How can Christians not condemn homosexual behavior?

[Road Warrior]

why do you suppose there is a dehumanizing of those who identify as homosexual from the religious community?

would it not be for passages like romans 1:18-32

Cherry-picking the Bible often leads to misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation.

Here's the passage which immediately follows:
Romans 2
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Read the rest here: Romans 2 NIV - God

BTW, this is what mockery, ridicule and hate lead to: Charles L. Worley, North Carolina Pastor Who Called For Gays And Lesbians To Be Put In Electrified Pen, Faces Backlash

Local Pastor Calls For Death of 'Queers & Homosexuals' - YouTube

 

[waitasec]

Cherry-picking the Bible often leads to misunderstanding or deliberate misrepresentation.

Here's the passage which immediately follows:
Romans 2
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

apparently paul :foot:
in one section he's judging others as wicked and then tells his sheep to not judge others...go figure

in fact if he just said this
roman 2:6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done...
that would have been enough..

BTW, this is what mockery, ridicule and hate lead to: Charles L. Worley, North Carolina Pastor Who Called For Gays And Lesbians To Be Put In Electrified Pen, Faces Backlash

Local Pastor Calls For Death of 'Queers & Homosexuals' - YouTube

i highly disagree with that...these sentiments were around long before skeptics made their self known

 

[Road Warrior]

apparently paul :foot:
in one section he's judging others as wicked and then tells his sheep to not judge others...go figure

in fact if he just said this
roman 2:6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done...
that would have been enough..

I'm not a big fan of Paul, at least not the writings chosen by the Council of Nicaea, but Romans 2 makes it clear that the judgments in Romans 1 are not left to man.

 

[waitasec]

I'm not a big fan of Paul, at least not the writings chosen by the Council of Nicaea, but Romans 2 makes it clear that the judgments in Romans 1 are not left to man.

ultimately, and realistically speaking, judgment is left to man

 

[Road Warrior]

ultimately, and realistically speaking, judgment is left to man

Roll your eyes all you want, but ultimately and realistically speaking, judgement is left to the individual as far as the Natural Universe goes. Some choose to hate. Some choose to seek a better path. Your call.

 

[waitasec]

Roll your eyes all you want, but ultimately and realistically speaking, judgement is left to the individual. Some choose to hate. Some choose to seek a better path. Your call.

some choose to say what they feel...some don't want to cause waves

 

[Road Warrior]

Enjoy your hatred. Let me know how it improves your life.

 

[waitasec]

Enjoy your hatred. Let me know how it improves your life.

i guess you have a flawed understanding of what an idea is

 

[Road Warrior]

Maybe so, but I certainly understand the consequences of hatred.

 

[waitasec]

Maybe so, but I certainly understand the consequences of hatred.

hating an idea is not the same as hating a person...
there is a difference

 

[Me Myself]

Hate in general is just a problematic emotion.

Sure, I feel it! Not to people, only to ideas, but sometimes I do feel hate passionately against the ideas that spur it to me so.

Still, it would be better and would do better for my actions, emotional well being and understanding, to reject them in a more lucid maner.

 

[ChristineES]

Hatred has a spiral effect- it keeps getting bigger and bigger as it spreads outward. Love has the same effect, so I use that instead. We have a saying: "Love covers a multitude of sins".

I choose to love rather than hate, I choose to show mercy rather than condemn, I choose to try and understand rather than judge. That is my mantra.

 

[Kathryn]

But as Paul didn't speak to non-christians,
where do you come to this standard?

I set my own standards in my own house. Don't you?

Or is it simply your own thing.

See above. I can also choose not to allow people to smoke in my house, though it's legal for them to smoke. I can also choose not to allow people to bombard me with religious tracts on my doorstep or refer to my kids as blackamoors or speak disrespectfully about the President in my house if I like.

It's my house. I set the standards.

And again, by unmarried, you mean legally unmarried.

In most states gays cannot be legally married.
This leaves committed
gay life partners out of the (marital recognition) loop by convenient default then.
Even if they have had a non legal ceremony with friends and family.

I don't impose my morals on other people in their homes. They will not impose their morals on me in my home. That doesn't mean they don't have the right to live as they choose. I am not interested in infringing on their rights. In fact, I support their right to make their own moral decisions as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others by those decisions.

 

[Road Warrior]

Hatred has a spiral effect- it keeps getting bigger and bigger as it spreads outward. Love has the same effect, so I use that instead. We have a saying: "Love covers a multitude of sins".

