It is illigal in 29 out of 50 states to have a same sex relashionships, and i think it is rediculous that the goverment is running who we love now. the canidate who helps all and not just one or two groups of people will be the canidate i vote for, so look to the future and ask yourself what you can change for all, justice is what needs to happen.
sincerly,
cameron

“There is really a conclusion amongst *unbiased* psychiatrists and mental health professionals, that homosexuality is the result of maldevelopment in childhood, exacerbated by (probably) genetically predisposed characteristics.” -Gus, Dec. 25th

What exactly does Gus consider to be *unbiased?* Christian? I am a medical student with a graduate level background in counseling psychology and I can tell you that the consensus of the vast majority of physicians and mental health professionals is that the etiology of homosexuality is unexplained but probably multifactorial and not pathological. Regarding genetic predetermination, yes, that idea has been tweaked by people with a political agenda. However, many, many things are genetically influenced in the same sense as sexuality (for example, susceptibility to cancer or heart disease) and we take that genetic component very seriously. The bottom line is that sexuality is an area where the mind and body overlap, and as such is almost irreducibly complex. This is part of the reason physicians are trained to be nonjudgmental about it (and to those who said Dr. Paul’s attitude was incorrect for a physician, yes, we are trained to be this way: you, however, are judgmental and are not physicians- coincidence? I think not.)
Anyway, this whole issue of whether homosexuality or homosexual behavior is a sin is really irrelevant to a presidential race. There is a precedent of marriage being considered a state/local/religious issue; I think that is correct. Frankly, it’s either a religious institution, in which case religious communities should decide who gets married; or it’s a secular institution, in which case domestic partnerships should be open to everyone. We seem lately to keep ending up in this area of quasi-religious/quasi-legal, and that’s where we get in trouble. Imagine if Muslim values surrounding marriage were enforced by law? As they are in most Middle Eastern countries…get my point? This country’s founders were *brilliant* in avoiding any endorsement of any particular religion!

First, to restrict our only understanding of Jesus’ message to the Gospels is foolish. The same men who wrote the Gospels were accepting of Paul’s message. The Gospel of Mark was written by St. Mark, who was converted by St. Peter (an author of two epistles in the New Testament). St. Luke was a disciple of St. Paul - author of the vast majority of the epistles. Jesus himself comissions the Apostles to be his representatives, and promises he will be with them “even unto the end of the world” in the Gospels. So, we have it on Jesus’ own authority in the Gospels that the men who wrote the New Testament are His representatives, and that He Himself is with them. Furthermore, if you read the Gospels closely, you will find that Jesus was not just a “lovey-dovey” figure devoid of all fire and brimstone. Jesus makes it very clear: God loves all mankind, and wants them all to be saved; I am here to help that happen and to prove that God Himself (Who I Am) is willing to forsake the glory of the Divinity and to experience pain, hunger and thirst with my creatures as a proof of my good faith and undying love.

But God does not throw anyone into Hell. THe book of Revelation tells us that, at the last Judgment the heavens and the earth attempt to flee from the presence of God as He sits upon the Great White Throne. “No place was found for them.” The Last Judgment is a moment, when every man and woman will be exposed to the unrestrained presence of God - for those who have prepared themselves, and been “conformed to Christ” (that is, have been made as like to God as is humanly possible), the unrestrained presence of God will be the greatest possible joy and bliss. For those who have, by their own free choices, grown hostile to God - for those who are opposed to everything that God is - this unrestrained presence cannot be experienced as anything but painful. This is hell. God does not throw us there; we fashion of ourselves our future experience. Jesus makes it very clear that the present time has been given us to repent and learn to love God. If we don’t take the offer, God cannot allow those who refuse to be happy, to continue postponing the final happiness of the rest of creation. God will one day have to usher in the age of blessedness. He can’t change the fact that some people simply refuse to be happy one way or another.

Christians are the most to blame, for other people not believing that God really does want to make them happy and free - they see our lives and judgmentalism and want nothing to do with us.

Lastly, it is really a stupid idea for Christians to appeal to the Old Testament laws as a basis for condemning homosexuality. First off, these are the very laws, from which Christ came to free us.

Second off, the Old Testament laws also forbid trimming your sideburns. They order that we tear our houses down if we find certain kinds of mold. Now we just buy 409.

The fact of the matter is, that while scripture is inspired and infallible, it has to be interpreted by an infallible Body if we are to understand it in an infallibly correct way. The Roman Catholic Church gave a bad name to “tradition” by breaking with tradition and setting upon its own. However, the undivided Christian Church of the first 1,000 years still continues today in the “Eastern” Orthodox Churches (you know, the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, etc.) - Roman Catholicism broke away from them in the 11th century, and the Protestants broke away from Rome in the 15th and onwards.

