I'm aware that coming as we are through the middle ages where so many things have been politicized and lost and found again and lied about and reiterated and used for evil and good -- that Bible translations are somewhat questionable. I realize that we are looking at a history of a lot of unnecessary trouble when we look at the history of Bible translations, and I realize that the Bible has been abused to support southern USA slavery, South American slavery and many other bad things. I'm aware that the current popular translations sell well to the current group of Christians who think anything icky or different must automatically be evil, who think its convenient to ignore the plight of the weak and vulnerable while we watch television and eat on couches. We think its OK to only occasionally contribute and perfectly Christian to just sometimes do a good deed. We are the brother of the destroyer in this sense. It stands to reason that we would accuse homosexuals of all of the evil that we ourselves are guilty of, because that is what guilty people do. So we continue to stand behind these poor translations that help no one.
I love your response.You should write for a news site.Yes, the holy scriptures have been distorted over the many years after Jesus departed.Many powerful people have used the word to serve their own agenda.Political powers have taken control of lands in the name of God and killed many.Now we live in the times of the tv evangelist and people do not take God's word serious because people see these guys jumping around and asking for money.People then assume that all this God stuff is totally bonkers because of what they see that is supposed to be God's people.God's word should not be blamed for the actions of those who misused it.
God's word is true and has stood the test of time.Those who truly want to know God will pray,read and study to know the truth.Dipping into the original languages it was written in will help understand what the words really say and mean.Hebrew,Aramaic and Koine Greek.
People do not do this.People will just read bits and pieces,cherry picking and not fully understanding the entire passages.One must search for God as a person searching for silver it says in the holy scriptures.
...3 For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures;5 Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.…
Proverbs 2:4 (King Solomon)
So here King Solomon is saying that searching for the knowledge of God is like searching for hidden treasure.A hidden treasure is not exposed and easy to find.We must put forth effort and look for it with a sense of intensity.When people mine for gold it is usually done by panning in rivers where the gold literally washes up and is easy to find.If you dig just a little bit deeper you will find chunks of gold.Now if you dig way way deeper and search more you will hit silver.
Silver is found deeper in the earth than gold is.So if we do as the holy scriptures says and dig deep into the bible as we are searching for silver,we will discover the knowledge of God and discern things.Of course we must pray and keep asking God for a better understanding of the holy scriptures so we may better serve Him and fully comprehend His message
Now...as far as blaming homosexuals for all the evils, I don't know about that.People who go around pointing fingers at homosexuals and constantly nagging them is not very christian like.All humans commit sins but the ones that have remained taboo over the centuries will always get special attention from others.Now that the curtain has fallen and everyone is out,it has become almost fully acceptable.The world is changing but God's word still stands.It has remained the same for thousands of years and contains knowledge that can be used in any time.We already know how God feels about homosexuality and those who want to be true christians can not participate in this behavior.God's word does not change, yet you see in the news about churches around the world that are now accepting gays in clergy.This is a sign of false religion.You can see who really serves God truly buy the fruits they bear.
So when one reads and studies the word of God thoroughly, and see's how God feels about homosexuality,one can then understand fully.