Posted by giveawayboy on May 26, 2002 at 07:29:01:
In Reply to: am i wrong here??? posted by clover on May 26, 2002 at 01:25:08:
: okay you guys. i need to know i'm not an imbicile. someone on one of the livejournal communities i belong to, and i don't actually know this person, sent me an instant message tonight asking me about homosexuality. now, maybe its just me and the whole i'm just becoming a christian thing, but i don't get it. i have nothing against gays, that's their business. i know that's an issue for many, many christians out there. anywho. this person really got under my skin. here's the IM, and i would really like to hear others' opinions on this.
O.K. Clover, here goes. First off let me make it clear that in sharing what I'm about to share I am in no way endorsing any sexual behavior outside of marriage. I am fairly traditional in that sense. However, I do have my own views on this. First off, being heterosexual or homosexual is not a matter of sin but of orientation. You can be attracted to the opposite sex or the same sex, or both and that does not equate to sin in any case. However, there are some Christians who believe that homosexual attractions are disordered attractions and that any sex outside of marriage is sinful. There are others who believe that not every case of sex outside of marriage is sinful. This would include homosexual activity. Most of these Christians would believe that a homosexual relationship could be pleasing to God if it occurs in a committed monogamous relationship. Experiencing homosexual orientation myself I would like the latter to be true, but my personal view is the former. I am still of the very traditional Christian mindset. One thing that troubles me is the anxiousness and emotionalism that is produced whenever the topic is brought up. Being a moral isssue it is already sensitive and 'loaded'. However, due to the recent scandals involving Catholic, Protestant and Jewish religious leaders in pedophilia and ephebophilia, many are targeting homosexuals for skapegoating reasons. This has me particularly wary. There are a million and one angles but you seemed to be asking for a general overview. For me to come out and say gay sex is a sin, would be hard since my mind is not entirely made up. However, as a Catholic I have clear guidelines from my church about this. It is sin to engage in sex apart from marriage. I can't deny that the church has said that. I also can't deny what might seem natural and normal to me. However, it might feel good and natural for some people to stick needles in their arms and inject dangerous substances into their bodies. This does not make something right--feeling natural I mean. I am a member of two groups which have helped me tremendously on this issue. They are both message boards and both would love to have you participate. Bridges Across the Divide is a great non-religious group where people from varying viewpoints come together and try to understand each other and build friendships. The good thing about this group is that no one is 'forced' into anyone else's positiong. These guys all know I'm a Catholic and they never try to talk me out of my beliefs. They do however try to understand why we have our 'sex if for marriage' viewpoint. This is a safe environment for getting to know other homosexually oriented people and seeing that they are not just a bunch of promiscuous people on some parade float. GayChristian.net is the second group, composed mainly of Christians, and very respectful of different viewpoints. On this board there are several non-sexually active people who believe in the traditional views. This is another place where you would be welcome to post your views. In many ways there is less fear and more openness when it comes to this topic. I hope that it will continue so that the walls between heterosexuals and homosexuals will come down. Also, I have many books on the topic from every perspective, if you should want to know some good ones. I would definitely make this issue a matter of prayer though, and seek God about it. Ask the Holy spirit to give eyes to your understanding on this. It's not an easy issue. But I don't think it has to be as intense as some people want it to be. Another angle to this is if it is sin, how will God judge homosexuals. Well, we need to avoid blanket statements here. One of the first assumptions your livejournal friend made was the one about rescuing souls from hell. Somehow we have taken homosexuality and put it on the top of the list right up there with murder or something. It is funny how quickly a heterosexual who is sleeping w someone they are not married to will judge a gay person and say that what that person does is so wrong. Well, sin is sin, whether a gay person or straight person sins. In God's eyes we are all his children and it offends his goodness when any of us sins. I think we need to get that whole gay/straight divide out of our thinking. It causes us to treat people as whats instead of whos. Well, Cory, I may not have told you anything definitive but frankly, that's because I don't know. I walk that tight rope every moment of my life. However, my identity is not in who I am attracted to, but in Christ. So, I don't have to take myself too awfully seriously.
Hope you come to some peace on this, Bill