So, the Christian Church has the wisdom, through the Spirit’s promise to the actual Body of Christ to “lead it into all Truth,” to understand the true intent of the Old Testament laws. Some of them (like the proscriptions against homosexuality) still stand - but not because they’re written in the Bible (because many other Biblical laws - like not trimming your sideburns, certainly don’t still stand). We know from scripture that “the Spirit of God is not double-minded.” The Holy Spirit does not preach different truths. Therefore, the Christian Church will, throughout the centuries, always agree on proper theology and practice. Protestantism, having fragmented into thousands of denominations and not at all agreeing with the apostolic teachings of the Christian faith, cannot claim to still be experiencing the same teaching of this Spirit, which is not “double minded” and therefore cannot be the source of new, Roman Catholic or Protestant teachings.

I say this, because Protestants are on shaky ground when they appeal to the Old Testament laws against homosexuality as a proof that it is wrong. If that’s the case, why do Protestants trim their sideburns? Why do they buy bleach to take care of mildew, rather than torch their houses? The Church, because She is the Body of Christ, is the real source of Truth, and is the only place where scripture is interpreted correctly. As St. Paul says in his epistle to the Thessalonians: “The Church is the Pillar and Bulwark of Truth.” The Bible is inspired, but you have to be an inspired reader to read it infallibly. Only the Church - not the structure and the clergy, but the whole Body through all time - has the authority to read it the right way.

So, anyway, stop citing Leviticus. You don’t follow %99 of the Old Testament laws, so you just make Christianity and Christians look ignorant!

There is some evidence that homosexuality might be the result of a genetic “predisposition.” The difference between genetic predetermination and genetic predisposition, is that predetermination dictates an inevitable genetic result (like having blue eyes) - you are simply born that way; genetic predisposition means that various genetic factors make it more or less likely for you to develop certain characteristics (like, preferring reading to athletics).

There is really a conclusion amongst *unbiased* psychiatrists and mental health professionals, that homosexuality is the result of maldevelopment in childhood, exacerbated by (probably) genetically predisposed characteristics. For example, many male homosexuals have an enlarged “corpus callosum.” This is a part of the “reptilian brain” (that is, the brain stem and those parts of the brain attached directly to it) that coordinates functions between the brain’s hemispheres. This helps the brain to perform many simultaneous types of tasks at once, with greater efficiency. Incidentally, this is typical of female brains. Male brains tend to be very good at one or a few things; female brains tend to be moderately good at a wide variety of things. What men lack in breadth, they make up for in depth. What women lack in depth, they make up for in breadth.

When a male child is born with a more or less feminine brain, he is predisposed to be good at tasks, which alienate him from male peers and even from his father’s appreciation. Essentially, we are finding that homosexuality is the result of the sexualization of the need for affirmation from one’s own sex. When this need for affirmation is not met through friendships and (most importantly) the affection and love of the parents, the need for this affirmation becomes sexualized. Because the child fails to develop a firm sense of his or her masculinity/femininity, puberty brings an attraction to what the child feels he or she is lacking. If a child successfully establishes his or her own gender identity, they are then attracted to what they don’t have - the opposite sex.

Anyway, what all this means: homosexuals do not “choose” to experience their attractions. They are involuntary, and are the result of deep-seated psychological maldevelopments. Therefore, “homosexuality” is not a sin. And, really, “homosexuality” is a very new word. This year is the 100 year anniversary of the world. For all of the thousands of years before now, sexuality was viewed as more vague, especially for men.

The Bible nowhere says that “homosexuality” is a sin; rather, it says that homosexual behaviour, or “corrupters of themselves with men” is a sin. So, those who experience homosexual attraction deserve no condemnation for simply feeling the way they do. You can imagine how confused and scared they must feel. And, because they feel the attractions, it is very difficult for them to believe that they are wrong, when they seem so natural.

So, an heterosexual Christian who fools around with his girlfriend even though he knows he shouldn’t, is much more deeply in sin than a confused homosexual who acts upon his or her attractions on account of not knowing any better. In fact, when we Christians sin even in small things, we are much more to blame than the most promiscuous homosexuals who are simply acting out of their own confusion and ignorance. How should they know any better, especially in our society - where political correctness prevents good, reasonable thinking on this matter from being presented. Give them a break, and pray for them. Work in your own time - in Christian love and patience - to help the facts come to light. Be an example of the love of Christ, and of Christ’s own failure to judge anybody (except the religious elite, who should have known better), in the hopes that they will be drawn toward your reason and compassion of their own accord.

There’s no point in throwing stones.