Ramblings of a not so old soul

Thursday, April 26, 2007

"Homosexuals? That's who I am. Judge me. I dare You." @ 4:34 pm

An article I found online. Below are some incidents that caused much distress to our lives.

-Angry for being teased about his last name and confident that God's Word supported his tragic plan of action, Mr.Ronald E. Gay shouted, "I am a Christian soldier, working for my Lord." Claiming that "Jesus does not want these people in his heaven," he shot seven innocent gay and lesbian people.

-Matthew explained his actions : "I had to obey God's law rather than man's law," he said. "I didn't want to do this. I felt I was supposed to. I have followed a higher law... I just plan to defend myself from the Scriptures.""

-A pastor in North Carolina published an open letter regarding the trial of Aaron McKinney that read: "Gays are under the death penalty. His blood is guilty before God (Lev. 20:13). If a person kills a gay, the gay's blood is upon the gay and not upon the hands of the person doing the killing. The acts of gays are so abominable to God. His Word is there and we can't change it."

-Mark B. was a young man who accepted his sexual orientation "until he became a Christian" and was told on the basis of these texts that he couldn't be both a Christian and a gay man. Mark committed suicide and wrote this suicide note to God: "I just don't know how else to fix this."

Some evidence...

-The Bible accepts sexual practices that we condemn and condemns sexual practices that we accept. Lots of them. Here are a few examples.

DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21. If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.

DEUTERONOMY 22:22. If a married person has sex with someone else's husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.

MARK 10:1-12. Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.

LEVITICUS 18:19. The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both shall be executed.

MARK 12:18-27. If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir.

DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12. If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her.

-But what does the story of Sodom say about homosexual orientation as we understand it today? Nothing.
It was common for soldiers, thieves, and bullies to rape a fallen enemy, asserting their victory by dehumanizing and demeaning the vanquished. This act of raping an enemy is about power and revenge, not about homosexuality or homosexual orientation. And it is still happening.

-You'll also note that Romans 2 begins with "Therefore, [referring to Romans 1], you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself..." Even after he describes the disturbing practices he has seen, Paul warns us that judging others is God's business, not ours.

-The law of Jesus, a law of love that requires us to do more than just avoid murder, adultery, lying, cheating, and stealing. Paul tells them what God wants is not strict adherence to a list of laws, but a pure heart, a good conscience, and a faith that isn't phony.

-In 1958, for the first time in history, a person translating that mysterious Greek word, arsenokoitai, into English decided it meant homosexuals, even though there is, in fact, no such word in Greek or Hebrew.

-The Bible is completely silent on the issue of homosexual orientation. And no wonder. Homosexual orientation wasn't even known until the 19th century.

-Biblical authors knew nothing about sexual orientation. Old Testament authors and Paul assumed all people were created heterosexual, just as they believed the earth was flat,that there were heavens above and hell below, and that the sun moved up and down.

Dr White's quotes...

~It's God's task to judge us. It is NOT our task to judge one another.

~In Genesis chapter 1 onwards,
It teaches us that ultimately God is our Creator, that God shaped us, and that God said, "It's good." Isn't this the heart of the text?

~Even when we believe that scripture is without error,
It is a risk believing that our understanding is without error.~

~We are human. We are fallible. And we can misunderstand and misinterpret these ancient words -- with tragic results.~

~ Our desire for same-sex intimacy and affiliation is intrinsic, natural, inborn and/or shaped in earliest infancy.

~There is a growing body of evidence from science, psychology, history, psychiatry, medicine, and personal experience that leads to a clear verdict: Homosexuality is neither a sickness nor a sin. Unfortunately, the church has always been slow, if not the last institution on earth, to accept new truth.

~Imagine the suffering that could be avoided if the church could say this to their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children: "We don't understand your views about sexual orientation, but we love and trust you. As long as you love God and seek God's will in your life, you are welcome here."

All these directly quoted from,
http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christian

Profile

26th July
Loves coffee.
Part-time lover.
Full-time friend.

Playlist

Luv letter - Dj Okawari

Tagboard

Affiliates

Fridae
Facebook