Then you are not a Christian who a homosexual will be offended by, thus you have the ability to befriend gays. But now you are ignoring the fact that there IS a large portion of the Christian population in the U.S. that does literally believe that homosexuals will burn in hell. The ones that are vocal about it are the ones offending homosexuals, not you.
How about you stop believing people are sinners and life is somehow all about finding a loophole to avoid eternal lava bath?
I'm perfectly fine with those who have faith in religions as long as they don't have an agenda to restrict the rights of others based on their faith's moral code. And I'm perfectly fine with allowing Phil Robertson to say what he wants to say about gays. I'm just puzzled by why people are so surprised or offended that gays would be offended by his language.
I've come across thousands of Christians in my life, and I have never met anyone that thinks because you're a homosexual you'll burn in hell. The vast majority of Christians believe sin is sin. PHIL EVEN SAID THAT. Are there radical Christians? Sure, there are radical everything - including atheists (just go to reddit's /r/atheism for a look). But they are not the norm, nor are they what is preached by Christians who are right with God. There are countless Bible verses pointing out hate the sin, not the sinner, let he without sin cast the first stone, judge not lest ye be judged, and on and on and on. Jesus hung out with murders, thieves, prostitutes and criminals. Most Christians believe that NO ONE is beyond redemption. So I have no idea where you think large portion is coming from. Phil certainly isn't one of them, he mentioned NOTHING of gays burning in hell - his entire rant was on sin. His exact quote:
This is a free country my friend, how about stop trying to control what anyone believes? Let them strike a path on their own, and as long as they aren't physically hurting or hindering someone, leave them be. The natural order of things always evens out.
Again, this is a free country. They have a right to try and pass legislation, and elect whomever they want who they feel best represents them. Remember, our delegates should be a cross-section of our people. That is the entire reason for our congressional branch of the government. EDIT - And of course the other two branches are put in place as a checks and balance of the congressional branch, and vise-versa.
Here is where I am lost. When someone is gay, It is apart of who they are. When a Christian says that a part of who they are is a sin, can't you see how that is offensive?
No more than an alcoholic, an addict, obese or promiscuous people, or any other chronic sinner. Most view that it is their cross to bear, their struggle. We all have our internal struggles one way or the other. My job isn't to try and live my life in a way to try to offend the fewest amount of people. My job is to try and live a life that makes me happy and brings me fulfillment, my faith and Christian walk is a giant part of that. I love gay people just as much as I love heterosexual people. We all sin. Hell, I'm overweight, and I'm not offended when religious people point out that gluttony is a sin. I'm not fat because I sit around and eat food. I exercise, I try and eat right - but my weight is a byproduct of my life. It is who I am and I feel it is my struggle.
But do you see what you are doing? A homosexual doesn't see themselves as requiring help or having something wrong with them. When a large group of people view what they are as wrong and immoral, can't you see how that can be offensive. I'm not saying stop what you believe in. I'm just saying that those who are vocal about how "sinful" homosexuality is can be offensive to homosexuals.
See my last post, I added an edit. Again, in the end I am empathetic that my views offend them - but no more than I am empathetic that I believe people who aren't of my faith are going to go to hell. Which to me should be far more "shocking." I think non-Christians are going to hell, as do the vast majority of Christians (by Christians I mean believers in Christ, not the organized religious aspect of it... you have to more than call yourself a Christian). Jews, Muslims, and countless other religions have the same beliefs regarding their views. People are going to disagree, if you get offended by that - you let it offend you. I don't live my life for you, I live my life for me and my loved ones - and of course my God. In the end, why care what I believe? If you are solid in your beliefs, my views shouldn't shake your foundation.
Again, you shouldn't stop practicing your faith. But again, being Muslim, Buddhist, atheist etc is a choice one makes so it is actually less offensive to say they are damn to hell. Homosexuality is not a choice. A homosexual being offended because someone says that a part of them is a sin shouldn't surprise anyone.
