Dear Ttbn,

«Just repulsive and unnatural is enough for me, without looking for religious reasons.»

Absolutely so, I couldn't agree more!

I assume that you wrote in support of Alan who said "It must be extremely disconcerting to hear voices coming out of thin air", referring to this fashion of carrying around, wearing and speaking to those stupid, cancerous, radiation-emitting electronic devices - it's extremely repulsive and unnatural.

"Just repulsive and unnatural is enough for me, without looking for religious reasons."
I too find it unnatural and repulsive, but I have no wish to force my beliefs on other people who may not find this repulsive or unnatural.

Peter Sellick gave a good description of the church denominations with regards to homosexuality. It's true that homosexuality is a hard issue within Christian communities. With one church or pastor willing to marry homosexuals and another stiffly against it. But for me the best possible argument for it within the church is the understanding that we all sin. This specific understanding does not endorse homosexuality (though it is often paired with perspectives that do endorse it), and it speaks on the texts of the bible that in no way endorses sexual relations with the same sex.

I find it very troubling to to see Christians rewrite their own faith, as if they know God will more then God knows His own will. So to ignore what has been said in the bible and then say as if it is God's progressive revelation is quite troubling account that I see as a plague in Christian communities.

That said, who does not know someone who is homosexual, and who does not know the strong pull for satisfying our romantic lusts? There is a deeper issue here that could also be addressed. As a population most of mankind has become very sex driven. Possibly just part of our make up or possibly because our societies puts for sexual endorsing as per the entertainment, the satifacation in it, and the fact that it sells so so much in advertising.

As a Christian I can almost tell a homosexual that being attracted to the same sex is ok; as long as they just avoid having sex,or sexual acts, then they can have deep commited friendships. But then I would also know my own hypocrisy in this, because as for me this isn't an option I've found easy. None the less, to be a Christian should be about following Jesus. It's not our standard that counts, but God's standards.

Not_Now.Soon

' As a Christian I can almost tell a homosexual that being attracted to the same sex is ok; as long as they just avoid having sex,or sexual acts, then they can have deep commited friendships'

would you argue that a peadophile being attracted to kids is ok as long as they avoid sex.

no doubt many do have strong same sex attractions the same way many/most have strong fornication or adultrous urges. To acknowldege one's struggle in a totally sexualised secular society is one thing but to promote and ignore the obvious damages is another. People practising homosexuality are broken confused sinners like the rest of us. The answer isn't to promote or endorse the sin which has led to more suicide, more child abuse, more depression, more sickness etc

Ooo, ooo, can I answer this?

runner asks: “would you argue that a [paedophile] being attracted to kids is ok as long as they avoid sex[?]”

Yes, I would.

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Not_Now.Soon and runner,

You two have raised a good point about Christianity: it sets up unrealistic, irrational, and immoral criteria by which to live, and then it convinces the believer that they need saving, and that Christianity is the only means whereby the believer can receive this salvation.

The immorality in the way that Christianity goes about this is in the fact that it then creates a loophole so that one never has to be responsible for their actions. A loophole which has nothing to do with how good one is, only how much one is willing to be a sycophant to an idea.

//None the less, to be a Christian should be about following Jesus.//

Well maybe give that a try then? Jesus is pretty much mute on the topic of homosexuality. He never comes out in favour - but he never condemns it either...

It's St. Paul that doesn't like the gays. And he was just some dude, not the son of God or anything. Any time somebody quotes New Testament scripture condemning homosexuality, it is always Paul and not Jesus that they are quoting.