, as Christians, have a MORAL OBLIGATION to end that?  

[zz1000zz]

Matt Pniewski

We've been over this before. There are plenty of threads about how it's a sin here on gaia. And just as many about how it's not. Nothing is going to be solved.

Threads discussing homosexuality and the Bible have shown time and time again the Bible does not say homosexuality is a sin. This guild has hosted several discussions of the issue, and in each case the answer was made clear. If anyone thinks homosexuality is a sin, they are welcome to discuss it, but currently nobody can offer a reason to say it is a sin.

I happen to know discussions on this topic have helped a number of people. The problem is people often do not know what the Bible actually says, and having these discussions will help solve that.

Matt Pniewski

But can we at least all come together and agree that the discrimination of homosexuals is an atrocity? That we, as Christians, have a MORAL OBLIGATION to end that?

If one believes homosexuality is a sin, a certain degree of discrimination against homosexuals is legitimate. The only way they can be treated equally to heterosexuals is if people come to accept there is nothing wrong with homosexuality.  

[Jessy_4 26 2008]

Matt Pniewski

We've been over this before. There are plenty of threads about how it's a sin here on gaia. And just as many about how it's not. Nothing is going to be solved.

But can we at least all come together and agree that the discrimination of homosexuals is an atrocity? That we, as Christians, have a MORAL OBLIGATION to end that?

I completely agree with this statement. I have found plenty of passages from plenty of books in the Bible, but it isn't my duty to judge, it is God's. He warns us from it, maybe because many who feel this way feel that way due to other things that happened to them. You can't know what goes on in their heads. You can't hate them because they're gay or lesbian, you have to love them because they are your neighbors, your brothers and sisters. Let God judge for Himself whether it is wrong or right. I'm not stating whether it is wrong or right because my personal feelings on this aren't the subject here. The best you can do is love them, and guide them to Christ if they are not with Him, if it is because of sin that they're homosexual, let God cleanse them. When most come to God their personal sins become apparent to them, and they change their ways. Your hatred and dismissal won't help them, it will only do harm and alienate them further from Jesus, God, and others.  

[Jessy_4 26 2008]

zz1000zz

Matt Pniewski

We've been over this before. There are plenty of threads about how it's a sin here on gaia. And just as many about how it's not. Nothing is going to be solved.

Threads discussing homosexuality and the Bible have shown time and time again the Bible does not say homosexuality is a sin. This guild has hosted several discussions of the issue, and in each case the answer was made clear. If anyone thinks homosexuality is a sin, they are welcome to discuss it, but currently nobody can offer a reason to say it is a sin.

I happen to know discussions on this topic have helped a number of people. The problem is people often do not know what the Bible actually says, and having these discussions will help solve that.

Matt Pniewski

But can we at least all come together and agree that the discrimination of homosexuals is an atrocity? That we, as Christians, have a MORAL OBLIGATION to end that?

If one believes homosexuality is a sin, a certain degree of discrimination against homosexuals is legitimate. The only way they can be treated equally to heterosexuals is if people come to accept there is nothing wrong with homosexuality.

That's not necessarily true, you can forgive them for their imperfections, and simply not choose to embrace them yourself. If it were up to us to judge, God would have said so. You can't hate people, and push them away just because they aren't following Jesus commands. If we did, no one would be in Christ, because at least once in their lives everyone has lusted, lied, or stolen, some more than others. You need to try to bring them to Christ, not close the doors on them and tell them that He doesn't love them. Because that is what you are doing, what if you are the only Christian they know, and you shun them. What will they think of Christianity? You are a representative of Christ, an ambassador to them, you may be the one who is supposed to show them the light, or introduce them to Him. If you disciminate against them, keep them away, or react in harmful ways, then you will be showing them that Christians are rude, hateful, and full of judgment.  

[zz1000zz]

Jessy_4 26 2008

zz1000zz

Matt Pniewski

We've been over this before. There are plenty of threads about how it's a sin here on gaia. And just as many about how it's not. Nothing is going to be solved.

Threads discussing homosexuality and the Bible have shown time and time again the Bible does not say homosexuality is a sin. This guild has hosted several discussions of the issue, and in each case the answer was made clear. If anyone thinks homosexuality is a sin, they are welcome to discuss it, but currently nobody can offer a reason to say it is a sin.

I happen to know discussions on this topic have helped a number of people. The problem is people often do not know what the Bible actually says, and having these discussions will help solve that.

Matt Pniewski

But can we at least all come together and agree that the discrimination of homosexuals is an atrocity? That we, as Christians, have a MORAL OBLIGATION to end that?

If one believes homosexuality is a sin, a certain degree of discrimination against homosexuals is legitimate. The only way they can be treated equally to heterosexuals is if people come to accept there is nothing wrong with homosexuality.

That's not necessarily true, you can forgive them for their imperfections, and simply not choose to embrace them yourself. If it were up to us to judge, God would have said so. You can't hate people, and push them away just because they aren't following Jesus commands. If we did, no one would be in Christ, because at least once in their lives everyone has lusted, lied, or stolen, some more than others. You need to try to bring them to Christ, not close the doors on them and tell them that He doesn't love them. Because that is what you are doing, what if you are the only Christian they know, and you shun them. What will they think of Christianity? You are a representative of Christ, an ambassador to them, you may be the one who is supposed to show them the light, or introduce them to Him. If you disciminate against them, keep them away, or react in harmful ways, then you will be showing them that Christians are rude, hateful, and full of judgment.

If you consider homosexuality a sin, refusing to allow a homosexual to be a pastor would be legitimate. This is one of many examples of how discrimination would be legitimate. Discriminating against someone does not mean you hate them or refuse to be around them.

That said, homosexuality is not a sin. People are not capable of both considering homosexuality a sin and treating homosexuals the same as they treat heterosexuals. Because of this (and many other reasons), it is important to ensure people know homosexuality is not a sin.

Jessy_4 26 2008

I completely agree with this statement. I have found plenty of passages from plenty of books in the Bible, but it isn't my duty to judge, it is God's. He warns us from it, maybe because many who feel this way feel that way due to other things that happened to them. You can't know what goes on in their heads. You can't hate them because they're gay or lesbian, you have to love them because they are your neighbors, your brothers and sisters. Let God judge for Himself whether it is wrong or right. I'm not stating whether it is wrong or right because my personal feelings on this aren't the subject here.

I want to be extremely clear here. Humans have a duty to understand God's word as best they can. Nothing in the Bible "warns us from" homosexuality, and nothing in the Bible says homosexuality is a sin.