At one point in history, literal interpretations of the Bible was all the world had. In this time it was acceptable to stone someone to death and condemn homosexuals. As the intellectual side of humanity has grown it has stopped reading the Bible in a strict literal interpretation. Society no longer stones people to death, but they still condemn those who express themselves as homosexual. If Christians are willing to ignore some biblical teachings then they should not denounce others. Today’s Christians should not damn homosexuality. To begin with, Christians need to look at why homosexuality was originally damned. The writers of the Bible were mainly Jewish or Jewish converts. “In Jewish thought homosexual activity was considered a gentile problem
The main historical writings, which damn homosexuals, come from Jewish authors. These authors did not know that (1) sexual orientation existed and (2) only knew gay relationships to be abusive. People today should know that sexual orientation is a real thing and all homosexual relations are not abusive. Identifying as homosexual also is not a means of idol worship like originally believed. Laws change as society changes. More information about gay partnerships emerges all the time, so the laws oppressing these people need to change with the times. There was a time women were viewed as completely inferior to men, this idea too has evolved and women now have a place in society. Finally, there is no such thing as an accurate interpretation of the Bible. There are as many interpretations of the Bible as there are people on earth, plus another million. To then add in other historical documents regarding homosexuality gives infinite beliefs on the ethics of homosexuality. The Bible itself is not clear on its definition of homosexuality, so Christians cannot use it as a defining source. Homosexuals should not be condemned based on ancient myths or for any other reason at
...to understand history, doctrines, and origins. Religion and homosexuality need not be mutually exclusive: you can be a good Christians and still love and accept LGBT people. I strongly believe that through Jesus, God wanted us to learn to love one another, and to treat everyone with dignity and respect. Using the Bible to justify persecution of anyone is despicable. Unfortunately, the Bible has been used to endorse racism, slavery, subjugation of women, and persecution of the Jews.
Indeed, as we have already observed, it is contrary to God’s law. God’s love for homosexuals is no less than His love for the liar, the thief, and the pedophile. He sent Jesus into the world and then revealed his life and teaching and the purpose of his death and resurrection through the gospel, in order that you and I might be saved from our sin. The conditions for ALL sinners are the same: You must believe in the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins and be baptized (immersed) in water for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:36-38). After which, you are raised to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:1-14).
Society is created with both homosexual and heterosexual individuals. Previously when certain laws discriminated against others, such as law for women's rights to vote, these laws were changed. Changing the traditions of the country does not mean that it will lead to the legalization of other extreme issues. Each ...
The Holy Bible and its various renditions is the most common religious book that many religions have founded from. The first collection of writings of the bible can be dated back as far as 1500 years, which is 3500 years after homosexuality existed. The bible looks at homosexuality as an abomination and sinful, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22), “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:26-28). There are nearly eighty bible verses about homosexuality being sinful and sacrilegious (Open Bible). Not all religions had the same view on homosexuals,
Most societies view homosexuality as something that is morally wrong. Individuals view sexual relations between like genders as sick. For many years homosexuality has existed, so why Homophobia is related to gender socialization still exists? As a human they see things they cannot understand as wrong in society. Homophobia issues in society are the discussions when subjects like religion and morals are talked about. There are numerous agents of gender socialization in society like family, religion, school, and media. The media is the most pervasive correspondence medium depicts highly stereotyped roles for men and women. Religion is strong emphasis on gender differences with explicit affirmation of the authority of men over women. Family they
Even in the Old Testament of the Bible, the issue of homosexuality has already been talked about. An example of a quote from the Bible would be: "...
It 's easy to say that people do not share the same beliefs and therefore may not share the same morals. That being said, there are plenty of people who are homosexual that live their lives as catholics, christians, etc. So if we do keep in mind that there are people who do believe in the practices and ideas of these religions, then they must know that what they are doing is immoral under their God right? Corvino brings up a valid point that we are not supposed to touch pig but most of us have consumed pork or a product that uses pork several times throughout our lives. He actually uses this with his example of slaves to point out how the context was interpreted differently because of the time period and that the moral beliefs have changed. That is most definitely an excellent point. But let us give the arguer the side that they are right and that it is wrong under biblical teachings, even today, that people succumb to their homosexual desires and that they live a lifestyle as a homosexual. But can we say that they are being immoral? Yes, maybe they are not completely practicing what they believe but they are not moral accountable for all their actions, just like hetersexuals are not morally accountable for their all actions. In the King James version of the bible, James 2:10 states that, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one, he is guilty of all”. So if it is decided that homosexual sex is immoral because it 's breaking a law in the bible, then we must continue to point out every immoral action a hetersexual person carries out in their day-to-day lives. In biblical terms, they too would be immoral for many things that we would otherwise consider not morally right or wrong (sex before marriage, lying even if it 's necessary, being lazy, etc). Many people would argue back saying that some sins that is committed are accidental or without
He stated, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? (Matthew 19:4-5). The passage that Jesus alluded to is taken from Genesis 2:24, where we find God’s original plan for marriage. Nowhere in the Old or New Testament do we find authority or approval for homosexual marriages. This was not God’s plan. Just because our society accepts them, does not imply that God approves
"[I]t seems appropriate to understand sexual orientation (heterosexual or homosexual) as a deep-seated dimension of one's personality and to recognize its relative stability in a person. Generally, homosexual orientation is experienced as a given, not as something freely chosen. By itself, therefore, a homosexual orientation cannot be considered sinful, for morality presumes the freedom to choose. The teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression, or violence against them"(Pastoral).
