I really can't comment if Cook got his wires crossed about what
the pope said, or if the translation was wrong or whatever.

Either the pope or Cook clearly need to swat up on their
neuroscience and our understanding of how the mind works.

Sexual attraction is perfectley natural, but it is instinctive,
not about free will.

Even the pope would have woken up to his share of erections,
not because his freewill chose to have them, but because
a large portion of the brain operates on a subconcious level
and males evolved to have them and to have urges to impregnate
females! That is the reality of it.

Further, if we look at nature, nothing is black and white, but
things evolve along the lines of a spectrum, it is just how
the genes land up in particular individuals.

We find very masculine females, very feminine males, very tall
females, very short males etc.

If the pope or Cook think that we should accept what is natural,
then they should accept those people as they are, instincts and
all, not try and enforce some religious agenda on them, as they
seem to be attempting to do.

Theres not all that much innocent about homosexuals Kipp.

They know what they are doing.
They know they are the corrupters of many young boys and the spreaders of disease to same.
God says all the way through the Holy Bible that homosexuals (sodomites) do not make Heaven.
The place for them is the Lake of Fire.
Telling gays who read this is my compassion.
Tap into Mary K Baxters-Divine revelation of hell.
http://spiritlessons.com/Mary_K_Baxter_A_Divine_Revelation_of_Hell.htm
Be strong, lad and start at Chapter 1 Into hell.

Oh Gibbo - Mate, in a world where the refugee camps are full and the most unbelievable human rights abuses are occuring, you are praying for a bunch of people whose only fault (in your eyes) is they dare, and in fact have been programmed to love by the Lord Almighty if there is one, is to love people of the same sex and who are probably mostly, same as any heterosexual, happy with how things have worked out.

I don't think they need your prayers, they are mostly just getting on with life, same as the rest of society, working, playing, being parents, and dealing with the day to day stuff of being an ordinary human being.

I think you have been left somewhere behind and if you are not writing in seclusion, the company you keep is somewhat limited.

I'm not a prayerful person, I tend to favour direct action, but I'm sure there are better more thoughtful, loving types out there, probably a good proportion of people who are even gay, who will spare some time to pray for you. May a happy place come your way with all their thoughts concentrated on you.

i agree with tommy and crabsy. on a quick read, i found the pope's speech mighty weird (as i would), but pretty inoffensive. very interesting to find, for once, that the beating up on the catholic church is largely a beat-up.

cook, on the other hand is a shocker. The sentence that deland noted is absolutely disgraceful.

JL Deland hit the nail on the head, why are some religious people hand up about homosexuals. All the death, pain in the world is were they should put there energies.....Oh that's right they are, perhaps they should stop.

Many religious people are so worried about going to their imaginary Hell, that they create a very real one here on earth.

"very interesting to find, for once, that the beating up on the catholic church is largely a beat-up."

For once? I'd say it's a regular occurence! Perhaps it's usually more subtle though, than this obvious example.

And Gibo, theologically and biblically why is homosexuality any worse than other other sin?