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Sadly, jimmie is grown up chronologically, but his spiritual maturity has been stunted by his fundie beliefs that force him to accept contradictory things about Jesus and God as a sign of his faith in God. It is a travesty and the religious leaders that have perpetrated it carry a heavy burden.
This "homosexuality is a serious sin" nonsense is none other than religious propaganda. It cannot be substantiated by any open* reading of the Bible. There are three or four scriptures that reference same gender sex within the context of idolatry practices and that's it. Any other slant placed on these texts has been intentionally constructed to discriminate against gay people. This cannot be emphasized enough!"
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Originally Posted by twin.spin
Thanks for admitting that same gender sex is then forbidden based on scriptures and ultimately by God since it is within the context of idolatry practices.
Haven't we been down this same path many times before? I said that idolatry is verboten by God. It's in the very first command of the Big Ten. Remember, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" ...? God professes to being a jealous God and that He alone - no ifs, ands or buts - must be worshiped. Or else! Do you realize that civilizations were destroyed "by God" because of 'unbelief' in Him? UNBELIEF! So, THAT'S how important 'belief' and 'worship' are to God. In Leviticus 18:21 (the verse just prior to the infamous 'clobber passage' that 'fundies' love so much) God forbids people from sacrificing their children to Molech. Why? Because God has compassion for the children? Apparently not! God is upset because these people are sacrificing children to a FALSE GOD! Read it!
So, we clearly see from scripture that 1. God is a jealous God, 2. He demands belief and worship from EVERYONE, and 3. He will not hesitate to destroy those that are disobedient to this ruling. So, what were these early people in question actually doing that SO upset both God and the early Christian Church? It was idolatry. And what did idolatry entail? Well, quite a few things but, in this particular case, it involved temple prostitutes who catered to both males and females and were regarded by the Pagans as 'sacred'. I don't want to take the time to explain yet again WHY temple prostitutes were featured in religious ceremonies and deemed to be necessary but, as they say, Google is your friend.
SO, whenever male/male sex is mentioned in scripture it's referring to the sexual acts that are performed with temple prostitutes. Males participating in practices with male shrine temple prostitutes IS frowned upon BECAUSE of its connection to the worship of false gods. 'Homosexuality' per se is NOT the issue.
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Originally Posted by twin.spin
Now we'll see who does the scrambling to make the Bible approve of idolatry.
Where am I 'scrambling' to make the Bible approve of idolatry? I'm saying the exact opposite. The Bible (God?) very much disapproves of idolatry or the practices affiliated with idolatry.
What you need to do is, 1. get it clear in your mind that idolatry is taboo in the Bible. 2. idolatry involved acts of worship that were taboo BECAUSE of their association with idolatry. 3. both male and female sex acts were performed in a ritualistic manner with temple prostitutes. 4. heterosexuality and homosexuality were not taboo per se but sexual involvement in such practices with temple prostitutes WAS taboo because IDOL WORSHIP PER SE IS TABOO!
What is all this arguing about whether or not the bible or God approves or disapproves of homosexuality? All one has to do is take a look at the Ten Commandments and there we will find that God forbids gay sex.
And here they are.
The Ten Commandments
1 - I am the Lord, your God.
2 - Thou shall bring no false idols before me.
3 - Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4 - Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
5 - Honor thy father and thy mother.
6 - Thou shall not kill/murder†.
7 - Thou shall not commit adultery.
8 - Thou shall not steal††.
9 - Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 - Thou shall not covet‡ your neighbor's wife (or anything that belongs to your neighbor).
Oops! Nothing about homosexuality! Sorry.
But notice something sinister - the first four commandments are about himself! It's all me me me!
Precisely. It IS all about the egotistical Old Testament God. Whenever I read the OT I get the clear impression that God generally hates human beings UNLESS they acknowledge Him in the form of kowtowing to Him.
As for the Ten Commandments ...You will note that commands 4 and 7 are pretty much ignored by most mainstream Christian churches. How many Christians keep the Sabbath command? The 7th-day Sabbath, by the way, is NOT Sunday. Also, thousands of divorced and remarried individuals sit in church pews every week and the church has not got a clue that they are in violation of commandment 7.
There are so many holes found within present-day Christianity that it might be best if we try to get it right by starting again from scratch.
I don't think Jeff is interested in what straight men do.
This garbage again? You are so one note. Oh, how you coming along with finding my direct insults against you personally? After all, you just did it to me again here.
Yes, we see what it says. Repeating this over and over avoids the point. It's not that we miscomprehend. We do not believe it to be "the word of God".
Amen!. It is completely inconsistent with and contradictory to the TRUE NATURE of God as agape love as revealed by Jesus. You either deny or ignore Jesus when you focus on such primitive carnal issues in the Bible.
No one is saying that we want to enforce God's will or create a theocracy. You realize that, right?
Your statement is disingenuous at best, and demonstrates ignorance. Fundamentalist ideologues are trying to create a theocracy. They do not want civil rights for LGBTQ. We have see Christians Pastors call for killing gay people.
You prefer hiding your head in the sand with a feeble attempt to decide those men are not Christian. You are not fooling anyone. You know the truth. God sees you.
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Nothing about homosexuality! Sorry. 
