A reoccurring theme with many Christians while attempting to prove The Bible is against homosexuals, is that they completely ignore the parts of The Bible, specifically the words of Christ himself, that support and encourage people to not judge, persecute or hate homosexuals, but rather to love, be compassionate towards and tolerate (acceptance). Don't think so?... hence my challenge.
**also, I am not taking into account what is in other threads for a reason. Please post key relevant things from those threads in this thread, so everyone reading this thread will see it and understand your points, instead of just redirecting the reader. I am trying to encourage the integrity of this threads discussion.
Is it really such an effort to click on two links?
Well here is the content of the first:
Westboro "Baptist" is not a church any more than the KKK is a Christian organisation.
True churches proclaim God's love and mercy toward all people, whatever their orientation. [bold added] While those who decide to follow Christ are called to abstain from all forms of immoral behaviour, whatever their orientation, their past is forgiven and gone. That is the teaching of the Bible, which is the basis of a true church. God accepts us, then renews us, then changes us.
I unreservedly apologise that there are people calling themselves Christians who proclaim hatred. They only serve to reinforce the misconception that the Bible, the Gospel or God Himself are somehow against a particular section of society. Christ was known as the 'friend of sinners'. That is what He was, and that is what He is. A FRIEND, not an enemy. And we're all sinners, including the people standing out there, who just don't seem to get it.
You may not agree with the Christian view, but don't confuse it with Westboro!
It's inevitable that these people, who dishonour the Good News of God's love, invite ridicule on themselves.
The second post includes this:
This is what I have been saying throughout. Nothing against the person. Just explaining the pattern laid out for Christians, some of whom have experienced homosexual attraction, but all of whom have accepted that it is more important to live God's way than to gratify sexual desire in a way that breaks his Law. Heterosexual Christians have accepted the same difficult path.
All sexual activity outside a male-female marriage is immorality. This was discussed at length in the threads mentioned on page 1 of this thread, for those wishing to consider the issue further.
In a reply to Conspiriology you said:
I see even after pages upon pages of beating the Sodom and Gomorrah story to death, you still don't understand the point.
Rape transcends sexual orientation. When the townsmen wanted to rape the men/angels that was not homosexuality. They were lusting after the prospect of raping them. The fact that you still cannot make the distinction between rape and consensual sex worries me deeply about your overall sense of moral and ethical issues at large.
The passage nowhere says Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of rape. The angels were sent to destroy it because of the immorality and perversions (as is proved conclusively by the O.T. passage itself and by the teaching in Jude that both I and Conspiriology have mentioned). Only when they actually turned up to extract Lot and his family before the destruction occurred was there any hint of the issue of rape.
You are trying to twist the plain meaning of both O.T. and N.T. Scriptures to fit your own agenda.
