"Being Gay is a Gift from God"

[yourhopeboundheart]

but that won't stop him from infringing on the inalienable rights of those that do not adhere to christian theocracy...

i dont necessarily know that cur!ous is interested in infringing on anyone's rights. nor do i believe hir capable of doing much infringing. if i'm reading hir response to the OP correctly it's simply stating that christians (from the perspective s/he is familiar) believe that homosexuality is an abomination before god and is not to be considered "a gift".
and cur!ous is allowed to believe that all s/he wants without provoking argument from me, provided (as my post is trying to determine) this person doesn't expect everyone else who's not a christian (or not a christian who shares this perspective) to also believe it.

 

[waitasec]

i dont necessarily know that cur!ous is interested in infringing on anyone's rights. nor do i believe hir capable of doing much infringing. if i'm reading hir response to the OP correctly it's simply stating that christians (from the perspective s/he is familiar) believe that homosexuality is an abomination before god and is not to be considered "a gift".
and cur!ous is allowed to believe that all s/he wants without provoking argument from me, provided (as my post is trying to determine) this person doesn't expect everyone else who's not a christian (or not a christian who shares this perspective) to also believe it.

how i understand it, and maybe i am wrong...
if the christian god thinks it's wrong..it's wrong for everyone, no matter what your beliefs maybe. hence the defense of marriage act and the religious right...
Christian Right Leaders Return to War Room over Defense Of Marriage Act

your quote from cur!ous was in response to why people are gay...they've been deceived from the devil

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

how i understand it, and maybe i am wrong...
if the christian god thinks it's wrong..it's wrong for everyone, no matter what your beliefs maybe. hence the defense of marriage act and the religious right...
Christian Right Leaders Return to War Room over Defense Of Marriage Act

i understand that, and to tell you the truth i dont have any confidence that cur!ous is going to prove to be any different. i just instantly disliked hir points and perspective and, rather than going with my knee jerk antagonism, decided to take a more understanding approach to responding and give hir a better impression of the kinds of people s/he is likely to meet on RF.

 

[waitasec]

i understand that, and to tell you the truth i dont have any confidence that cur!ous is going to prove to be any different. i just instantly disliked hir points and perspective and, rather than going with my knee jerk antagonism, decided to take a more understanding approach to responding and give hir a better impression of the kinds of people s/he is likely to meet on RF.

you're a better person than i

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

you're a better person than i

only when i try really hard. lolz.

 

[Agnostic75]

Even if a God inspired the original Bible, there is not any credible evidence that the original Bible said anything about homosexuality.

Regarding the Koran, there is not any credible evidence that God inspired Muhammad to write anything about homosexuality.

If a God exists, he could easily speak for himself verbally in front of the whole world if he wanted to. He has obviously not chosen to do that.

 

[mohammed_beiruti]

did i say scientific? I meant scholarly. also forgive me for wishing to insult hypocrites, liers, and other destructive people. we are inspired by every breath we take.

did i say scientific? I meant scholarly. also forgive me for wishing to insult hypocrites, liers, and other destructive people. we are inspired by every breath we take.

well, let me inspire you with the following:

read peter 2 ( 2:6 and 2:7)

ALT [peter 2:7]and rescued righteous Lot, [who was] being distressed by the conduct in flagrant sexual immorality of the lawless ones

it tells why the people of lot were punished

 

[Caladan]

"If you’ve driven down Monroe St. recently you may have stopped and did a double-take when you saw one message pop up on the electronic billboard. The message reads “Being Gay is a Gift from God.”

Dan Rutt of the Central United Methodist Church is one of the faces behind the new campaign.
Rutt says the church has been bombarded with phone calls and e-mails from the public.
. . . not everyone agrees with the eye popping approach to send the message. One person wrote "homosexuality is a sin - it's a curse not a gift. You are the one taking the scripture out of context …" Another said, "I am not against gays worshiping in our church, just against them holding leadership positions and teaching that being gay is okay with god.
Others sent messages of strong support. One e-mail read, “Mavel tov on your "Gay is a Gift from God" campaign!
source

​

So, could this actually be true, that homosexuality is a gift from god bestowed on a fortunate few? That the rest of us have to wallow in mere heterosexuality and bisexuality? OR is this just another church promoting itself with bogus controversy?

Absolutely. fashion design, good hygiene, warmth and affection. you know, what all of us heterosexual married men aspire to.

 

[Wombat]

Absolutely. fashion design, good hygiene, warmth and affection. you know, what all of us heterosexual married men aspire to.

Dam......Hetrosexual, married, male........and only one "aspiration" met.

(No.......I refuse to elaborate)

 

[Agnostic75]

Even if a God inspired the original Bible, since no one knows how much the originals have been changed, there is not reasonable evidence that God inspired any writings about homosexuality.

 

[Caladan]

Even if a God inspired the original Bible, since no one knows how much the originals have been changed, there is not reasonable evidence that God inspired any writings about homosexuality.

As a Hebrew speaking man, let me reassure you that it were Hebrew speaking men who were protecting their community. in the deserts of the Levant. today most of us see nothing inheritingly wrong in homosexuality.

