25 Answers
There are many qotations from the man written and man language interpreted bible. Much mis-information in regard to homosexuality is out there. It is not a lifestyle choice for the majority of homosexuals. For some reason poeple are threatened by homosexuals. They are no threat, the majority are born that way and god made them that way. I must admit that I feel uncomfortable around male homosexuals but that is my problem not theirs. I have female friends who are lesbians and a close friends daughter is so too. Some are genetically wired that way and some psychologically wired that way. The fact is we are all members of the human race and we all should be tolorent of our fellow man/woman no mater what their race, creed, beliefes or sexual orientation. All animals have evolved from single cells and the evolutionary process has come about by these differences. It is about time we as humans stoped hating our fellow human before it is too late.
13 years ago. Rating: 6 | |
I say no. It seems something a person chooses. DON'T get mad!! You choose what you do in your life every day. Being close to a person of the same sex doesn't mean you are gay. Todays teens seem to think if they are attracted to same sex, they are gay. I call that "brotherly or sisterly" love and friendship. We used to have a best friend whom we loved like a sibling. Maybe closer! We would share everything. Gayness never entered the mind. We grew up and added other friends and some of the opposite sex. Got engaged, married, had kids and so on. I miss the days of pure love for a friend and no one ever thought about it. No, I am not gay or ever was, I really like guys for the sex thing. No woman could ever satisfy that.
13 years ago. Rating: 5 | |
I know many people that are gay or lesbian and in each case they were attracted to the same sex at a very eary age. If God made us in his image, then why would they be born differenltly? I dont think God has gender. He loves us all. We need to accept all people as they are.
13 years ago. Rating: 3 | |
Sorry people , but you are absolutely , without a doubt, wrong. These people were born this way. Everything is genetic. Just because one or both parents have a genetic marker doesnt mean it will express itself. In the animal world, it is not beneficial to reproduce bad traits. People should be left alone, not discriminated because of it. For you religious people , god made it that way.
13 years ago. Rating: 3 | |
13 years ago. Rating: 2 | |
»Front Matter »Indexes
HOMOSEXUALITY
Contents:
A Recent Term
A Long Story
Many Viewpoints
Biblical Sources
Practical Responses
What About Change?
References and Resources
This is a very interesting read I hope you take the time to check it out...................
Although the term homosexuality has emerged from the shadows into everyday conversation and is widely understood as referring to sexual attraction between members of the same sex, it remains a confusing term with multiple nuances. Some even prefer to refer to homosexualities to avoid the impression that it is one phenomenon and that it takes only one form.
A Recent Term
Sexual activities with persons of the same sex have been known throughout history and across all cultures, though much more is written about the activities of men than of women. The term homosexuality was coined only in 1892, while the activist terms lesbian and gay are still more recent (1970s and 1950s, respectively). These latter terms are not synonymous with homosexuality but were coined to express affirmation and to replace earlier terms (including buggery and sodomy, from biblical and legal language) that had become pejorative. Such changes mean that there is not only a change in the interpretation of same-sex behavior and attitudes but also ambiguity, when referring to earlier references, whether the same concept is being described. Many contemporary writers seek to interpret the biblical references as relating to temple prostitution and culturally endorsed practices rather than the homosexual acts of today. Hence cultural meaning is often advanced as a way of reinterpreting the morality of homosexual activity.
A Long Story
Homosexual acts have been recorded throughout history. Sociologists and anthropologists have identified many different expressions associated with rituals, initiation rites and use of power. These do not assume a lifetime orientation or even a predominant attraction to the same sex. No society in history has endorsed adult homosexual relationships of the kind advocated today. Evidence of exclusive homosexuality has been sketchy, probably due to its rarity. Much of the evidence relates to the enforced isolation of monasticism, denying heterosexual outlet.
Seemingly higher prevalence only received significant attention after the Kinsey reports (1948 and 1953) mistakenly suggested 4 percent of adult men are exclusively homosexual and 10 percent are predominantly homosexual (and fewer women). This apparently scientific work brought confusion both to science and to morality, since it made false claims yet appeared to challenge traditional morality. Kinsey’s study combined information about sexual attraction with reports of actual sexual behavior. Thus the traditional Jewish and Christian distinctions became blurred. A full, sensitive response requires a distinction between the person with a homoerotic attraction and the one who engages in homosexual behavior. This difference has profound implications for our response personally, pastorally, theologically and politically.