I choose to love rather than hate, I choose to show mercy rather than condemn, I choose to try and understand rather than judge. That is my mantra.

Well said and agreed. Like Me Myself said, hate is a problematic emotion. The emotion pops up from time to time, but "it would be better and would do better for my actions, emotional well being and understanding, to reject them in a more lucid maner." The more I practice rejecting hate, the better I become at not having to do it.

 

[kellykep]

I set my own standards in my own house. Don't you?



See above. I can also choose not to allow people to smoke in my house, though it's legal for them to smoke. I can also choose not to allow people to bombard me with religious tracts on my doorstep or refer to my kids as blackamoors or speak disrespectfully about the President in my house if I like.

It's my house. I set the standards.



I don't impose my morals on other people in their homes. They will not impose their morals on me in my home. That doesn't mean they don't have the right to live as they choose. I am not interested in infringing on their rights. In fact, I support their right to make their own moral decisions as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others by those decisions.

You live by a double standard. When you relate to others you chose to be subjective in your approch to morality. But at the personal level you choose to be objective in your approach to morality. Which approach is right? And how would you say the other is wrong in a situation when you practise both? It's confusing.

 

[Road Warrior]

Morals are always subjective. Why don't we burn or hang witches today like our Puritan forefathers?

Obviously what we need are mutually-agreed upon morals, not just letting people do whatever they want willy-nilly. Specifically not let them harm others. What two consenting adults agree to do with each other fits right in with the American Declaration of Independence. Do you think the Declaration of Independence is a moral document?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

 

[kellykep]

In both the Old and New Testaments homosexuality is clearly condemned. So, if a Christian believes in the correctness of the the Bible I fail to see how they can condone or support homosexual behavior, even if they believe the homosexual disposition arises as naturally as the heterosexual disposition. Not that I'm not thankful for those who renounce or simply ignore these Biblical positions, but this picking and choosing in the Bible appears to be less than honest. So while I appreciate the many Christians who don't adhere to the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality, I have to wonder how they explain/rationalize it away.

Anyone care to take a stab at answering?

Judgement is reserved for God. Bust as Christians we must live in LOVE. Love entails that we understand, accept, acknowledge, and provide avenues so God's grace can work its miracle. There is no place for prejudiced and predetermined notions in this sphere.

 

[waitasec]

You live by a double standard.

ahem...

Judgement is reserved for God.

fail.

 

[blackout]

I set my own standards in my own house. Don't you?



See above. I can also choose not to allow people to smoke in my house, though it's legal for them to smoke. I can also choose not to allow people to bombard me with religious tracts on my doorstep or refer to my kids as blackamoors or speak disrespectfully about the President in my house if I like.

It's my house. I set the standards.



I don't impose my morals on other people in their homes. They will not impose their morals on me in my home. That doesn't mean they don't have the right to live as they choose. I am not interested in infringing on their rights. In fact, I support their right to make their own moral decisions as long as they don't infringe on the rights of others by those decisions.

Well, look, I only took this line of questioning
because it seemed that you were holding Paul's teachings up
as the standard, or reason behind your own....
validations/non-validations of peoples' intimate partnerships.

I certainly have no problem with people setting the standards in their own homes.
No point though, in ... postulating... that your standards,
are Paul's standards, or Jesus' standards, or the bible god's standards,
if really, in the end, they are your own.

 

[Road Warrior]

Judgement is reserved for God. Bust as Christians we must live in LOVE. Love entails that we understand, accept, acknowledge, and provide avenues so God's grace can work its miracle. There is no place for prejudiced and predetermined notions in this sphere.

Agreed, but some of your posts seem to indicate otherwise. Not only in the post quoted below are you making a judgement of psychological vs physiological (e.g. genetic) but you are making a judgment of what God wants without supporting it with facts. Please use the words of Jesus when you do. If you want to include the OT, then also explain how much God abhors eating hot dogs, shell fish and adultery.

Apparently, homosexuality is not caused by genetic propensities. It is a product of psychological inclination. Such inclinations usually arise from prolong exposure and repeated conditioning to circumstances with homosexual propensities. Many factors are involved in the development of this inclination - social, family, tradition, environment, etc.
Because it is not genetic, it can be reconditioned.

From this, it can be said that God abhors gay and homosexuality. In fact, it is for this very reason that He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha.

When it is in our capacity to change that which God abhors, how can we expect God to understand our lack of enthusiasm to do so?