Touchy Subject

[kailip]

Christian, to some degree.

I don't directly believe in God as a "god", but neither do I believe that everything can be explained with science (at least what we know of now).
For example:
We know everything consists of molecules and they consist of atoms.
How were they created then.
Nothing can be created out of nothing.

...So, a god would fit perfectly this puzzle? A god came out of the nothing (Apparently, he can... heh) and created everything?

I really want an answer... I never understood this thinking "nothing can pop out of nothing, but god can"

It's not that I don't realize there are people who accept gays. It's that I realize that they just seem to try to ignore the parts of the Bible that yell at you for being different in ways such as:
being gay
getting haircuts
not circumcising your slaves
and so on.

I have other, much bigger reasons, but I have to say, the whole "they don't like me" one is the easiest to spout out.

Anyway, yeah, it will be impossible for me to not impress my beliefs on my kids, but indoctrination is different from education. They can have whatever religion they want and I won't hold anything against them, but regardless of how much you circumcise, baptize, or dress up that little baby, he was born an atheist. If you have a religion, it should be because you've found it, not because someone fed it to you.

well the bible is a very hypocritical book, for one example it says in the bible that homosexuality is against gods creation yet god created homosexual people. why would god create a being which can NEVER go to heaven because you can't repent for something you cannot change no matter how hard you pray and plead, that goes against everything that christians believe which is if you repent you will go to heaven but gay people can't repent for something that they have no control over. the christian bible was not meant to be taken seriously it's a book that contains many passages written in various times, most of which were written long after jesus had "returned to heaven in his mortal body". and i most certainly agree with you about finding a religion on your own terms and not having someone else tell you what to believe. to me people who follow a religion are just scarred and don't really follow a religion for true reasons other than they think that when they die theres another life waiting for them.

I agree with both.

[DominusVita]

Richard Dawkins also did a very in-depth covering of the hypocrisy and general idiocy in the "Holy" Bible in his book back a few years ago, the God Delusion. Frankly at this point, I don't bother to fight against the nonsensical frames of logic other religions cling to. It's hardly a deviation from anything artificially created within the last 10,000 years. What they choose to hold onto before the reaper takes them is their personal take. Neither belief can be 100% proven either way.

[Xanatos]

I wonder how many other species in the universe are struggling with this same concept...

[Som1Lse]

I really want an answer... I never understood this thinking "nothing can pop out of nothing, but god can"

That's isn't really what I meant.
Just that there are things you can't explain completely with science (or what most people would define as science at the moment).

[kailip]

I really want an answer... I never understood this thinking "nothing can pop out of nothing, but god can"

That's isn't really what I meant.
Just that there are things you can't explain completely with science (or what most people would define as science at the moment).

And you can't explain with religion either.

I'm sure there's an explanation for that. And if there's not, who cares?

Nature doesn't have a conscience. Life doesn't have a meaning, a purpose. Things just happen, and there's where religion fails.

We're pretty much nothing in the Universe, but this doesn't mean there's a god or some higher being.

[evertuy]

Instead of thinking about mind boggling subjects like that, I simply sit down and meditate with some incense around me about peace of mind and the Power of Now. You cannot change now, or think about now, what you are doing right NOW is what you are supposed to be doing RIGHT NOW. Nothing else, but what you are doing right NOW. If you believe in the Power of NOw, you will always be in peace with yourself knowing that whatever your doing is supposed to be happening at that second.

[GraphicsKid]

Christian. I believe Christ died for my sins so I can go to heaven, rather than having these sins weigh me down to hell.

And not to sound like a jerk or anything, but for the few people here who identified as "Christian" but claimed to not believe in God... (or "sort of" not... whatever)... yea that's not Christian at all.

God didn't create us to be sinful, but rather he created us with free will, and unfortunately, everybody (bar one... can you guess who?) has chosen sin over holiness. God doesn't "send" people to hell... hell is just the name for the place that is separation from God. We're already going to hell BUT, God in His mercy has given us ONE way out, belief in Christ Jesus. He took our sins upon himself like someone taking a bullet for us. Nobody is too far gone to be saved, I don't care if you're straight, gay, black, or white, everybody can be saved.

And yes... homosexuality is a sin... but you know what? So is lying, so is cursing, so is gluttony, and so on... Neither is worse than the other. Everyone struggles with SOMETHING in their life, some folks struggle with homosexuality, others with greed, some with their language. Everyone can change with the help of Christ.

Now then...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azi8NzUY9gk

[eliasfrost]

I don't understand why homosexuality would be a sin? I'm not really into Christianity and it's texts, rules and so on, so would you please explain why homosexuality is a sin?

Also, homosexuality is nothing that you struggle with in the same sense as swearing or lying, it's just that a lot of people don't accept homosexuality as something just as beautiful as heterosexuality. I'm not homosexual but I know a few who are (also bisexual) and from their experience, they have been told over and over through their lifetime that their sexual preference is "unclean" and "dirty". Really, by that logic any other sexual preference is just as dirty, because they involve the same feelings, the same affection and attraction, they're just into another gender.

I'm not trying to start an argument, I just want to understand why Christianity as a religion is against gay people.

[GraphicsKid]

I don't understand why homosexuality would be a sin? I'm not really into Christianity and it's texts, rules and so on, so would you please explain why homosexuality is a sin?

Also, homosexuality is nothing that you struggle with in the same sense as swearing or lying, it's just that a lot of people don't accept homosexuality as something just as beautiful as heterosexuality. I'm not homosexual but I know a few who are (also bisexual) and from their experience, they have been told over and over through their lifetime that their sexual preference is "unclean" and "dirty". Really, by that logic any other sexual preference is just as dirty, because they involve the same feelings, the same affection and attraction, they're just into another gender.

I'm not trying to start an argument, I just want to understand why Christianity as a religion is against gay people.

First of all, I want you all to realize I am NOT, against gay PEOPLE, the people themselves. Now I certainly don't condone their lifestyles, but I DO NOT hate these people, I want to help them. These Westboro baptist people you hear about (the ones with the "God hates fags" picket signs)... they're not Christians... they're a cult that's fooled the whole world into thinking "this is what Christians think." A true Christian loves all people, and wants to help all people. Mr. Phelps clearly doesn't have this mentality. If they were true followers of Christ, we wouldn't be seeing this sort of behavior from them.

I don't believe it for one second that gays are gays and that's that. I believe everybody can change for the better. There are tons of ex-gays out there with stories to tell. This self-defeating attitude is what is really disturbing me. Not just with homosexuality, I know so many people who don't try to change because they just assume that they can't.

Now that that's out of the way, why is homosexuality a sin?

First let's nail down what "sin" is. Sin is, put simply, a rejection of God's ways, and rebellion against God. God created both men and women for specific purposes... and if He didn't, then why can't two men or two women have a child together? It just doesn't work. It's considered "unclean" because it's not natural in the sense that it is not what God intended.

Scripture is very clear as well: Leviticus 18: 22; Romans 1: 26-27; 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10; Jude 7 to name a few...

In short, it's a sin because God says so. As much as I'd love to jump aboard SS "everybody is fine, do whatever you want" I know that God doesn't set these rules up to be mean, he just knows what's best.

[Gharren]

In short, it's a sin because God says so.

It's a sin because the bible says so. That's a difference.