While earlier societies have often institutionalized homosexual behavior, either giving it limited sanction or developing strong taboos against it, homosexual behavior has never been incorporated as a “normal” or “natural” expression. Claims that the normality of homosexual behavior can be sustained by the observation of animal behavior do not hold up since this is never a sustained pattern, but rather an occasional variant where it occurs. The current ideology of the gay movement is to bring homosexuality into the mainstream of sexuality as one among several preferences of equal legitimacy. This is a radical alternative to traditional thinking and gains strength in the Western world not only from its appeal to civil rights claims but also from maintaining orientation and behavior as inseparable. By contrast the large number of nonpracticing homosexuals provide evidence that orientation does not necessarily demand a behavioral response.
Many Viewpoints
A fast-growing literature provides different and conflicting interpretations that arise from their varied starting assumptions. Represented in this literature are
q personal biographies of Christians and others advocating the endorsement of the gay lifestyle as largely predetermined, something to be accepted, not fought;
q personal biographies of those (especially Christians) who have experienced a reorientation away from their homosexuality and proclaim release is possible;
q accounts of therapy by clinicians, some arguing change is never real or lasting and others citing a growing body of evidence that real change can and does occur;
q moral and theological discussions regarding homosexual behavior with varying conclusions depending on the adoption of a conservative or liberal interpretation of the Scriptures;
q evidence from the biological sciences suggesting some fundamental difference (genetic or hormonal) that might indicate a built-in predisposition to becoming homosexual (with a clear political agenda of legitimizing the gay movement, this rush of studies has been shown repeatedly to be misleading and inadequate);
q evidence from the social sciences suggesting links with early relationships, parenting patterns and/or significant seduction experiences (these arguments take many forms, and their variety indicates that no one theory is sufficient for all presentations of homosexual inclination).
The absence of a single compelling explanation points to the complexity of the phenomenon and suggests at least that there are many possible precursors to becoming homosexual, as well as various forms of expression. Nature and nurture appear to contribute to differing degrees for any given man or woman, and stereotyping should be avoided.
Biblical Sources
There is wide disagreement about the meaning of biblical texts regarding homosexuality. Proof texting needs to be avoided. Such material as appears in the Old and New Testaments should be understood in the wider framework of teaching about creation and the purpose of sexuality. There is no support for the judgmental view that the Scriptures condemn the homosexual (as many activists assert), but there is clear teaching about involvement in homosexual practices. Hence the traditional distinction between orientation and behavior (or the sinner and the sin), which has been blurred by science since Kinsey, deserves to be reemphasized.
Homosexual practices do receive mention in both the Old and New Testaments, but such references are few. The conservative interpretation of passages such as Genesis 19:5-9; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Judges 19:22-28; Romans 1:26-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; and 1 Tim. 1:8-11 is that there is a clear condemnation of homosexual behavior that goes beyond the commands to Israel and has binding significance for Christians today. This interpretation comes from setting such specific injunctions into the broader context of sexuality generally, especially the creation principle of male and female.
A great deal hinges on the interpretation of the term natural as used in Romans 1. Confusion arises when natural is used to indicate “according to nature,” as a naturally occurring phenomenon, since there are many things, good and bad, that occur naturally. That something occurs naturally does not automatically vindicate it. However, Paul’s use of the term is undoubtedly in a moral sense—that is, natural as something in accordance with God’s purposes for creation and over against that which is unnatural, or morally wrong. Making such distinctions, we can assert that homosexual behavior is natural in the first sense (it occurs in nature) but unnatural in the second sense as used by Paul.
Such a position nonetheless needs to be balanced by the limited attention given in the Bible to this matter, suggesting that its significance should not be exaggerated. Homosexual behavior appears in the New Testament among catalogs of sins without any indication that it is more heinous than lying or greediness. Further, though we recognize homosexuality to be both male and female, there is almost no reference to lesbianism (except Romans 1:26-27). We should not automatically equate the lesbian and the gay experience, and current research suggests there are significant psychological differences between them.
Practical Responses
It helps to distinguish the individual experiencing homosexual attraction from the gay movement, which insists that this is entirely normal and morally neutral. Long-standing moral principles that have shaped cultures over centuries need not be abandoned because scientific findings appear to be generating new insights. In this area science is tentative, exploratory, biased and frequently shown to be wrong. Klaus Bockmuehl has cautioned against responding too hurriedly to the latest opinions:
The church of Jesus Christ has to resist the trend that would ironically make it the agent for abolition of its own ethical norms, and abolition for which neither the Old nor the New Testament offers the slightest justification. The biblical norms are relevant precisely because they deal with homosexual behavior, which is exactly the problem today. (pp. 12-18)
What About Change?
