Problem is, the world isn't "your house." It's not the Catholics' house. And it's not the Mormons' house.
The original comment had been about same-sex couples going to the Catholic Church looking to adopt a child. I made a comparison about that being like coming to my house and asking me for alcohol.
Therefore, I was not trying to equate the "world" with my "house". I was equating the Catholic Church to my "house".
Since you missed my meaning I will explain that I was trying to say that in a religious institution, the religious leaders make the rules based on their doctrine. Just as at my house I would make the rules.
Therefore, in a Catholic church, no one should be allowed to contend with them over their rules and policies, just like no one should be able to contend with my rules while they are in my house.
I never said that the "world" belonged to either the Catholic or the Latter-Day Saints (LDS aka "Mormon", but prefer LDS).
Sure it is! "We don't believe homosexuality is OK, so we're not allowing you to adopt this child."
No it is not. Let me rephrase your sentence to make it more accurate,
"According to our beliefs, we cannot support homosexuality. Therefore, we cannot allow you to adopt any of the children from this institution. We will, however, recommend other agencies that would be able to help you find a child to adopt. God bless and have a nice day."
If you believe that that is "foisting" a belief on someone, then I would also be guilty of "foisting" my belief about alcohol on those who come knocking on my door asking for some? I am "foisting" my belief that drinking alcohol is sinful if I tell them I have none and point them in the direction of where they could get some?
So, when someone tries to bum a cigarette off me, when I confess not to have a cigarette, I am "foisting" my beliefs concerning tobacco on that person? They can cry out, "Discrimination?"
So is the homosexual down the street. And her/his partner.
Exactly. I never said to anyone, "This does not concern you!" about this topic. This topic should concern everyone because it affects everyone. They have their right to speak just as much as I do whether or not I agree with them.
Yet you would rather silence me because you do not agree with me. You think that because I do not agree with you that I should no longer have access to the rights assured me by the First Amendment.
The nerve you have! That is true bigotry. And its pathetic to boot.
That's right! So, when you go around saying that homosexuality is a sin, it affects people!
I WOULD HOPE SO!
I am not saying this just on a whim or just to pass the time. I want people to know that homosexuality is a sin and that practicing it hurts yourself and others.
I would hope that my saying this and perhaps teaching why it is a sin (no one has even cared enough to ask) would cause those who have not committed the sin to refrain from committing it and those who have committed it to repent and change their ways.
I would want my declaring that homosexuality is a sin to be equitable to my shouting that the building is on fire! I want people to react and get to safety!
I know that this can be hard to hear for some. That, however, is not evidence that what I say is not true.
A Book of Mormon prophet named Nephi had spoken out against the hard-heartedness of his older brothers. When he finished, his older brothers accused him of saying "hard things" unto them, to which Nephi replied,
"I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.
And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us." (1 Nephi 16: 2-3)
See above. The bible doesn't condemn homosexuality. The word ain't in there. There is no Greek or Hebrew term for "homosexual."
You can continue to ignorantly believe this if you want.
However, if you knew anything about translation, just because there might not be a direct translation of a word or concept, that does not mean that that word or concept does not exist in the original language.
Certain words just don't translate well.
That is a very poor and ignorant premise upon which to claim that the scriptures do not condemn homosexuality.
I thought you just said that it wasn't about the differences.
Perhaps I was unclear.
I am not condemning homosexuality because it is "different" from my lifestyle. I have to condemn it because the Word of God teaches that I should.
For example, the LDS don't drink coffee and tea. They believe it to be a commandment from God in these last days.
When non-LDS people hear this they always assume, "The Mormons must not like caffeine." Then, lo and behold, they witness me drinking a Coke. It's funny how people run up to me all bewildered exclaiming, "I thought Mormons didn't drink caffeine!"
No where in the revelation about what we should and should not eat was caffeine ever mentioned. People simply assumed, because there is caffeine in both coffee and tea, that the "Mormons" don't drink caffeine.
To bring this back to my point. I don't condemn homosexuality because it scares me or because it is "different", just like I don't drink coffee and tea because of their caffeine content. People like to
assume that these are the reasons I condemn homosexuality. Which is why they quickly label me and others like me
bigot.
I do, however, need to condemn the practice of homosexuality because it has been revealed by God to be sinful and He has commanded me to condemn it.
Condemn the practice of homosexuality, not the person claiming to be homosexual.
