Homosexuality

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In your opinion is homosexuality a bad thing??

Did any religious beliefs influence your answer?

For me homosexuality is not a bad thing and yes a religious belief did influence by answer, I am a christian and I study my bible and I have yet to see anything that says anything bad about homosexuality. I have seen a lot of stuff twisted into meaning one thing when its real meaning is something totally different.

...As opposed to strawmen.

Maybe I'm being dumb but please explain

well, if we're obeying the laws of leviticus, let's be thorough:

God likes animal sacrifice:
1:5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
1:10 And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.
1:11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.
1:14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
1:15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:

No going to church without a hat, no tearing of clothing in church, no drinking wine in church, and no leaving church with oil on your clothes (if you do any of these things, god will kill you):
10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people...
10:7 And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.
10:8 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying,
10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

No eating camels, rabbits, pork, lobster, crab, etc.:
11:4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
11:5 And the coney, because he cheweth the cud , but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
11:6 And the hare, because he cheweth the cud , but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
11:7 And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
11:10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you...
(this passage is also interesting because it contains a factual inaccuracy: rabbits and hares do not chew cud. Also included later in the 'do not eat' category are raptors, ravens, and other birds; ferrets, snails, moles, etc.)

Women are unclean for bearing children; baby girls are twice as nasty as baby boys; boys must be circumcized:
12:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
12:3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
12:4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.
12:5 But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.

14-2 through 14-52:
leprosy can be cured with animal sacrifice, washing, destroying one's house, shaving one's hair, and priestly hand-waving.
15-19 through 15-33:
menstruating women are unclean. Anything a menstruating woman touches is unclean. Anyone who touches a menstruating woman, or anything that a menstruating woman has touched, is unclean.
16-8 through 16-22:
you can put all of your sins onto a goat and be cleansed of them.
18-6 through 18-18:
Never see anyone related to you naked.

Cross-breeding cows, multi-cropping fields, and wool/linen blends are bad:
19:19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

No hairstyling, beard-trimming, scarring, or tattooing:
19:27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Kill anyone who curses his father or mother, and anyone who sleeps with his mother or stepmother, and any man who sleeps with his daughter-in-law:
20:9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
20:11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
20:12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.


burn to death anyone who sleeps with his wife's mother (as well as the wife and the mother):
20:14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

Handicapped people aren't good enough to 'approach the lord':
21:17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
21:18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,
21:19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,
21:20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
21:21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

No work on Sundays (I have to wonder, working as I am this minute in a hospital, on a Sunday, why doesn't god make everyone healthy on Sundays so that I don't have to work? Or maybe we should just let sick people suffer and die on Sundays):
23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings

Anyone who commits blasphemy shall be killed:
24:16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.

Anyone who causes death, pain, or loss shall have the exact same thing done to him:
24:17 And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
24:18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast.
24:19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again

It's ok to keep slaves as long as they're heathens or the children of strangers:
25:44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
25:46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

So, yeah: go ahead and cite leviticus as a reason that homosexuality is bad - but don't pick and choose which parts you want to obey, unless you want to be seen as a hypocrite.

Thanks Aalto

If I am being fallacious so be it. I stand by what i've said before, if you dont like something dont hidebehind the bible to justify your views. IMO the bible is just a bunch of stories and theology is the study of those stories.

There is no evidence to support there voracity and to use them to subjegate people you dont like is wrong.

And who did he oppress?

Actual Theology!! ! Your statement sounds like you think theology is a science. Theology is a bunch of people making up stories to fit a theme, to pick a bunch of hypotheses without any scientific evidence to make decisions is IMO decidedly weird.

Homosexual people just are, they are not a threat to anyone. They should have the same rights as everyone else, being bigoted against homosexuals is as ridiculous as judging someone on the colour of their skin. I really cannot believe that we are so advanced in our scientific thinking and yet some people cannot get this simple philosophy. Personally I would have greater regard for religious people if the moderate thinking amongst you grew a collective voice and shut down the fundies that are making so many peoples lives unnescessarily hard. Homosexuality should not be an issue, we have a great many real problems in this world

If I am being fallacious so be it. I stand by what i've said before, if you dont like something dont hidebehind the bible to justify your views. IMO the bible is just a bunch of stories and theology is the study of those stories. There is no evidence to support there voracity and to use them to subjegate people you dont like is wrong.

The Bible says "No man shall live in with another man."

The Bible also says, "Love thy neighbor."

So is The Word of God contradicting itself?

I don't like it, neither do I like Wal-Mart, capitalism, communism, etc. There's a long list of things I think shouldn't exist, but who cares what I think?

Ok, let's just say that your argument is true. Why shouldn't I judge somebody by the color of their skin? Can't I say that black people are black because they were playing with Satan's soot, or some other crap like that?

Well, most apologists would disagree and argue that the bible is supported by archaeological evidence, and perhaps philosophical evidence as well. Why is subjugating people wrong? Isn't forcing us not to subjugate an act of subjugation to prevent us from acting upon our right to attempt to subjugate?

If I am being fallacious so be it.

That may be your view, but it is not universally shared. For a Christian, it is not "hiding behind" the Bible because the Bible is the ultimate authority on morality and how one should live one's life. This is true for the sacred text of any religion: to that religion's followers, their sacred texts are the most fundamental source of knowledge about how to live.