Homosexuality

[kami]

Originally Posted by Pirouette

Some people are born knowing they're homosexual and others not so.

That's another point I'd like to discuss if anyone's interested. ^^

How do people know their sexuality? How can they ever be sure? Do you have to have experience to know?

The questions go on and on... ^^

[dingchavez]

Originally Posted by wondering

And you don't seem to get what Jesus did with the Old Testament. So allow me to explain. The purpose of Jesus' life and work was to fulfill both the Law (the books of Moses) and the Prophets (other Old Testament books). I'm not saying he destroyed the Old Testament. But that doesn't mean that Christians have to keep circumcision and all the other old laws. Jesus' ministry caused many changes in the law- changes so dramatic that laws were "set aside" or declared "obsolete" (Heb. 7:18; 8:13). Some laws remained the same, some were changed, and others were "abolished" (Eph. 2:15).
When Jesus said, "I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets," he meant that the purpose and message of the Law and the Prophets remain exactly the same. The Law and the Prophets pointed to him and were intended from the beginning to be fulfilled by him.
Some of the specific laws of the old covenant are still valid, but many of them were set aside when Jesus came and fulfilled them by his life, death and resurrection.
Old covenant laws (such as the laws of sacrifice) have been set aside precisely because Jesus has fulfilled them. He did not come for the purpose of destroying those laws, but for fulfilling their meaning. However, by fulfilling their meaning, he made it unnecessary for Christians to keep those laws. They are unnecessary because they have served their purpose by pointing to Jesus. He is the reality to which they could only point. Now that he has come, they are no longer legally binding.
Yet because they point to Jesus Christ and show how God interacted with a group of people at one time and place, the old covenant laws continue to give us insights into God's will. Even the laws of sacrifice are "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16).
Jesus also fulfilled various laws about ritual cleanliness. That did not mean that he never became unclean, because anyone with normal bodily functions would occasionally become unclean (Deut. 23:10). Jesus also touched dead people, lepers and other causes of uncleanness. It was not a sin to be unclean. However, Jesus fulfilled the purpose of the purity laws: He was morally and spiritually pure. He had internal holiness, set apart to do the work of God.
Jesus fulfilled the purpose of God's laws. He did not destroy the fact that people should obey God, even though his crucifixion brought a change in some of the details of how they obey God.
Jesus, as the Son of God, has more authority than Moses had (Heb. 3:1-6) or any other Prophets of the Old Testament for that matter. Jesus is the standard by which Moses is judged. Jesus could quote the law of Moses when it supported his point, and he could also criticize the law of Moses as not being strict enough. In some cases the law of Moses requires too much, and in other cases it does not require enough.
Jesus said: Moses said one thing, but I say another (Matt. 5:21-45). Jesus presented himself as the greater authority, the perfect authority, the basis on which people will be judged.
In Christianity, some of the laws of Moses are still valid, and others are not (for an example of each, the law about murder and the law about tassels). How do we know which is valid and which is obsolete? The New Testament is the authority by which the old covenant is to be understood.
Although the Old Testament is inspired Scripture and part of the Word of God, its purpose was to point to the coming and work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, when it comes to understanding what is required for Christian behavior, the Old Testament must be interpreted in light of what the New Testament says.
But hey, I say we just drop it and go back to the original topic.


Personally I don't really care if somebody is a homosexual or not. It's not like I'm going to burn everyone of them on a stake. It's their choice....

By "explain" do you mean rip a wall-of-text off this website: http://www.wcg.org/lit/law/otl/otl10.htm ?

You don't seem to get that the New Testament is completely irrelevant in my observation. If anything your wall-of-text adds to what I was saying about Christians not following the old anti-gay laws. Did you even read it yourself?

This time maybe you can respone in your own words.

[skullreken]

Originally Posted by wondering

Now, sorry about pounding bible verse after bible verse on you, but I wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for the fact that you said if I ate pork and had a tattoo then I'd go to the hell, lol. Now, how did all of that even relate to this? lol, I was only trying to disprove a point used in this thread.

I'm not truing to be rude, Wondering but you have completely misunderstood what he was getting at
Christians use the old testament which is also the holy book for Judaism but they chose to ignore Jewish laws about eating Pork and getting tattoo's by denouncing them with reasoned moral arguments in the new testament so why should we pay attention to anti homosexual rules when we have chosen to ignore other much older rules? That are still written down in the bible

[Sanouske]

My view on homosexuality is this, I will respect your way of life as long as you respect mine. I have no problems with gay people as long as they don't try to force their views onto me or go way overboard with their expressions.

[wondering]

Originally Posted by dingchavez

By "explain" do you mean rip a wall-of-text off this website: http://www.wcg.org/lit/law/otl/otl10.htm ?

You don't seem to get that the New Testament is completely irrelevant in my observation. If anything your wall-of-text adds to what I was saying about Christians not following the old anti-gay laws. Did you even read it yourself?

This time maybe you can respone in your own words.

lol, I've been caught red-handed. I'll admit I did rip that off......but I was trying for some ethos here. (Of course, it ended up as plagiarism. It would've been best just to cite my source. My apologies on that.....but only that)
Anyways, yes I did read it, and if you still don't get how to connect the dots then let me do that for you. What I(or at least what that site could support) was trying to prove was Christians still follow the laws about not being homosexual (Last time I checked). What Jesus did was get rid of the laws that were unnecessary because he fulfilled them(This is in that same website by the way). Did he fulfill the laws on homosexuality? I doubt it(at least I hope so because I don't see how he was even remotely connected to homosexuality when he was spreading his teachings), so it's pretty much safe to say that that law is still in place, and that's why Christians follow that (at least the knowledgeable ones). And yes, these are in my own words. (I did suggest we just drop it but hey, if you want to go on then let's go on, I'm enjoying this, lol)

[sweet_indulgence]

i didn't read all the posts here cause, you guys posted so much XD! sorry! but i did read like the first page ;p

anyways, my older brother's gay and the one thing i hate the most is people who gay bash (i'm not calling anyone here gay bashers ;p! i'm just saying i hate it). i don't have anything against people who feel uncomfortable around them or anything like that, just gay bashing i think is the worst. gay people are still people and can be very good people to. and if they like the same sex then that shouldn't take away from their character in anyway.

but anyways, i really can't come to an opinion on the whole Christian x Gay stuff. i think about it a lot but i dunno. I think that if the whole "God accepts everyone" deal is true, then that should leave it at that. but i guess that doesn't make a person christian. anyways, like i said, i dunno. >.<"

and omg, stereotypes seems to always be true. XD. every gay guy i've met, the stereotypes are dead on, with little differences here and there. but i have never met one that wasn't hair and clothing crazy. which works quite well for me cause i just always borrow my brother's hair stuff! hahaha
and uh, not sure about the stereotypes being true for lesbians though, i don't know any XD, so i can't say XD.

[Sephor]

I have no problem with gay pple, aslong as other dudes dont come on to me they can do what ever they want to aslong as it dont involve me.

[igniz]

Funny thing about how heterosexual people are afraid, they always say things like "I don't mind homesexuals but don't they dare come too close to me". As if they were afraid of catching "being gay" as some contagious disease ,or as if gay people were trying to invert them. Actually it's mostly all the contrary: there's a huge pressure on gay people to force them into "normality".

And don't give me that shit about being a good christian, what about heterosexual that cheat on their husbands/women? Is that being a good christian? We are all sinners.

[kami]

Since I started this thread and its sort of dying, I would like to propose a new question. What degree of comfort do you hold around gay people of both and either genders? As in, do you have no problem with them as long as they don't talk to you, are you willing to be friends with them...?

[mercer_sensei]

Im willing to be friends with them, and I have no qualms about being around them, however, I am totally against PDA (public displays of affection) but Im against it for regular couples as well. I really have no problems with gay people until they begin to hit on me. Once, maybe if they dont know that I am straight, but the second time they have crossed the line and I will no longer stand them personally. Most gays understand this, but there is inevitably a couple that want what they want and it doesnt matter if that person doesnt want it or not. Its the same with guys and girls, when someone says no, they mean no. Back the fuck off. But Im totally cool with any gay person until they second time they hit on me, then for them its over. They lost their privilege of being my friend or even being in my presence.

I think Im pretty lenient, but maybe it just because thats how I think and I always consider myself right =X Would you consider me lenient or harsh??