In history, mainstream Abrahamic religions have had a negative relationship with LGBT persons. Beginning during the Hebrew exodus of Egypt, the purity codes documented in the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Leviticus explicitly stated a slew of rigid rules that attempted to keep a new Israelite nation “clean”. As William Countryman argues in the article “Dirt, Greed, & Sex”, the bible sets a precedent for what is “clean” and pure as well as what is “dirty”. In this sense, dirty means where something doesn’t belong, or is out of place. The ancient Israelite text as well as some New Testament verses have been used by many contemporary Christian denominations to condemn LGBT persons to hell and to provide “moral reasoning” for supporting legislation that makes LGBT people second class citizens. Missionaries during the imperialist period of European history have also used these verses to spread hate around the globe, and many of these anti-homosexuality sodomy laws that were backed by christian colonial monarchies are still on the books in former colonies in Africa, Asia and Oceania. The spread of Islam, a religion that also considers the Hebrew texts to be holy scripture, has also had the same effect on the Swahili Coast, Horn of Africa, Persia, and Southeast Asia. These religious texts have been the basis for anti-LGBT laws across the world, and as Abrahamic religions spread, the tolerance for LGBT people in other societies declined.
The topic of homosexuality in religion has many sides. There are those who believe that it is a sin in God’s eyes and according to the Bible, and there are those who believe the God and the Bible are not specific to homosexuals. It is a tough debate based on whether you are a religious person, how you were raised, and where your morals and ethics stand. You cannot truly believe one way without taking into account the other side and have valid proof to back it up.
We have no right to judge. We should leave that to the Lord, and he will make the right decision. He will decide what the sinner does and doesn't deserve. Christians know what to abide by. They may know that being a homosexual is going against Gods word, but they also know that the Lord says that one should love all no matter what circumstances.
Since the 1800's, psychiatrists and psychologists have concluded that homosexuality is a mental disorder. They have believed it is brought about by misguided upbringing and their social environments. For instance, it was believed that if the child was lacking a male - figure in the home, he would most likely be gay. Or that child abuse can lead to lesbianism when the special needs of a little girl are denied, ignored, or exploited and the future womanhood of the child is in risk. However, inconsistencies in the research subjects' abuse records ruled these theories out. And if this were the case, then why is homosexuality present in different cultures? Some believed homosexuality was caused by a difference in brain structure. In 1991, Simon LeVay published research stating that sexual orientation may be the result of differing brain structures. The hypothalamus, a region in the brain that governs sexual behavior, was the structure that LeVay was pointing as the structure at fault. In his studies of the hypothalamus, he found that in homosexual men, the hypothalamus was smaller than that of heterosexual men. Instead, it was the size of the female hypothalamus, consequently explaining their sexual tendencies.
Another way that homosexuals are looked down upon is through the religions of Catholicism and Islam. It is quite known that Same-sex marriage and homosexuality is not really allowed in the Catholic religion. Based from the Sacred Scripture, homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered (Vatican “You Shall Love Your Neighbour”). It represents homosexuality as a person that is broken and there is no cure for what has happened to them. But currently, the Church is willing to accept those homosexuals who are willing to stay chaste and follow that part of the religion. Though the Church is accepting chaste homosexuals, they are not willing to change their opinion on same-sex marriage. The Vatican constantly says “marriage between man and woman” (Vatican “You Shall Love Your Neighbour). This is then implying that marriage can only happen between man and woman (and not between those of the same
As the years have passed, homosexuality has become a very controversial topic. The fact that day by day they fight for equality just to be happy, I think it is an injustice that many people refuse to give them the rights they deserve.