Hi, I wrote a piece about my personal opinion.

https://open.substack.com/pub/chumark54/p/what-does-the-bible-say-about-homosexuality?r=1rk5hn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Thanks.

It's a good article and I like your approach, which is measured and reasoned. I shall continue reading :-)

Soft Machine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's a good article and I like your approach,
> which is measured and reasoned. I shall continue
> reading :-)

Thanks for the kind words! Truly appreciate it.

Nice article. Honest for once (I've read so many that are not honest about this subject).

You also make a good point, if you are homosexual and atheistic, WHY DOES IT MATTER what some religious book says!

On the otherhand (I don't completely agree with their interpretations on this) there is also the argument which some of the religious use to explain WHY homosexuality is NOT condemned in the Old Testament.

It is with what the GREEK words were rather than what the English translations say they were.

For some of those situations, it was condemnation of male prostitutes. The adage is that the verses were condemning those who were sleeping with male prostitutes (I know, that doesn't make sense in the context of some of those verses, but that is the explanation they use).

Another is that it is condemning those who were trying to take you boys and lie with them as with a woman, saying you should do such things (aka, condemning such things as abusing children).

I agree with your article, but I don't feel it addresses why people who say it doesn't condemn homosexuality are saying it doesn't condemn it.

They aren't disagreeing that the English translation does so, but that the English translation was translated incorrectly and a correct translation of it shows that homosexuality itself was not condemned, rather other things (sleeping and using male prostitutes as well as abusing and lying with children) were condemned.

>You also make a good point, if you are homosexual and atheistic, WHY DOES IT MATTER what some religious book says!

It matters a lot because too many religious people try to impose their views from the religious books into the laws for the rest of us.

Spot on.

Religious and political faiths give people permission, and often power, to control others. Such faiths are a moral get-out-of-jail free card.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Spot on.
>
> Religious and political faiths give people
> permission, and often power, to control others.
> Such faiths are a moral get-out-of-jail free card.

Thanks for reading! Indeed it's sad that now so many people use religion and beliefs of their own interpretations to get power.

dagny Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> It matters a lot because too many religious people
> try to impose their views from the religious books
> into the laws for the rest of us.

Yeah, now it's getting sadder. What's worse is they don't see their own problems; as I mentioned in my article, they don't even see what kind of sex and violence are depicted in the Bible. Goodness.

Just be sure you don't say "peep" around dagny. She'll cut you.

Betty G Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I agree with your article, but I don't feel it
> addresses why people who say it doesn't condemn
> homosexuality are saying it doesn't condemn it.
>
> They aren't disagreeing that the English
> translation does so, but that the English
> translation was translated incorrectly and a
> correct translation of it shows that homosexuality
> itself was not condemned, rather other things
> (sleeping and using male prostitutes as well as
> abusing and lying with children) were condemned.

Thanks for reading it! And you made quite a few great points.

Yes, indeed, I didn't address that, cause from what I see, it's plain and simple: the Bible does condemn it. I could be totally wrong, but I think in that era when people didn't know better and had the tendency to show less tolerance (see how they treated women and slaves), I highly suspect they wouldn't condemn homosexuality. But again, just my 2 cents.

So hard to believe that the Bible still rules the world. Such a convenient book. Can be interpreted any way you like. So much to choose from. You can ignore the parts that don't suit your agenda and you can tout the ones that do. And you can claim assuredly that you speak for God when you quote that one passage that suits your cause.

Satan is as useful as Jesus. Every agenda needs a scare tactic.
Every agenda needs a villain. Homosexuality is often at the top of the list. Why? Because the majority can feel smug because they aren't SSAers? Good choice to shun.

2024 and the world won't let themselves see what the Bible really is---A collection of folk lore stories carefully curated to serve a manmade purpose. I have no respect for anyone who says the Bible is the "word of God". Although I guess people like a God who talks out of both sides of his mouth.

