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Hate has a pretty bad name in the world today. No one wants to be called a hater, especially Christians, which is probably why we get accused of it all the time by our opponents. Homosexuals are especially fond of calling people haters. They even invented the word homophobia, which means hate and fear of homosexuals, envisaged as a mental illness. (A phobia is an anxiety disorder.)
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Homophobia, like all phobias, is an irrational fear of something benign. Most spiders cannot kill you, and if one could, your fear of it would not be a phobia but a perfectly rational fear. Similarly, a homosexual in no way affects those in heterosexual relationships, so people feeling insecure about homosexuals is irrational and could easily be called a phobia.
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I hate being called a homophobe. It has such an ugly connotation. It's especially unpleasant because, as a Christian, I'm supposed to have a reputation for loving people, not hating them.
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Yeah, Christians in general have not earned the reputation of loving people, though they’ve done better lately than they did in the days of the Crusades and Inquisition... but it's hard to do much worse... moving on.
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So I've worked really hard over the years to try to get the homosexuals to stop calling me a homophobe. I've pointed out the difference between hating people and hating their behavior (loving the sinner but hating the sin). They hated that.
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To most people, actions define people. We cannot know their intentions; we cannot trust their words; we assess their actions. Thus, saying that you hate an action of somebody that they feel they cannot help, and knows hurts nobody, is ignorant at best, and hateful at worst.
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Then I tried "walking my talk" by taking an ex-gay man who was dying of AIDS into my family. My wife and I and our children loved and cared for him during the last year of his life. They hated that even more.
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That’s nice I suppose, but it’s like a Christian taking an ex-Jew into their home and saying, “See how nice I am, I offer hospitality even to scum like you.” I can see why it might be aggravating to be insulted and helped at the same time. Perhaps the person quoted should just avoid the people whose lifestyle they hate.
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Then I began asking for guidance from homosexuals themselves. "Tell me, where is the line between homophobia and acceptable opposition to homosexuality?" I asked. "What if I just agree with the Bible that homosexuality is a sin no worse than any other sex outside marriage?"
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Opposition to homosexuality is homophobic because opposition to it is irrational.
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Suppose I talk only about the proven medical hazards of gay sex and try to discourage people from hurting themselves?
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There is more than one kind of gay sex, and there is no form of gay sex that isn’t practiced by heterosexuals. Felatio occurs in homosexual and heterosexual relationships, sodomy occurs in homosexual and hetereosexual relationships, cunnilingus occurs in heterosexual and lesbian relationships. You could advise them on lower-risk sexual activity, like 69ing or something, but it doesn’t prove that being gay is inherently unhealthy.
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How about if I say that homosexuals have the option to change if they choose?
* Of COURSE this is a truth they will deny. They don't want us to know that there are more EX "homosexuals" than there are "homosexuals." To recognize this fact is to admit that "homosexuality' is nothing but a perverse sexual practice
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"Perverse" sexual practices should only be a problem if they hurt somebody against their will... homosexuality does not do this. Bisexuals might have a choice, but I couldn’t become aroused by a man, and I’m sure women could not arouse some men, etc.
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Maybe I could just be completely positive, say nothing about homosexuality, and focus only on promoting the natural family and traditional marriage?"
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When people value something based upon it being “natural” or “traditional,” it might be beacuse there is no real reason to value it.
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After awhile, I realized that the only way I could get them to stop calling me a homophobe was to start agreeing with them about everything. But here's my dilemma: I honestly believe the Bible, which says that homosexuality is wrong and harmful and that all sex belongs within marriage.
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That’d be your business. Now why won't people like this guy mind their own business and keep personal morality personal? He probably shouldn’t try to be friends with homosexuals, or anybody different from him for that matter.
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I've also read the professional studies and know that gay sex hurts people because it goes against the design of their bodies. And I'm friends with a number of former homosexuals who are now married and living heterosexual lives. Do I have to give up my religion? Ignore scientific facts? Betray my friends? Is that the only way to avoid being called a hater and a homophobe?
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I’m not sure how accepting that people are different from you and letting them marry has anything to do with fidelity to your friends or religion. You could probably argue that S&M is harmful, but is it your business to prevent people from engaging in S&M voluntarily? Nope.
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* Which is why "homosexuals" are making such a ruckus about the wonders of atheism and saying any and EVERYTHING to make Christians seem evil. Which is why "homosexuals" fight FOR any issue concerning "separation of church and state." Which is why "homosexuals" want Americans to forget Americas history, that America was founded by Christians on Christian principles. *
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There is reason to believe that Christianity is evil. Isabella was evil. King Richard was evil. Falwell is evil. Christianity has done a LOT more evil to the world than good. Why don’t you take a page from your own book and cast the first stone? Oh I guess you did that a long time ago. The Christians have been throwing stones since the Romans stopped feeding them to lions. Everybody’s a sinner. Go wallow in your own guilt and don't force your misery upon others.
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Am I wrong? Is there any way to openly disapprove of homosexuality without being a homophobe? Gay leaders, please set me straight on this.
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Yes you’re completely wrong. It is the same as saying you disapprove of Muslims or even Black people. The arbitrary disapproval of people who are different is bigotry.
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Because if I'm right, that means the gay agenda is to stop everyone from following the Bible regarding sexual matters. It is, after all, their stated goal to "stamp out homophobia." No more religious freedom. It's also to suppress scientific research that has reached conclusions they don't like, especially if it helps people to change their homosexual orientation back to a heterosexual one. (Ask the doctors and scientists at NARTH Home Page what they've had to endure.) If it discourages homosexuality, even by implication, it's homophobic and can't be used.
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You can follow your Bible all you want, but America is not a theocracy and the Bible has no place in our laws. Feel free to disapprove of homosexuals. Hell you can even disapprove of Black people if you like, but they have every right to demand equal rights under the law.
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impugn my motives, display intense hostility toward my actions and curse my very existence, all under the justification that I'm a hater. But if I'm a hater for civilly opposing what they do, why aren't they haters for uncivilly opposing what I do? Such a double standard, in the context of a public debate on civil rights, is not just hypocritical, it is surreal.
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The person above obviously does not believe in civil rights, so perhaps he should not publicly debate them without expecting people to think he's a bigot.
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I admit I have some hate. I hate watching people kill themselves with preventable diseases like AIDS.
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AIDS doesn’t care about sexual orientation.
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I hate seeing children being steered toward unhealthy lifestyles.
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As stated above, homosexuality is not inherently physically unhealthy, but denying who you are or choosing abstinence over homosexuality is mentally unhealthy.
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I hate having my pro-family views distorted by dishonest journalists, politicians and academics. And I hate seeing my God being treated like a homophobe for what He teaches in His Bible.
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The Bible was written by men who contradict each other. An imaginary friend should have no bearing on public policy.
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So if you're not going to stop calling me a hater for wanting homosexuals to be saved and healed or for opposing their political agenda, let's at least see a little more of that famous "American sense of fair play" in the public debate on this issue. Hatred of haters is hateful, too.
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He can continue to hate their “sin." They should continue to hate the ignorance embodied in this man’s views.
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if their real goal isn't to completely devalue the institution of marriage for EVERYBODY ?
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Right, as if they could really do more damage than people who marry for money, or for sex, or whatever. Marriage is a legal contract, and it is only sacred to the extent that the individuals in it make it so. That has nothing to do with other marriages. Would your marriage be devalued by the actions of a celebrity getting drunk in Vegas and marrying somebody for sex? No. Gays have no bearing on your relationships.
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A person has the capacity to enjoy anthing:
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This may be true of some people, but not me. I could acquire a taste for some things but not others. I absolutely could not be attracted to another man. Period. Anybody who feels they have the choice is bisexual, and that’s okay.
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I think that the right thing to do is to make himself straight and abstain from gay sex
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To me, and many people, being celibate would be akin to torture. What is it about homosexuality that makes it better to feel tortured for the rest of ones life than engage in it? It harms nobody against his or her will. Therefore there is nothing wrong with it. The OT may say that homosexuality is wrong, but it says the same thing about shaving sideburns and eating shellfish. These are totally arbitrary rules that many swallow because of some inexplicable faith.
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However, in this particular context it kind of reminds me of anti-war protestors who claim to support the troops. Hey, we think what you are doing is totally evil, but we still love you!
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They blame the leaders of our nation, not the troops following their orders. Hating the troops is like hating all Germans for Hitler.
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Do you think that men in jail were gay before they went in and will be gay once they get out? If it is enduring, why does it only last while they are in jail?
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Because many people are bisexual and they only have men to choose from in jail?
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What's wrong is wrong. Consenting adults can still do the wrong thing.
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Define wrong and how homosexuality is wrong.
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They lost the money. I believe that legally it is no longer their's. So one can legally take that money. It's the difference of values which determines what people can do, even when they have legal rights to do what is wrong. Two men having sex with each other are destroying the society which I live in. All citizens have a say in how their society will be run. I choose to use my voice to prevent its destruction, you choose yours to allow the erosion of this society's decency and quality.
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Exactly how does homosexuality erode “decency and quality?”
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People in jail have gay sex. People outside of jail have gay sex. That is apples and apples. I highly doubt that people in jail fuck each other up the ass to get back at "the man", as you imply.
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No they do so to assert power in an otherwise powerless situation, like many rapes. Rape is not necessarily about sexuality, is it about violence/power… or so I’m told… I know that I am incapable of rape so I am only repeating what my professors said.
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The people having the gay sex don't think much about honor and dignity and they enjoy the gay sex.
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This is not unique to gay sex. Most sex is for pleasure, not honor or dignity. Now, you should try to prove that gay sex is inherently less honorable and dignified than heterosexual sex, because that’s a huge assumption you’re relying on here.
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I could be gay if I wanted to. I choose not to be. How can you disprove this?
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This combined with my perspective strongly supports my earlier hypothesis on sexuality being a choice for bisexuals and not for others. Some people can choose between men and women, others cannot. Those who cannot (i.e. they’re not bisexual) have a different choice: Between homosexuality and permanent abstinence. This is a choice they should not have to make.
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Being straight does not rule out one from promoting homosexuality, which is what you propose.
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Personally, I promote letting people be themselves and have equal rights under the law. I am not sure what is unreasonable about that.