I should stay away from these topics

Homosexuality and Bisexuality are perfectly dandy with me, as long as the person is happy. dosen't matter, we're all humans.

Heh well Alan as you of course know I'm violently against all homosexuals, and that's because I'm a dumb shit catholic elitist who will kill children because jesus told me to do it. In fact, before I read your post I was about to go out for a night on the town wearing my white dunce cap-esque hood with a lil anti-gay insignia on my chest (of my own design of course) and burn random people because of their height.

lol GOOD LORD I'm joking... I *am* catholic, but like it matters? The whole anti-gay thing based on religion is stupid, mainly because it takes stupid people to be wrapped up in something so cult-ish anyway. *shrug* I'm fine as someone from the Roman Catholic faith to know homosexual and bisexual people, and have actually normal conversations with them. Some of my best friends in the world aren't straight, and it just makes them more of a person, less of a number you know? Like Nico said, we're all people, stop killing eachother and start living for fun right?

Hmmn... Well, concerning the matter of sin, I am of the belief that there is only one sin: rebellion against God. That is, choosing to reject God and\or to live for one's self. I think that everyone ultimately has an inate sense of what is right. Actions that deliberately or unconsciously go against this are then sin. And how does homosexuality fit in? The question that I think must be asked is "What is the root of homosexuality?" If homosexuality is rooted in rebellion against God, then it is a sin. If it is a biologically determined trait, i.e., if God specifically makes someone a homosexual, then it is unfair to say that a person is sinning merely by being themself. I think ultimately that everyone ought to judge their own actions on whether or not they stem from rebellion against God. The point then is this: my judgement of another person does not matter. I am not that person, I can not fully understand what they do. I believe , however, that they themselves know whether or not they act in rebellion against God. A question related to this topic is that of "Can someone be a Christian and a homosexual?" To that, I say: maybe. But one thing is for sure; one simply can not be a Christian AND choose to rebel against God. So I would say that to me, personally, what matters the most is not whether or not someone is a homosexual , but whether or not they try to live acording to what they ultimately know to be right.

Tim A. really put it greatly and succinctly. That's exactly what I believe on the topic; sin is defined as "knowing what is right and not doing it" (right defined by God's standards). If it's a biological thing, that person can't be blamed for it. If they're doing it against what God's will for them is, like Tim said, then it can be classified as sin.

While I agree with the majority with what was said (by the Tims), i disagree with the statement:
one simply can not be a Christian AND choose to rebel against God
Yes, your relationship with God would need some aomount of repair, but to rebel against God is what sin is. Christians sin as much as anyone else, but the difference is that when it happens, there is an attempt to ask for some kind of forgiveness such that the individual does not remain in that state of rebellion.

So atheism is a sin?

"one simply can not be a Christian AND choose to rebel against God"

I guess that what I meant by that is not that being a Christian means not sinning. If that were the case, no one could reasonably say they are a Christian. In fact, I agree with you. Christianity is, in a sense, choosing to commit yourself to God. What I meant then was that in a larger sense, one can not be both committed to God and commited to rebellion. It's not a matter of just, does someone rebel against God?, but rather does someone direct their life towards God or towards rebellion? I'm intending rebellion to refer to a consistent pattern of actions and choices, rather than individual incidents.

if you are an atheist... does it matter what god considers a sin? :D

Hmm...
I guess to you it doesn't matter, but other people... might... care?
Dunno.
Meh... need sleep :(

See, in my view, god loves all, and created them in his image. In his image... Hmm... God is homosexual? Not entirely, since he also created heterosexuals in his image. My theory is that since god is infinite, he has infinite personalities. Some of them are criminal. Some of them are christian. Some of these are the same people... Ahem. Thus, everyone is one figment of god's imagination. See, my theory also makes all religions right. See, since we are finite, we cannot grasp an infinite being. Hence, we only see part of god. Muslims see one part, Jews see another, Christians see another, and these anothers overlap in places and such. So life is good.

Ooh, time to test the firey waters of controversy... ;-)

Well, I think that you misinterpreted that article a little. They don't say anywhere on the page that they *hate* homosexuals. They *do* call it a sin. There's a very big difference.

Jesus loved sinners of all kinds. And Christians are supposed to emulate christ-likeness, and love everyone, too. This means not hating homosexuals.

The Bible does call homosexuality a sin. But I believe (and I'm not a Catholic) that all sin is viewed as equal in God's eyes. Therefore, Christians should view it this way, too (but this often doesn't happen, sadly. Look at the crusades. Or anything b*sh says about the mideast). In other words, one person being homosexual is just as bad as any sin that I can (and do) commit. Me lying is just as bad as homosexuality in God's eyes.

The debate over Homosexuality is pretty pointless, in my eyes. Christians need to focus on showing Christ's love to others, not fixing them. And in their *own* lives, they should try to live like Christ and be without sin- so yes, I am saying that I don't agree with the idea of Christians being homosexuals.

The article you linked to wasn't trying to attack nonbelieving homosexuals. There could (and probably is) a very similar page for other things designated as sins (such as alcoholism or divorce, which ravage today's churches).

No, I was presenting the article as a POSITIVE thing.
Too many other people/places are too unaccepting... I like how that church doesn't view them as totally... bad?
I dunno what's the word to use.

If anything, I think the article is saying that there's nothing wrong with being gay, and pointing out how Western religion has twisted various stories into a homophobia that a lot of Christians have today.

Well, there *are* several biblical inaccuracies in the article. I don't have them off the top of my head, but I will look into it and post here, just for the purposes of everyone's understanding.

One of the things that you said was, "Why do Catholics hate homosexuality?" That was more of what I was reacting to. But yeah, I did misinterpret the article a little, too; I didn't pick up on the "we don't object to this" thing.

So I'll put more of my findings up later.

From a religious perspective:

The bible, the quran, buddhist and hindu teachings or any other BIG established religion says nothing about homosexuality. Nothing about whether it is good or bad. People who claim that they derive their "anti-gay" stance from God's teachings are idiots.

From a scientific perspective:

Homosexuality is partly genetic and partly based on environment. Genetically, some people are more prone to becoming gay. If humankind's purpose is only to proliferate then gay people don't fit in our world. However, if humankind's purpose is to sustain "societies" then homosexuals are just as feasible as heterosexuals. Moreover, if homosexuality wasn't viable then the genetic aspect would have disappeared from the gene pool a long time due to natural selection.

I see the religious opposition to homosexuality just as valid as the religious justification for slavery.

What do i think about gay marriage?
"Religious Conservatives" have this misguided doctrine of morals and value that they like to impose on everybody. I think everybody should mind their own beeswax.

Should there be a revolution?
Sure. But not just for gay people. I want a revolution for immigrants, for over-exploited african nations, for slave labour in china, for malpractice tort reform, for kids who don't have enough food to eat.....and for decency in general

About me....
Christian? No
Beleive in God? Yes
Conservative or liberal? I am not exactly sure

Well, Akshat- actually the bible does command that you do not lie with a man as you would with a woman. There is also the story of Sodom which basically condemns everything except the missionary position.(then again the bible also commands that a woman cannot enter the temple when she is on her period, because she is tainted and unclean) Anyway, since I am christian, but any of you who know me- I am in the very, very liberal end, I believe that homosexuality is natural and we should accept people regardless of what others think of them.

Hello--
In response to Akshat's post, I'd like to make a correction... In the Qur'an, as Muslims believe as the last book from God, this act of homosexuality is condemned and is looked upon as a very immoral and unnatural action. It is mentioned of the story of prophet Lot and his corrupt people:

26:160. The people of Lot rejected the apostles.

161. Behold, their brother Lot said to them: "Will ye not fear ((God))?

162. "I am to you an apostle worthy of all trust.

163. "So fear God and obey me.

164. "No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds.

165. "Of all the creatures in the world, will ye approach males,

166. "And leave those whom God has created for you to be your mates? Nay, ye are a people transgressing (all limits)!"

I believe homosexuality is wrong because it is baseless and brings about no good; rather, it goes against the values of marriage. Surely, men should socialize with men, making friendships and bonds of brotherhood, and women with women, but when it comes to marriage, we are talking about raising a family and working together in the lawful manner that has already been designated by God.

And God knows best.