Done & Done Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So hard to believe that the Bible still rules the
> world. Such a convenient book. Can be
> interpreted any way you like. So much to choose
> from. You can ignore the parts that don't suit
> your agenda and you can tout the ones that do.
> And you can claim assuredly that you speak for God
> when you quote that one passage that suits your
> cause.
>
> Satan is as useful as Jesus. Every agenda needs a
> scare tactic.
> Every agenda needs a villain. Homosexuality is
> often at the top of the list. Why? Because the
> majority can feel smug because they aren't SSAers?
> Good choice to shun.
>
> 2024 and the world won't let themselves see what
> the Bible really is---A collection of folk lore
> stories carefully curated to serve a manmade
> purpose. I have no respect for anyone who says
> the Bible is the "word of God". Although I guess
> people like a God who talks out of both sides of
> his mouth.

I can't say it better. Appreciate it.

Seeing someone write an article such as this is such a contrast to what I was hearing and reading as a gay kid in the 50's. Hard to describe that long reaching impact. I appreciate what you wrote and your article was excellent.

Done & Done Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seeing someone write an article such as this is
> such a contrast to what I was hearing and reading
> as a gay kid in the 50's. Hard to describe that
> long reaching impact. I appreciate what you
> wrote and your article was excellent.

Thank you so much for your kind words! And it must be so tough for you, but it seems you stand tall and strong against all the prejudice.

For those who are members of any religion (particularly Christian religions), they do have a tendency to not do any research of what or who they so fervently believe in.

No where in the NT does it mention that Jesus condemned anyone, except for two groups and one individual.

The groups were the scribes and Pharisees. He told them off in a great way, calling them out for the hypocrites that they were.

The individual was King Herod the Great. No need to describe what he was like.

And I think you're spot on, Betty G :)

valkyriequeen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For those who are members of any religion
> (particularly Christian religions), they do have a
> tendency to not do any research of what or who
> they so fervently believe in.

I'm still surprised by how many people claim to be Christians/Mormons but never read the Bible/Book of Mormons. I mean, what do you really believe then?

I read it earlier today. This stood out. This is how I felt when I found out the guy I was dating (back in 1983) is gay. It really bothered me.

"I don't believe a loving God would create someone to be a particular way and then condemn her/him."

I just wanted this guy to be happy and to not be alone. Boy, the web they wove was sickening. The leaders. I didn't believe if there was a God (I actually did lose my belief in God for a while there and now I just don't know, but at the time I found out he is gay.) A really good friend of mine couldn't believe it when I said I didn't believe in God anymore. My friend didn't know about this issue that I was dealing with at the time. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, especially my parents.

So when my dad figured it out, he kept asking me if I knew he was gay before I married him, and I finally told him the leaders said I needed to save him, he said, "They're born that way." If you knew my dad, I didn't expect that to come out of his mouth.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2024 11:50PM by cl2.

cl2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read it earlier today. This stood out. This is
> how I felt when I found out the guy I was dating
> (back in 1983) is gay. It really bothered me.
>
> "I don't believe a loving God would create someone
> to be a particular way and then condemn her/him."
>
>
> I just wanted this guy to be happy and to not be
> alone. Boy, the web they wove was sickening. The
> leaders. I didn't believe if there was a God (I
> actually did lose my belief in God for a while
> there and now I just don't know, but at the time I
> found out he is gay.) A really good friend of
> mine couldn't believe it when I said I didn't
> believe in God anymore. My friend didn't know
> about this issue that I was dealing with at the
> time. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone,
> especially my parents.
>
> So when my dad figured it out, he kept asking me
> if I knew he was gay before I married him, and I
> finally told him the leaders said I needed to save
> him, he said, "They're born that way." If you
> knew my dad, I didn't expect that to come out of
> his mouth.

Such a sad story, sorry to hear that and thanks for sharing, it's very touching. And thanks for the kind words.

It must be tough on you and him. How are you doing now? How about him?