I have been thinking of this for quite awhile because of how many people i know that either are gay/bisexual or support that lifestyle. i have seen/heard different arguments supporting/justifying this behaviour from both religious and non-religious people, and i find that many of these arguments are dangerous. i will mention the arguments that i can remember (p.s. i am not intending this as a hate post or anything like that, it is just stuff i have pondered).
-I cant help it i was born this way/I cant help it, God made me this way (didnt know how to fit this part in so ill put it here, i believe both that people are born that way, and that we can be "brainwashed"(for lack of a better word at the moment) into stuff, the whole nature vs. nurture thing)
i put these two together because they are the same argument, just one is generally used by athiests while the other is more of a religious argument, but then again ive heard both from athiests as well as religious people. i am pretty sure that we have all heard this argument to some degree or another. this argument is a fairly dangerous one because various people try to justify their behaviour by using this (examples include pedophiles, abusers, liars, theives, etc). one thing i have thought about is that if we start allowing the act of homosexuality because people where born that way, then why prevent stuff like beastiality or pedophilia because these people where born that way as well? i only as that because that argument can be made for all kinds of evil.
(and just as a heads up, i by no means support beastiality, necrophilia or pedophilia at all, i am just using them as examples)
-Jesus never said that homosexuality was wrong so it must be ok
there are variations of this argument, but they are all still wrong. Jesus also doesnt mention beastiality, necrophilia or pedophilia as being wrong either. so by using this argument to support the homosexual lifestyle, it can also be use to support the others. this argument is also presuming that Jesus really didnt condemn homosexuality. the writers of the gospels didnt record every little thing that Jesus ever said, if they did i am sure that each gospel by themselves would be almost as thick as the bible (i have no real idea, im just guessing on that one). so this could mean that either Jesus did say it and the gospel writers didnt bother writing it down because at the time homosexuality being wrong was a given, or Jesus really didnt say it for the same reason.
(as a side note here, as i did the quick search for the verses for the next one, i did find one in mark where Jesus does condemn homosexuality but it was only in 1 translation, it was mark 7:22 in the CPDV for anyone curious)
-the new testament doesnt say that homosexuality is wrong
this is straight up wrong because the new testament does mention it in a few places (1 timothy 1:10, 1 corinthians 6:9, jude 1:7, 2 corinthians 12:21, galatians 5:19, revelation 22:15, mark 7:22 (now granted some of these depend on translation) there are a few other references as well if i remember correctly, but didnt come up in the quick search i did)
anways, like i said i dont intend this as a hate post towards homosexuals, i am just posting this as a quick counter to some of the arguments for homosexuality behaviour that people make.
I may have missed it in all the long posts on this topic.
I would like to directly address one of the arguments presented...
I was born this way... or... God made me this way.
One is true, the other is not.
We are all born sinners. We lie, cheat, steal, murder, etc, etc. It is because we are born into a fallen world.
God made Adam perfect and Adam sinned and brought sin to all of us. Sin made us this way, God intended us to be perfect. He so much wants us to be perfect that he sent a second Adam... Jesus the Christ. to pay for our sins so that we can be made perfect once again.
Regarding some other posts... homosexuals fighting to legalize their life style but dont see other sinners doing the same? I do.... What is abortion/Euthanasia? What about the perpetual push to reduce the legal age of consent (I've seen some attempts to push it as low as 15)? The fight to legalize pot? Eminent domain where land/homes are taken and given to private developers? Is there even one of the 10 commandments that is still legally upheld or isn't under attack by modern society?
There are all kinds of sins that have been legalized and people are pushing to legalize, its not just homosexuality.
i cant remember if I said this in the original post or not (if I did its along these lines), im too tired to re read it, but when I said that people use the "im born this way" as a justification for the homosexual lifestyle, it can lead down a very dangerous slope which ultimately leads to everyone using that statement to justify every type of behavior (for example pedophiles, murderers, liers, cheaters etc). if I didn't say that, then this is what I ment when I posted that as one of the "defences" for homosexuality.
I would like to point out that I have head that as an argument to justify a multitude of bad behaviors. Everything form alcoholics to adulterers have used this or some variation of this as a justification so I really don't see this as something unique to homosexuality.
People don't like to admit when they are wrong and hate having it pointed out to them. Many people get very defensive about their lifestyle regardless of it being drugs or sexual preferences. There will be no convincing them verbally how messed up their choices are and how destructive they are to their own lived or to the lives of those around them.
As Christians, they way I think we should approach them is to love them. ( love the sinner, hate the sin ). Don't judge and condemn them, that is Gods job. We should show them a better life through how we live our own lives.
If we live our Christian lives the way Jesus lived his, we will attract others and the only people who will be upset about it are those who loose their power and position among the people...which ultimately ends in persecution... I would rather be persecuted for being/doing right than to go along with what is wrong.
I don't agree with you matthew75, both arguments are false. There's a difference between "born in sin" (what we all were) and "born sinners". What Ecclesiastes 7:29 says is true and homosexuality is one of those inventions. Even if people pretend there's no sin bigger than an other, we Christians know it's not true. Homosexuality is not the biggest sin ever made. If Jesus talked about pedophilia in Mark 9:43, only the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit could be worse. A coherent Christian can't accept homosexuality because it's prohibited in both Testaments, but as you say people want to legalize other sins (worse) like abortion/euthanasia, bestiality...there's mercy for those people if the accept Jesus in their lives and stop doing this dirty sin anymore
Some sins are greater than others? Paedophilia is only one down from grieving the spirit? That's a very human attitude towards sin, usually as a way of justifying ourselves like the pharisee in Luke 18:11 by drawing attention to those we think are worse than us. The simple fact remains that the wages of sin (any and all of it) is death and hell :devil:, yet even murderers and child molesters can find forgiveness in Jesus:yay: He who has been forgiven much loves much...
I am a firm believer in heterosexuality. I will respect the beliefs of those who are homosexual but there are limits to being homosexual. There is no possibility of reproduction with homosexuality and many infectious blood diseases processes are transferred by homosexual acts. those are just a few of the medical facts about homosexuality.
Morally, I think it is wrong for a male to sexually love a male and it is also morally wrong for a female to sexually love a female. The Bible condemns sodomy. look what happened to the city of SODDOM. it was not how we as humans are made, I think it is a person insult to God because your body is not yours, you are just a steward of it.
extramarital and premarital sex is also made to be sin in the bible, studies show that the biblical way to relationships work the best when sex is left to be done after marriage.
Everything has a time and place and God puts intimacy in the right place where it can strengthen and fortify a marriage that was done proper.