Most Christians think homosexuality is a choice, and even if it is not a choice it is commanded by God to not be practiced. Being "born gay" is seen as a trial, and the Bible is literally filled with verse after verse regarding trials and tribulations. It is filled with countless innocent people being put through trials for the glory of God (ie - proving the doubters that God is in control). Here's just a select few, there are literally hundreds of verses regarding trials and tribulations. The exact same thing can be said about someone who leads a promiscuous life, gets divorced, or over eats, or drinks too much, or is hooked on drugs. All feel that God "made them" flawed, but it shows discipline, faith and dedication to not give in to those urges. In short, people of faith believe urges or feelings that go against Biblical teachings are sin. Regardless of what they are. Is this fair of our God? Maybe not, but neither is a kid getting cancer - or a mom with three kids dying in a car crash being hit by a drunk driver. Most Christians believe that life throws you trials, in fact it could be said that is the point of our worldly life. How you respond to trials and adversity can strengthen your faith. We all have our trials, and fight through them so that we can spend all of eternity in bliss in heaven. These short years of "hell on earth" are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us for eternity. That is the point Phil was trying to get cross. Everyone sins, and none of it makes sense. If that is offensive, sorry - but that is what billions of people believe. To Christians, Jesus Christ was the ultimate "trial." He was born perfect, never sinned, lived his life for the betterment of all mankind and then mankind tortured and slaughtered him for no good reason. He then commanded that his father forgive them, "for they no not what they do." We weren't worthy of his forgiveness, but he commanded that we be forgiven anyway. He was the testament of his statement "turn the other cheek." So to many Christians, in the grand scheme of our savior's life - being born gay and not practicing it is a cakewalk to what Jesus went through. In fact, any other trial we go through on this earth is a cakewalk compared to the hand that Jesus was dealt. Yet, even though he was dealt the lousiest hand of all - he didn't bicker, he didn't complain, he didn't say "whoa is me," he did the best he could with the time he had - and in the end he had even more to give us. His forgiveness.
Yes, but the field of neuroscience says otherwise. People are free to believe what they like, but if that belief contradicts objective reality, it justly invites ridicule. People's sexuality can no more be chosen than one's handedness and it wasn't so long ago that people were forced to be right-handed because being a lefty was "evil." I doubt any of us want an NBA without lefties able to use their dominant hand, but you wouldn't have to go back too many generations to find ancestors (and not only Christians) who would have found it a moral outrage at odds with their religious beliefs. To put his into perspective, I don't think Manu Ginobli, Brandon Jennings, James Harden, Zach Randolph, Chris Bosh, Mike Conley, Michael Redd, Lamar Odom, Josh Smith or David Lee would take me too seriously for telling them I forgive them of the "sin" of being left-handed and that I pray for them to become right-handed, since they could, after all, make the choice to use their right hands and avoid an eternity of torment. Hate the game, not the player doesn't work so well, does it?
It's dishonest of you to claim that science has conclusively proven that homosexuality is not a choice. It hasn't.
Plenty of neuroscientists (including a few I know) are securely employed in the endeavor of finding more evidence of genetic markers, but there is no point that science of any kind is ever "done." If you are a first born son and your index finger is longer than your ring finger, it's highly improbable that you are gay. Considering that birth order and digit ratio have a strong corrleation, it's not a leap to make a safe argument that sexual orientation has an awful lot to do with genetics. I sometimes try to write with my left hand...it's still uncomfortable and illegible. I also tried hitting left-handed in Little League since I was a lousy baseball player, hoping anything could improve my batting average (I was lousy). But...I'm an OK shot with my left hand, at least under 25 meters since I trained for years to shoot firearms ambidextrously, but I still have to do it with my right (dominant) eye. But none of those things make me left-handed, and I'm very secure in my right-handedness (which also has a longer index finger than the ring finger) but I sure as hell didn't choose it.
If homosexuality were a choice, there wouldn't be any homosexuals. Let's see...this choice would come with alienation from family and some friends, ridicule from some groups and discrimination. Yeah...I can see why they would be looking for where they can sign up for that deal.
As a side note...I was once riding back from Jerusalem with my drummer after a show. My drummer, a very religious Christian from the Ivory Coast, was digesting the news that our guitar player was gay and had a boyfriend. He speculated, as a friend, that just maybe our guitarist was just a bit confused and that his problem was maybe because he hadn't tried African women. He was sure that would fix him right up and he was going to call every hot black girl he knew to fix the "problem." He was shot down, however, by the driver, who is a neuroscience post-doc that works in research at Hebrew University on sexuality, who gave us a lecture that lasted the rest of the ride about her field and how little contraversy there is amongst her peers on the subject. At the end of the ride, he said that he would do his best to deal with it, and let it go, but said he'd never understand what it was like to be attracted to men. Our driver said, "Yeah, you'll also never know what it's like to be a woman, be left-handed, or not to be able to keep a beat."
So you're arguing that no children have ever sought out alienation from their family? Very weak logic from you.
