Reply to The bible says homosexuality is a sin, right?

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "The bible says homosexuality is a sin, right? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Thank you again. Very thoughtful.

I am an atheist, and I find the teachings of Jesus to have a great deal of value. [b]I just don't see any value in the concept of sin[/b]. In fact, I find the concept of sin to be antithetical to his teachings. Everything that is forbidden is redundant, as it is covered in the one positive tenant, to love your neighbor. I wonder if there is hope that modern Christianity will continue to shed the outdated literal interpretations that today only serve to prevent people from loving one another as Jesus taught. [/quote]

I am intrigued by your choice of words here; would you please elaborate on this?

Surely you agree that sin/ evil/ whatever you want to call it does, objectively, exist in the world? And if so, isn't your statement sort of like saying "I just don't see any value in the concept of the color red, or the number eight." Just because you don't "believe" in them, doesn't mean they don't exist and influence many things around you -- even if you want to state that RED or EIGHT don't exist in your world![/quote]

The concept of sin is specific to religion. It's a bad act (one that may [i]or may not[/i] harm another person) that puts you in dutch with god, or imperils your soul, or something. Sure, I believe in bad acts, bad behavior. But "sin" can apply to fantasizing about your married co-worker the same as it applies to premeditated murder. Sin isn't anything to do with causing harm. It's about your relationship with god. Christians treat humanity and sinfulness like synonyms. If we are all sinners, all the time, forever, it is redundant to talk about the ways in which we might sin. Hence, no value to the concept outside of a theoretical discussion. The principal tenant of Jesus's teachings is to love. If you are abiding by that one rule, you don't need all the Thou Shalt Nots. Because every one of them is just re-stating a way that you can fail to love.

(In the context of this discussion, why [b]not [/b]be homosexual? We're already eating shellfish, and not giving our second coats to people who have no coats, and coveting other people's asses. And even if we did everything right, we'd still be sinful, because all humans are all the time. So... why deny yourself something that harms no one? Why do Christians ask gay people to deny their natures under the heading of "reject sin"? Back to cherry-picking. Further-- thou shalt not judge. Why do anti-gay Christians put their own souls at risk with this hatred, this judgment? I would think that this lack of love for one of God's creatures (a gay person) would be way worse for the soul than loving someone of the same sex. One is love, one is hate.) 
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics