Homosexuality
What is homosexuality? Besides two members of the same sex having intimate relations with eachother. Is it a sin? Is it a disease? Is it natural? Is it the way some people are made? Is it love?
C.S. Lewis has a very interesting view on love. He states that there is affection for another human being (to like someone, care in a paternal or supportive sense), there is Eros (being in love), there is freindship, and there is Agape (love between God and Man).
People who engage in homosexual activities claim (and indeed there is little reason to doubt their claim) to be in love with thier partner. Which love is this that they are experiencing? Is it true Eros, or can Eros only be truly experienced between a man and a woman? In that case, would not homosexuality be an abomonation, a perversion of Eros? Or is it that Eros has different levels? True love being the 'highest' of the levels, and a crush being the lowest. Then would homosexuality still be a perversion of one or all of these levels? Or does it stand on the same scale? If it stands on the same scale, is it inherently 'lower' than heterosexual Eros?
Are people made homosexual? While there has never been a gene linked to homosexual behavior, this does not suprise me because genetics is such a vast and complex science that at our current pace we still have a good few hundered years before we can even guess at the results of manipulating a single chemical in a strand of DNA. However, it does seem that certain people are more prone to homosexuality than others. Could it be that homosexuality is truly a trait that people are born with and not a behavoiral anomoly? If it is an inborn trait, how does one account for bisexual people? Are these some people that have only half of whatever makes a person homosexual and half of whatever it is that makes people heterosexual? Or are the options simply binary and bisexuality is the perversion?
Is it natural for people to be homosexual? Some who claim homosexuality is an abomination say that sex is for the purpose of procreation. Any sexual activity outside of this is unnatural. However, what does that say about married couples? Every time a sperm fails to hit an egg, are we to believe that the sex was a perversion of what it should be? If some people truly are made to be only homosexual, they will never procreate in their life, however if someone is made to be purely heterosexual, it is entirely possible for them to never procreate in their life although they engage in sex many times in a manner that a preacher would find acceptable. Is there a fundamental difference just because one is with a member of the same sex? This question seems to boil down to the previous one, whether or not people are made to be homosexual from birth.
Is it a sin? Herein lies the crux of every argument about homosexuality. If homosexuality is a sin, it should not be engaged in. If there is no such thing as sin and morals are relativistic, then homosexuality is just fine and all religious types are loons. If there is such a thing as sin and homosexuality is not a sin, then it should be sanctioned by the church.
I believe firmly that homosexuality is a sin. It is abhorred by God as breaking the commandment against adultery, but it would be incorrect to judge it as worse or better than any other sin. Jesus said that looking at a woman with lust in your eye keeps you out of heaven exactly the same as having extramarital sex with her. Both are equally sins, equally in need of Jesus dying to forgive you of them. Homosexuality should be viewed in the same manner. It is a sin, and people who engage in a homosexual lifestyle are in a lifestyle of sin. So are those who live with their girlfriend, those who are addicted to drugs, serial killers, kleptomaniacs, and mass murdering tyrants. They all live in sin, and Jesus has offered them all forgiveness. Do not accept the sin, but accept the person as loved by God. They need to hear of his compassion and his forgiveness because that is the only way they can change, so bashing them over the head with fire and brimstone is not a good approach. I think some people are predisposed towards homosexualtiy by birth, and others by behavior. It is the same as families that all have trouble controlling their temper even when seperated at birth.
I work with three homosexuals. Today one of them, under eighteen, got off work and dressed up for his date with a guy he met. My mind and soul scream out that he is sinning, but what can I say? To say anything about it would break the first commandment of the national religion of tolerance, which I should stop caring about. I do not want to alienate him to future attempts to show him God's love, but I do not want to accidentally show approval by my silence. What can I do?
C.S. Lewis has a very interesting view on love. He states that there is affection for another human being (to like someone, care in a paternal or supportive sense), there is Eros (being in love), there is freindship, and there is Agape (love between God and Man).
People who engage in homosexual activities claim (and indeed there is little reason to doubt their claim) to be in love with thier partner. Which love is this that they are experiencing? Is it true Eros, or can Eros only be truly experienced between a man and a woman? In that case, would not homosexuality be an abomonation, a perversion of Eros? Or is it that Eros has different levels? True love being the 'highest' of the levels, and a crush being the lowest. Then would homosexuality still be a perversion of one or all of these levels? Or does it stand on the same scale? If it stands on the same scale, is it inherently 'lower' than heterosexual Eros?
Are people made homosexual? While there has never been a gene linked to homosexual behavior, this does not suprise me because genetics is such a vast and complex science that at our current pace we still have a good few hundered years before we can even guess at the results of manipulating a single chemical in a strand of DNA. However, it does seem that certain people are more prone to homosexuality than others. Could it be that homosexuality is truly a trait that people are born with and not a behavoiral anomoly? If it is an inborn trait, how does one account for bisexual people? Are these some people that have only half of whatever makes a person homosexual and half of whatever it is that makes people heterosexual? Or are the options simply binary and bisexuality is the perversion?
Is it natural for people to be homosexual? Some who claim homosexuality is an abomination say that sex is for the purpose of procreation. Any sexual activity outside of this is unnatural. However, what does that say about married couples? Every time a sperm fails to hit an egg, are we to believe that the sex was a perversion of what it should be? If some people truly are made to be only homosexual, they will never procreate in their life, however if someone is made to be purely heterosexual, it is entirely possible for them to never procreate in their life although they engage in sex many times in a manner that a preacher would find acceptable. Is there a fundamental difference just because one is with a member of the same sex? This question seems to boil down to the previous one, whether or not people are made to be homosexual from birth.
Is it a sin? Herein lies the crux of every argument about homosexuality. If homosexuality is a sin, it should not be engaged in. If there is no such thing as sin and morals are relativistic, then homosexuality is just fine and all religious types are loons. If there is such a thing as sin and homosexuality is not a sin, then it should be sanctioned by the church.
I believe firmly that homosexuality is a sin. It is abhorred by God as breaking the commandment against adultery, but it would be incorrect to judge it as worse or better than any other sin. Jesus said that looking at a woman with lust in your eye keeps you out of heaven exactly the same as having extramarital sex with her. Both are equally sins, equally in need of Jesus dying to forgive you of them. Homosexuality should be viewed in the same manner. It is a sin, and people who engage in a homosexual lifestyle are in a lifestyle of sin. So are those who live with their girlfriend, those who are addicted to drugs, serial killers, kleptomaniacs, and mass murdering tyrants. They all live in sin, and Jesus has offered them all forgiveness. Do not accept the sin, but accept the person as loved by God. They need to hear of his compassion and his forgiveness because that is the only way they can change, so bashing them over the head with fire and brimstone is not a good approach. I think some people are predisposed towards homosexualtiy by birth, and others by behavior. It is the same as families that all have trouble controlling their temper even when seperated at birth.
I work with three homosexuals. Today one of them, under eighteen, got off work and dressed up for his date with a guy he met. My mind and soul scream out that he is sinning, but what can I say? To say anything about it would break the first commandment of the national religion of tolerance, which I should stop caring about. I do not want to alienate him to future attempts to show him God's love, but I do not want to accidentally show approval by my silence. What can I do?
posted by Duncan Ohio at 1:30 AM
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