Are gays really condemned in the Bible?

by jws 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  barry

  I believe gay people are born that way and for many they struggle with their faith sometimes for years. No one would choose to be gay with all the bigotry as well as sometimes even family may treat them differently.

  Ive heard about the positions some gay people take [no pun intended] in reference to bible texts .

  In ancient societies a family had the responsibility to bring ups family to support fertility in the society and a same sex couple would be looked down on as shirking their responsibility.

  Another position taken is a gay couple relationship is normal to them and bible texts are talking about promiscuous relationships.

  
  
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  jws

  I have no idea, but was gay marriage ever allowed in biblical times?
  

  It's the same thing I always said to my Christian friends who are against gay marriage. "So what? You'd rather they not get married and live in sin"?

  The Bible does speak out against fornicators, which I've always been told is sex without being married. So even if you choose an alternate explanation for the anti-gay texts and say that being gay is OK, then if you don't let them marry, then there's other bible rules they're violating when they want to have sex.
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  slimboyfat

  Prominent NT scholar Ben Witherington III explains why he opposes gay marriage.

  https://youtu.be/HMHXH_xERL8

  This is perhaps the mildest, kindest and most reasonable explanation of a biblical position against gay marriage you could hope to hear. Miles ahead of most Watchtower comments. Yet it's interesting that this view is still totally unacceptable. It seems it doesn't matter how reasonable or loving you try to make the position sound, it's just plain wrong whichever way you look at it.
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  Vidiot

  I think the Bible passages that (have previously been thought to) relate to homosexuality would probably be more effective if they were reinterpreted to refer to sexual abuse.

  Frankly, I suspect that's what the Bible writers were probably referring to when they wrote those passages, anyway, and that high-ranking predators in the church hierarchies tweaked the translations to deflect attention away from themselves.
  
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  Vidiot

  That being said, a creative theologian could probably find scriptures to condemn pogo-sticking naked under the full moon. :smirk:
  
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  myelaine

  dear jws...

  you said, "It's not a sin! If you say they're sinning, no. You can't claim to be supportive of gays. Get it out of your head that it's a sin and then we can start to have a conversation about your tolerance.

  It is NOT a sin to be overcome. Don't quote the "hate the sin, love the sinner" mantra. It does not apply to gay people because there's no sin here."...

  
  

  God is holy/set apart and He wants His people to be holy/set apart, that means turning away from A LOT of things that the "world" takes for granted. It takes commitment to do that. God recognizes commitment to His way and He helps.

  here's the kicker...there ARE people who are committed to God's way and they themselves testify that they were previously living a sinful lifestyle being homosexual. Would you want to talk to them about "tolerance"? Probably NOT because it would show your argument for what it is, shallow and "prideful". Shallow because for THEM it's not about homosexuals being marginalized and prideful because for THEM it's not about love being demoralized. For THEM it's about being called and holding to a higher standard, which is what God says being holy/set apart IS.

  Not EVERYONE hears this calling on their lives. I don't condemn people who don't want to walk in God's way. I'm not the better one to navigate another's conscience, and likewise, you shouldn't feel free to dictate to me what is sin and what isn't. I responded to the question, "are gays really condemned in the bible?" With the answer...God is there to forgive and help people walk in His way. Is there something you find intolerable about that?

  
  

  
  

  
  
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  Vidiot

  "...a creative theologian could probably find scriptures to condemn pogo-sticking naked under the full moon. "

  Hell, a creative theologian could probably find scriptures to justify pogo-sticking naked under the full moon.