Many religious folks, including fundamentalists, moderates and liberals, from a multitude of faiths, including Jehovah?s Witnesses, claim that homosexuals, bisexuals and trans-gendered individuals are abominations in the eyes of God. They believe these people are sinners of the worst sort, that their behavior is a perversion, is evil, dangerous and a threat to society, the family and/or ?family values.? These poor souls are going to be punished in some way by God for their choices and behavior ? go to hell, lose their opportunity for resurrection, heaven, earthly paradise, 72 virgins, rebirth to a higher caste or whatever payoff there is for those who behave ?properly? according to the edicts of their faith.
Never mind that homosexual behavior is found throughout the animal kingdom (see Broca?s Brain by Carl Sagan). It is often said that these people simply need to make the correct and moral (heterosexual) choice. They shouldn?t give in to temptation and evil. Oftentimes it is believed that with counseling and therapy these deviants can be cured and return to God?s good grace.
For a long time there have strong statistical indicators that sexuality is determined genetically (http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/scotts/bulgarians/nature-nurture/bailey-pillard.html). Studies involving identical twins (individuals with identical genes) separated at birth (which tends to negate environmental factors and enhance the argument of nature over nurture) have a significantly higher incidence of homosexuality when the other twin is homosexual. The incidence is much higher than that of other biological as well as adopted siblings.
It now seems that biologists have discovered the very genes that determine sexuality and gender identity (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3647262). There is now evidence that these things are determined before we are born. These people don?t choose their behavior or the way they feel. They are not giving into temptation. They aren?t making a choice. These things are determined by their genetic makeup.
In other words, in the worldview of many religious people, God creates, what are in God?s own eyes, abominations. God creates that which God abhors. God creates individuals who have no choice but to feel and behave in ways that God finds intolerable.
But how can this be? Why would God create such deviant creatures? Why would God create people that are to be the object of God?s own wrath, to be the object of the bigotry, hate and abuse of ?good? and ?moral? people who have God?s good grace? Can someone please explain this to me? I certainly don?t understand it.
CPiolo
Why does God create abominations?
by CPiolo 44 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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CPiolo
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logansrun
May I make a kindly suggestion?
Your post would be a lot easier to read if you try breaking it up into a few paragraphs. Paragraphs that n-eeeeeever end just hurt the eyes.
B.
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CPiolo
I've know. I was trying to reformat while you posted, but for some reason I can't.
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CPiolo
Got it. Seems to be a browser issue. I tried a different browser and no problem. Simon, it seems your code doesn't work well with all browsers, especially Mac versions.
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drwtsn32
Well.. God didn't create us.... we created him.
I agree, it makes no sense for a God to punish someone based on something completely out of their control (genetics).
Fundamentalists will either ignore all evidence that sexuality is genetic, or (like my fundy coworker) they'll believe that if a person prays hard enough God will fix their genes and restore heterosexuality.
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Swan
Fundamentalists will either ignore all evidence that sexuality is genetic, or (like my fundy coworker) they'll believe that if a person prays hard enough God will fix their genes and restore heterosexuality.
You should reply, that's quite a coincidence! 100 years ago some people thought the same thing about black people becoming white.
*** The Watchtower Reprints 1900 October 1 p.2706 ***
*** Zion's Watch Tower 1900 October 1 p. 296-297 ***
[Note: not available on 1993/1995/1999 CD-ROM]
CAN RESTITUTION CHANGE THE ETHIOPIAN'S SKIN?
The following, from the New York World, is the third we have seen reported. These suggest and illustrate the process of restitution soon due. The item reads:
"From Black to White He Slowly Turned"
Parkersburg, W. Va., Sept. 8. It has fallen to the lot of the Rev. William H. Draper, pastor of the Logan Memorial church, of Washington Conference, A.M.E. church, of this town, to give a living affirmative answer to the famous Biblical question, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?" Though once as black as charcoal, the Rev. Mr. Draper is now white. His people say that his color was changed in answer to prayer. Many years ago Draper was employed by a fair-skinned man, and he was often heard to remark that if he could only be white like his employer, he would be happy. While in the white man's service Draper `experienced' religion.
From that day forward he prayed constantly and fervently that he might become white. Thirty years ago his prayer began to be answered. He first experienced a prickling sensation on his face, and upon close investigation found a number of small white spots scarcely larger than the point of a pin. He became alarmed, thinking he had some peculiar disease but he did not suffer and aside from the prickling sensation felt nothing unusual. Gradually the white spots became larger and extended themselves, until now, after the change has been in progress for over thirty years, Draper has not a single dark spot on his body.
[Emphasis Added]
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Stacy Smith
God created something? Says who
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Phantom Stranger
Can't wait for Perry to get to this thread
See, how it works is, all of us are born imperfect, and God has built these imperfections into us to test our faith, just like he built the fake fossil record into the earth to fool the archeologists. If we succumb to these urges, we are not worthy. The only way we can be happy in the future is to be unhappy now - of course, even when God corrects these urges in the future by changing our genes, we will still somehow still be "ourselves".
Of course, succumbing to the urge to kill in God's name is OK... or letting children die in god's name, that's OK too. Taking fertility treatments that result in multiple unused embryos is wonderful (since you are trying to fill the earth with your offspring), but using those embryos (which would be discarded) for the advancement of science and medicine - well, that's evil.
Any questions?
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Silverleaf
But how can this be? Why would God create such deviant creatures? Why would God create people that are to be the object of God?s own wrath, to be the object of the bigotry, hate and abuse of ?good? and ?moral? people who have God?s good grace? Can someone please explain this to me? I certainly don?t understand it.
God would not create abominations. This is a tactic used by religion to separate people - to promote the us vs. them mentality and to give people a supposedly "moral" excuse to revile that which they do not understand. No loving, logical God would create an abomination and then blame that abomination for being an abomination. Dogmatic religions like the ones that promote this type of mindset are 'made up' religions stolen from ancient myth and bastardized as a means to control the masses. They have no basis in fact and have provided no benefit to mankind whatsoever.JMHO,
Silverleaf
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Tashawaa
Phantom beat me with the whole "imperfection" thing - and said it sooo well. I might add that you can't observe homosexual animal behavior, because since the fall of Adam & Eve, the animals have been imperfect too