While the gay movement insists change is not possible and should not be attempted, such simple stereotyping should be resisted. There are wide varieties of expression and experience. While activists publicly clamor for acceptance, others quietly suffer and long to be different. Change, if sought, is achieved successfully by some, but for others the pattern is, humanly speaking, unchangeable. Acceptance of a celibate lifestyle is one legitimate option for those in that situation.
Defining what constitutes change is difficult. In the past a shift toward heterosexual interest and then marriage were claimed as adequate evidence for successful change, but some now argue that such changes are secondary to a more fundamental change. Some follow the argument advanced by E. Moberly (1983) that the underlying problem is not a problem with the opposite sex but with the same sex. Developmental theorists argue that a poor relationship with the same-sex parent produces a woundedness that can be healed only through development of strong, positive same-sex relationships. The issue, then, is not primarily one of sexual needs at all but one of unmet developmental needs. Hence successful change arises first in the establishment of good (nonsexual) same-sex bonding, out of which heterosexual relationships may flow.
A good deal of successful therapy has been reported following these assumptions for those, both men and women, who seek change. This developmental learning model stands over against the many efforts to demonstrate a biological basis for homosexuality. Without denying that some biological linkages may one day get beyond conjecture and speculative reports, it is most helpful to understand the biological contribution as one predisposing factor among many. The individual’s later life experiences combine with significant choices to determine the outcome. The gay movement strongly resists the possibility of choice these days (though it is not long since the term sexual preference came into fashion). Nonetheless, those who do change claim that choice is possible. And the research data clearly suggest that many with homosexual tendencies choose not to be active.
Hence we may conclude that change is possible for some, and the Christian gospel offers hope rather than condemnation. It is also clear that in our present state of knowledge, not all who wish to change can do so. A major theme when change does occur is a move away from the sexual focus to growth into personal wholeness and strong relationships. The Christian homosexual who seeks to live according to God’s purposes commonly experiences loneliness, frustration, alienation and depression but can be offered friendship and support without fear when the stereotypes are challenged. Within the churches there is need for clear teaching about sexuality and its expression in all its forms, combined with a strong pastoral response to those who have emotional, interpersonal and spiritual as well as sexual needs.
» See also: Femininity
» See also: Sexuality
» See also: Singleness
References and Resources
K. Bockmuehl, “Homosexuality in Biblical Perspective,” Christianity Today, 16 February 1973, 12-18; A. C. Kinsey, W. B. Pomeroy and C. E. Martin, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1948); A. C. Kinsey et al., Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1953); E. Moberly, Homosexuality: A New Christian Ethic (Cambridge: James Clarke, 1983); T. Schmidt, Straight and Narrow? Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1995).The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity: An A-To-Z Guide To Following Christ in Every Aspect of Life.
13 years ago. Rating: 2 | |
Speaking from many years of study of the Bible, and having attended an extremely conservative Theological Seminary and obtaining a Bachelors, Masters Degree in Theology/Ministry/Counseling coupled with a PhD in Cognitive Studies from a secular institution, and having dealt with many gay persons including ones in my own family I have without doubt concluded that it is from birth. I further do not feel God makes mistakes, nor do I believe a person of the Gay persuasion is a mistake. I further and unquestionably feel through extensive research that the Bible does not state it to be a sin. YOU SAY HOLD UP. I say study on. Remember that God says " Study to show thyself worthy - A workman, rightly dividing the word of truth". There is far more to rightly dividing the word of truth than extracting a single verse of scripture and using it to prove a point, to manipulate or to condemn. Sadly this is what has happened in the case of homosexuals.
Before I continue I must state that as in many cultures and sub-cultures people tend to place emphasis on the worst, the most vile, the item, or persons who they can use to gain the most sensationalism from. Very much the same thing the main stream media (news) does. After all it is far more exciting than the bland truth. Just to mundane, and boring right?
I have placed a link below that will allow you to view the results or the important aspects of many years of research. Not only from myself , but others. I have combined the most relevant content and posted it here. To avoid duplication I have supplied you with a link below.
Keep in mind. If you truly want truth or if you are truly on a journey to find truth you will view, and consider in full, the data you find. Just a little exercise for you to perform in your head. Imagine you are on a search to find the truth on a matter. The way I perform this is very simple. Imagine a dinning room table. Each bit of information and or evidence is represented by a playing card. Once I get a new bit of information I research it, fully, and exhaustively until I can without doubt classify it as truth or non-truth. If it is truth it stays on the table. If it is non-truth it is tossed from the table, and not to be returned. At the end of the day I am left with only fact or truth on the table. Now we may have enough truth or fact on the table to render a conclusion. Maybe not. However this must be conducted this way in order to rule out non-truth, and or error. If we allow any shred of information that is non-truth to remain on the table we have contaminated the whole picture or journey for truth , if you will. Many times this is the case. People will get lazy and do not or will not properly research an item, and then simply make a judgment call. A judgment call will certainly be biased, and bias plays no part in finding truth. Fact is fact, truth is truth. Bias is your opinion (or someone else's you have not validated), and your opinion does not necessitate truth or fact.
