Homosexuality in the Bible
 

I know there’s tons of off-shoots of Christianity that play down some teachings over others but on the other hand the Bible makes itself pretty clear in both the old and the New Testsment about what God thinks about homosexuality. How do the hardline Christians on here see homosexuality - can you pick and match your faith with certain doctrines or must it be what the Bible says?

I doubt you will fid any hardline Christians on here. I know we have some moderates...but noone I would say was seriously religious.

Mhm. Hardline as in active Christian in any shade. I just meant people religion goes deeper for than being born into some denomination.

Like with all religious texts, it's a book written by men that reflects the time. If the bible was written today, it's views on homosexuality would be completely relaxed.

With Christianity in particular, a lot of christians pick and choose the teachings they want to follow and there's plenty of ridiculous things in the bible which no one follows any more so I tend to believe that people who believe that homsexuality is a sin can't hide behind their religious beliefs because they chose which parts to believe in.

Ahh right, I understand what you mean now :p

I’m not religious, I have a brain. Big up to the homos!

The bible is stupid and even if you are a fan of it, I doubt it's all supposed to be taken literally.

I have a Christian friend (who turned out to be more religious than I originally thought...) and her thoughts on it seem to basically be;

Homosexuality (the act) is a sin. Homosexual desires are ok so long as you don't actually act on them. A homosexual can only get into heaven if they repent when they die (to be "forgiven"). However (and I think this is the important part that most Christians don't abide by) she PERSONALLY doesn't have any issue with people being gay and doesn't judge anyone, as its not people's place to judge anyone, it's between "them and God" and no one else's business :think:. It's a "we're all sinners and we'll all be judged when we die and no one needs to judge before that" sort of deal.

So basically if she had a gay friend she wouldn't mind them being gay but would "worry about them not being able to get into heaven" or something like that. But then, she's also mentioned that she sometimes gets worried about what will happen to her non-religious friends and prays for us. I think being a godless heathen is worse than being a gay believer in that sense? :joker:

I’m no Bible basher. This thread’s for people who are active Christians.

I think a lot of like me don't take the teachings in religious texts so literal. While I'm not very religious anymore when I was I always did consider the time these words were written and contex also. So rather than taking everything so literal and looking at it like a rule book I instead took away the moral message and applied it to my life. For me I was raised catholic for most of my life and then introduced to Islam through my step dad so while I'm aware that neither of these are likely to be the one true religion and the only way to save me from eternal damnation, Catholicism and Islam are the only ways I know when it comes to connecting with god and embracing spirituality

That's a very common view imo. (maybe not in the UK)

The fact it is a considered a "sin", maybe doesn't necessarily is meant to be a label to call that person "bad"... that's the "modern" view of religion skewing that I think... it's just Christians way of thinking that they believe that homosexuality is a gateway to other problems as well as the lifestyle that it introduces those people do promote choices and temptations that ultimately lead more people astray. I think most people who are actually devout in it, they treat the rules less like a rigid set of guidelines, but rather, God's warning in text that if that person were continue to ignore his warnings, then it would likely lead to the breaking down of that person and their soul... but ultimately, all people will almost certainly sin (and probably constantly)... , in the view of Christianity.

Like most religions, the Bible is meant to practiced, not simply "read" and "interpretted". So our relationship to the document would be expected to change as we make mistakes, repent and learn from those errors. It's one thing to really know the rules, it's another thing to "understand" them and to have lived that lesson. So I see religious text(s) as more of a "living" document"... hence things like Bible Study, confessions, etc... the way I see religion and really any spirituality, is that whatever structure we choose to follow, it's sort of practiced in the rear-view mirror... for example, a child can't help but sin from day 1 if they were never taught otherwise, so it's a process.

..yeah your Christian friend is pretty much my experience in mindset of many Christians I know as well, TS...it’s more the worry of ‘gay’ not being allowed into heaven because of those gay ways...they’re welcomed into church, they’re welcomed into the arms of etc with no prejudice...but there’s that worry they won’t be able to complete their Christian journey through the pearly gates when the time comes...that’s why I find it hard with things like ‘we won’t write things on a cake because it goes against...etc’...because that’s only a rule that, that specific Christian person has made...it isn’t a bible rule to follow...I’m not saying it’s not a ‘proper Christian’ who would do that../..have that mindset because it’s what they themselves believe...it’s who they are as individuals...but maybe when they get to those pearly gates themselves...their God and Jesus might give them a little tap on the hand and say...no, that wasn’t very Christian ...you can still come through but I had to say that...or maybe he might leave those mindsets in the waiting room for a few decades or so...just so they have a little time to think about it all ....we just don’t know, God is an unknown in his/her whims and decisions...so the waiting room at those gates must be pretty interesting...any old thing could happen...

hate the act

love the sinner

that is the current fudge


but all the "christians" i have ever know dislike homosexuality and look down on homosexuals no matter what sh1te they try and come out with for likes

...you need to get out more and meet more Christians, LT...maybe that’s why you’re quite anti faith and anti religion..because of the dislike and look down on, types of mindsets...the likes are much more common in many people's experiences than you might think...

homosexuals are naughty naughty naughty

i have met many believe you me and i speak from direct experience of being in many churches, many congregations and many bible studies in england and scotland



faith is a weasel word for willful ignorance - call it what it is

i don't think the bible explicitly says that homosexuality is wrong in fact the quote most people use against gay people is actually translated against pedophilia not homosexuality. i see people use christanity as an excuse now to hate gay people an though i am not a Christian myself i think we have got to the point where we have to become more tolerant of others no matter our religious beliefs

• God made male and female according to the Book of Genesis to complete each other and to procreate. Even if the couple are unable to have children, the sexual union is theoretically open to the production of children.
  