 

[sojourner]

Even if a God inspired the original Bible, there is not any credible evidence that the original Bible said anything about homosexuality.

Yes there is. But that doesn't mean that it's contingent upon us to adhere to what is plainly a cultural -- not a moral -- injunction.

 

[sojourner]

well, let me inspire you with the following:

read peter 2 ( 2:6 and 2:7)

ALT [peter 2:7]and rescued righteous Lot, [who was] being distressed by the conduct in flagrant sexual immorality of the lawless ones

it tells why the people of lot were punished

Hmmm...

"...and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless..." (2 Peter 2:6,7 NRSV)

Doesn't mention anything about punishment for homosexual acts...

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Doesn't mention anything about punishment for homosexual acts...

I agree.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if someone can read a story of attempted same-sex gang rape and decide that the moral problem is the "same-sex" part and not the "gang rape" part, then they may as well declare themselves unfit to tell right from wrong.

 

[sojourner]

I agree.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if someone can read a story of attempted same-sex gang rape and decide that the moral problem is the "same-sex" part and not the "gang rape" part, then they may as well declare themselves unfit to tell right from wrong.

But...
Homosexuality is smarmier than rape...:foot:

 

[mohammed_beiruti]

Hmmm...

"...and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless..." (2 Peter 2:6,7 NRSV)

Doesn't mention anything about punishment for homosexual acts...

what about the word licentiousness

definetion licentiousness - definition of licentiousness by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

ir means :Lacking moral discipline or ignoring legal restraint, especially in sexual conduct.

because of the licentiousness of the lawless---> God turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes ----> he rescued Lot.

isn't that sensible.

God's attitude from "homosexuality is clear"(at least for me)

please read also 1 CO 6:9

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men [NIV]

link: 1 Corinthians 6 - Passage Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com

 

[sojourner]

what about the word licentiousness

definetion licentiousness - definition of licentiousness by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

ir means :Lacking moral discipline or ignoring legal restraint, especially in sexual conduct.

because of the licentiousness of the lawless---> God turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes ----> he rescued Lot.

isn't that sensible.

God's attitude from "homosexuality is clear"(at least for me)

please read also 1 CO 6:9

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men [NIV]

link: 1 Corinthians 6 - Passage*Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com

lacking legal or moral restraints; especially : disregarding sexual restraints

This is from Merriam-Webster. Since hospitality entailed both legal and moral restraints, and since gang rape is an inhospitable act, I'd say the bases are covered here.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

God's attitude from "homosexuality is clear"(at least for me)

Are you sure it isn't the case that your attitude to homosexuality is clear, and then you attribute it to your god?

please read also 1 CO 6:9

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men [NIV]

link: 1 Corinthians 6 - Passage*Lookup - New International Version - BibleGateway.com

Don't stop there - keep reading:

1 Corinthians 13:

1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 

[sky dancer]

"If you’ve driven down Monroe St. recently you may have stopped and did a double-take when you saw one message pop up on the electronic billboard. The message reads “Being Gay is a Gift from God.”

Dan Rutt of the Central United Methodist Church is one of the faces behind the new campaign.
Rutt says the church has been bombarded with phone calls and e-mails from the public.
. . . not everyone agrees with the eye popping approach to send the message. One person wrote "homosexuality is a sin - it's a curse not a gift. You are the one taking the scripture out of context …" Another said, "I am not against gays worshiping in our church, just against them holding leadership positions and teaching that being gay is okay with god.
Others sent messages of strong support. One e-mail read, “Mavel tov on your "Gay is a Gift from God" campaign!
source

​

So, could this actually be true, that homosexuality is a gift from god bestowed on a fortunate few? That the rest of us have to wallow in mere heterosexuality and bisexuality? OR is this just another church promoting itself with bogus controversy?

That's a strange way to look that it. This church advertises that they welcome homosexuals.Are gays not "God's children" too?

It can be a spiritual gift, to be born into a hated and persecuted minority. It can make for enormous character growth, and allow for spiritual gifts of patience, tolerance and compassion to arise.

 

[sky dancer]

Long ago, I attended a same-gender marriage at a Unitarian church. Part of the minister's talk dealt with the special nature of LGBT people, and in fact all those who don't fit societal cookie-cutters.

I only remember the details vaguely, but his idea was something along the lines that only the persecuted can truly relate to those whom Jesus worked with and for. By being born as part of an unwelcome minority, God gave us a head start on spiritual enlightenment. We're also here to help others understand the infinite diversity of the universe.

He also suggested that Karma may play a role here, i.e. that the most intolerant are reborn in situations where they experience the other side of that coin, not as punishment but to help them evolve.

:rainbow:
​

Exactly! :yes: The Goddess (my metaphor) doesn't make mistakes.



I can hardly wait until that idea is totally discounted (I live in Hope; it's a long commute ) though I think there's already enough evidence if you're open to it, including demonstrated differences in gene composition, brain structure, etc.

:bb:

Well stated.