I agree.
"I've very often displayed that Leviticus was a complete nut job..." - J m HofMarN,
Leviticus wasn't a person. Leviticus refers to the fact that the book was written by Moses to serve as a set of rules and standards for the Priests who would care for the temple, and see to the "spiritual health" of the people. The book was for the tribe of Levite, hense the name.
"and I've also shown that Paul's sermons in Rome were likely more on the subject of Roman orgies than on loving homosexual relationships," - J m HofMarN,
Forgive me, what were the passages for these sermons?
"but a 2000 year old book isn't always the best moral compass regardless" - J m HofMarN,
It displays the standard by which we would have to live to ensure that our etenal souls would go to heaven. Sure our culture has changed a lot, and there were things in the Old Testament that no longer apply to Christians today (i.e. having no dealings with gentiles [non-jews]; not eating pork etc) but the basic standard still is that we cannot be perfect and holy of our own volition. By the standards laid out in the Bible, whether or not homosexuality is a sin, there are still plenty of other sins that a person commits (even homosexuals) that keeps them from being pure enough to spend eternity with God.
"The bible excuse seems kind of nonsensical since it's essentially just passing the blame to Jesus." - J m HofMarN,
How so?
"You're dodging the question, Dorothy, but really, why is it such a big deal?" - Slade
I don't believe that I was dodging the question, but let me respond to this, just in case . Homosexuality is not a "go directly to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200" card. Every person has the option of going to heaven, EVERY person.
"And I really don't see why it would matter to God if people of the same gender get it on here on earth." - J m HofMarN,
God created sex. God created sex to be enjoyed within the confines of a marriage between a man and woman who love each other. Anything outside of that is considered a problem.
J m HofMarN and Slade, thanks for this interesting conversation! If I misunderstood anything that you said, or if anything I said is unclear, let me know.
Edit: Sorry, couldn't get those little quote doodahs to work, so I went through and added ("). Not that it's a problem. I ". And
This post has been edited by Dorothy: 10 August 2005 - 09:36 AM