  
• The natural order represented in nature is for male and female to unite. This is often linked to the natural law argument.
  
  
• Homosexual practice is forbidden in the book of Leviticus: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death." (Leviticus 20:13).
  
  
• In some of St Paul's letters included in the Bible, he condemns homosexuality as 'unrighteous' and claims that men who practise homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Christians should show love and compassion to homosexuals, but that homosexuals should not engage in sexual activity. This is because most churches teach that sex should only happen within marriage, which the Church defines as being between a man and a woman.

this is essentially the official line. Be gay all you want BUT DONT HAVE SEX

https://www.bbc.com/education/guides/zqd7sbk/revision/5


(so many tibbers are good Christians..) :hee:

It's a shame the Bible isn't a bit more clear on not messing about with children. The priesthood seems a bit confused about that one.

There's a lot of crazy **** written in the bible, like others have said reflected "mens" thoughts at that time. You can choose to interpret it however you wish. it's all a load of crap anyway though imo

:joker::joker:

Straight people aren't supposed to have sex either unless they're married, if god hates sex so much why did he make it so much fun :think:

That was just people getting creative, sex with God is surprisingly humdrum. He's strictly lights off missionary position, no foreplay. Takes what he wants and leaves you high and dry. Just a very selfish lover really :(

:laugh2:

So no issue with lesbians then. I think this answers the age old question, and God is indeed a man.

:laugh:

OR... a lesbian. :think:

And back to the drawing board :bored:

Good old God

#lad

Oh come on. I know it’s open to interpretation but the Bible’s explicitly mentioned it more than once.

Or a militant homophobic lesbian?

Oh.

tbh that line sounds more anti bi than gay. I mean you don't lie with women at all have you found the loop hole?

The same bit of Leviticus that says Homosexuals must die, also says that it's against God's law to plant two different crops in one field. shave your sideburns, or wear clothes of two different fabrics.

Yeah see to me that just proves how "man made" the bible actually is, it's totally stuff related to thinking of the times

You know, I was doing some reading after posting and apparently biblical literacy is supposedly abysmal low, including many churches... and that makes sense for a document that's been translated I guess... I mean it makes sense, given how we see information circulates and is "altered", key points "ommitted" along it's path... The Bible, the very first click-bait (flip?)...

My family was originally Baptist (non-denominational now), and I think that that particular "strain" of Christianity is very fire & brimstone, particularly Southern Baptist... I want to say they take the Bible in the most literal sense, but I'm not an expert. :spin: I just know from having gone to several denominations, I don't think Christianity in general is a religion of HATE. That is not it's core philosophy. Unfortunately, every group has it's corrupt individuals... but at least with religion, most rules are fairly clear... like don't murder, don't steal. They are just a loud minority with a couple of craft store signs...

An old friend, a liberal jew (later agnostic), she had her pencil taken away by a group of Christian mean girls and the one girl held it in front of her and demanded she repent her sins, that she would return it if she repented for her sins and pledged her love(?) for Jesus Christ... that type of treatment is obviously traumatic for so many people, particularly at a young age, so I don't think that the criticism is necessarily unwarranted... but my opinion, these things shouldn't be forced on us so young... I think most religion/spirituality, we reap better if we are grounded first as individuals and then taught other ways of "seeing" the world...

I think spirituality itself can actually be quite beneficial... even just being agnostic (or even atheist I hear O_o), I think a lot can be gained, because you're more receptive to the deeper experiences of life, and have a desire to experiment with re-interpretation... a lot of people interpret most experiences as good/bad... and that's quite a sad way to view the world, imo... I think everything has a little bit of good, and a little bit of bad... joy in life for me is searching for the good and cultivating that in your life as well as in your heart+mind... we human-beings rely heavily on story-telling to help "guide" our emotional well-being and sense of personal power.. those narratives say a lot about us at a deeper level really... if even just in a psychological sense.

It's not really possible anyway if you think about it, I'm planning to exploit that loophole when I reach the gates :laugh:

There's a lot of focus on what the Bible says about homosexuality. In truth, it doesn't say that much, neither does the Quran. The Bible has been written by countless people over many centuries and has been translated and edited many times. I cannot see where the words of God himself say that homosexuals must die. Other people may have said that, but not God, neither in the Quran nor the Bible. The story of Lot appears in both books... and the words of Allah are clear in the Quran, as they are in the Torah... nowhere does he say kill homosexuals. Mohammed said it... but not Allah.

So in conclusion, I don't believe God hates gay people. He gave us Ten Commandments to live by, commandments to live a good and wholesome life... gays don't get a mention.

The first people were man and woman.

Case closed

Ah so you're a creationist? You believe the world is only 5000 years old.

Good for you...…………...