Whatever is left at the end of the day on the table should be fact or truth. If there is enough data on the table you may be able to make an accurate conclusion. If not your conclusion will be inconclusive or non-obtainable -period! You may have to keep on searching until you can obtain enough factual information to make the call. Sometimes it may be that you cannot, and other times you may or it may take a long time or it may be another person much later that can obtain or find the needed data. I am only saying to do it correctly, and utilize fact or truth, and be willing to except fact even if it goes against everything you may have been told or have heard. You know it is quite possible you have been told and have always heard something that is in total error. If time permitted I could administer a short survey with maybe ten questions from the Bible, and I would venture to say most will fail it. It is information which is held to be truth, that is simply not truth, but has been passed on, and down through generations, and even into the secular world as Biblical fact. These are simple items and really not relevant to ones belief system. Just a list of common mistakes taken as truth.
So I hope you take the time to thoroughly read the information I have provided in the below link. It will take you a few moments of concentration, but if you seek truth I am presenting you with information. Now it is up to you to research my findings. If you find it truth. You should except it. If you find it in error you must discard it, and tell me. It will take you minutes to read, but it took a long time to research the information in order to present the seemingly short report. I have presented this or had it presented to laymen and clergy alike. As of yet, I have not had anyone, neither clergy nor lay person after careful research of my findings dispute it. I have however had the occasional "this is what I was taught and that is good enough for me". That is actually not good enough, and not even close to proper research. This information is for those willing to check out my findings.
Please refrain from comment unless you first check out what I say thoroughly. That goes for person's commenting for, and against. Do not take my word for anything. I only give you my research, my information. You must make the conclusion whether it is fact or not. It is not difficult, but will take time. IF you cannot take the time do not make the grave mistake of ridicule before investigation, as that is the height of ignorance.
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13 years ago. Rating: 2 | |
bestway
Karma: 5904
Well Doctor Taylor I am flabbergasted, all this head knowledge and research and you never read what the apostle Paul wrote under inspiration of Holy Spirit. Romans Chapters I v 18-32
This is not just a question of human opinion. This is question of whether we gain or loose an inheritance, that inheritance being a resurrection after death and everlasting life.
(1 Corinthians 6:9-11) . . .What! Do YOU not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, 10 nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And yet that is what some of YOU were. . .
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11 months ago. Rating: 6
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daren1
very well spoken "bestway" your user name says it all.excluding the scriptures ofcourse
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Report abuse • commented 11 months ago
We are all gay,,just most dont know or are to shy to say so its something we are all given like a gift so to speak.
Most of us control our gay side even married people are also gay , using the word im married is another way of hiding the fact.
one does not need to be a practising gay there are many forms to choosefrom to show or hide the fact .
even god is gay.its a fact of life.
13 years ago. Rating: 2 | |
I am a lesbian and though some people would try to deny me of my own truths, I can tell you I was born homosexual. I've never known anything different in my 49 years. For me, it is not a sin. It's only a sin for Catholics as they believe in sin. I believe in karma.
FoG can not understand this as he was not born homosexual and simply believes what he's told in the bible without question. This makes it difficult for him to expand his understanding and restricts his ability to accept another persons self realized truths of them self. He can never know what I know. He can never feel what I feel.
13 years ago. Rating: 1 | |
Colleen, T.U to you for making valid points rather than snarky comments here and there. I love reading what you have to say as it is always something educated and interesting. Kudos to you :)
it's been thought by researchers that it's endocrine abnormalities.; and it tends to run in families. Not in every case, but like everything else, It tends to run in families. I know a family in my town , who had 7 kids, and two of the boys died of AIDS . I know of a couple that have twin boys that are now about 38ish. They're both gay. That have a gay uncle on their mother's side.
12 years ago. Rating: 1 | |
Until you have worked at a prison and seen the homosexual population , you will not understand them. It is not a choice . They wish they were not born this way , they always say. They cant change , and wont. They can only learn how to live their lives the best way they can. For the most part , homosexuals are decent, law abiding, fun loving individuals.
13 years ago. Rating: 1 | |