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homosexuality ...info please

Mon, 2008-12-22 18:40 — amber123
Question:: 
ok i said i wasn't gonna ask this but i lied...i'm a lesbian i'm gonna set that out here and now but i want to know the views of homosexuality good evil unnatural my mother says that homosexuality is unnatural and wrong (lovely to live with her i assure you) anyways but i have been doing research on homosexuality, the biblical references to such and science etc and i wanna know more on all of it so what do you know that might help? i do soo much research about stuff these days i might explode ...but i'l;l explode smart (i think) so yeah help me out here.
Atheist Answer: 

Yes, let's tackle the issues which matter most to you.

Most Bible references to homosexuality are concerned only with male homosexuality, for instance Leviticus 18:22 which is addressed to a man: "Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

References to lesbianism, if any are even intended, are more oblique, for instance Romans 1:26: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature." (Romans 1:27 goes back to talking about men.) Nevertheless, male homosexuality is universally derided and condemned in the Bible, and Christians have tended to generalise that to cover all LGBT behaviour.

The current scientific consensus on homosexuality is that it is largely hard-wired into the brain six to eight weeks after conception. All embryos start female, but at that point if there's a Y chromosome it causes a burst of testosterone which converts first the body, then the brain, to that of a man. If something interferes, a man might not get the full dose and be left with a partly feminine brain which desires men. Under other circumstances, a woman might get a small dose by mistake and have her brain partly converted, and thus desire women.

Therefore homosexual desire is not a choice. The abundance of homosexual activity in the rest of the animal kingdom demonstrates that it doesn't even require the ability to make a fully reasoned choice. It's instinct.

Homosexual activity, on the other hand, is a choice as much as any sexual activity is. That brings us to the question of whether homosexual activity is a sin to Christians. Even if you ignore the direct condemnation throughout the Bible, all sex outside of marriage is sinful. According to most denominations marriage is by definition between a man and a woman. Thus homosexuals can never marry their desired partners, and any sex they might enjoy is sinful. Their only sinless choice is celibacy, or else reluctant marriages to the opposite sex.

This is the problem right here. Why has God supposedly created people who can never be sexually fulfilled without damning themselves? Why does marriage, the only haven for sinless sex, exclude them?

Some Christians respond to this, and to gay rights campaigns, by attempting to prove that even homosexual desire is a choice by converting gays into straights. This is the impetus behind the whole "ex-gay" movement. The success rate of these programs is abysmal; since all the subjects are doing is suppressing their natural urges, they are tremendously likely to "relapse". Even the instructors, most of them "ex-gays" themselves, are regularly in the news after being caught having gay affairs.

While homosexuality is not the expected norm for a human being, it's hardly unnatural. It's not your choice, it's not your fault and it's not something you can truly change. You and those around you are just going to have to live with it. Fortunately, if you meet the right woman you can live happily thanks to it.

- SmartLX

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Mon, 2008-12-22 23:12 — amber123

hey thanks

hey thank thats what i have heard to, though i have done some research that says that said bible verses actually say nothing about homosexuality as we know it to day if you wantmore info on that just ask i guess i can admit now that the reason that i have done and am still doing this research started when my mom said i was going to hell for my gay factor, (lovely woman she is) and i wanted to find if that was true. now i'm very accepting of my sexual orietation and my opinion is if people don't like it thats their problem

btw whats you take on gaqy marriage? i knowq thats a big issue and i was just wondering your person oppinion.

thanks for the encouragement, made me feel really good.

i don't know if i'm supposed to do this on here but *huggs*

thanks again

Tue, 2008-12-23 01:34 — SmartLX

Nothing wrong with hugs.

Nothing wrong with hugs. Thanks and back atcha.

Some of the oft-quoted passages might indeed be referring to other things entirely, but not all of them. It's hard to take Romans 1:27 any other way: "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another..."

Marriage as between one man and one woman is not as traditional as evangelicals think. Here's a list of endorsements for polygamy in the Bible, argued by a Muslim but with links to more sites by Christians who agree. Especially in the Old Testament, a man is allowed almost any amount of wives.

The justification that marriage should allow children doesn't hold up, because
1. the fact that both spouses are the same sex is only one of a pile of reasons a couple might not be able to have children, and none of the others (sterility, chronic disease, prior damage or injuries to the reproductive system) preclude marriage, and
2. with the help of a sperm donor, a surrogate or an adoption agency, gay couples can have children.

Personally, I'm all for it. The "best man" for my upcoming wedding is a woman, a bisexual co-habiting with a female partner and my best friend. I hope she experiences the joy of getting married one day, to her partner or to a future one, and who cares what sex that partner is?

Tue, 2008-12-23 05:55 — amber123

HEY

i feel like i have no life...oh wait i don't :-D

ok as far as that one verse wellyour right about that one it is talking about homosexuality but if you look back in history rome at that time worshiped idols one of which was a god of sex the roman version of dyonisus i guess you'd say so alot of peopel think that what paul was refering to was not homosexual orientation and concetual homosexual acts but the idolo worship rituals that yes did include homosexual acts as well as child molestation and other things what we believe paul was refering to was when strait(heterosexual) people would commit homosexual act or in other words giving up what was "natural" to them. we all know ...or anyone who knows a gay person that homosexuality or homosexual acts are not unnatural for us so that what aa lot of people think

as far as the verses in the old testament the torah was filled with putity laws and homosexuality or the laying with a man was seen as unclean the word abomination actually meant unclean..they believed this for two reasons in that time people believed that male semen was the absolute only par6t of life they hade no knowlede of eggs or ovulation and believed that any wasted semen was impure they even called masterbation an abomination for the same reason seeing as homosexuality is not going to be a ay to provide children they saw it as unclean....also they had no or verey little knowledge about protection and the jewish/hebrew nation strickly prohibited any type of contraceptive use so they believe homosexuality was unclean that way to...but those laws were nothing more than purity laws and have no more efect on us today than thou shall not eat shell fish or eat pork.

the other verses in the bible are easily debunked the ones in chorinthians and any others are easily explained first of all in the original text the word that is commonly translated into homosexuality is actaully the greek word for sodomy meaning the sins of sodom...which truthfully had nothing to do with homosexuality in ezekiel it says the sins of sodom where greed, not helping the poor, gluttony etc. alot of people take the story in genisis where the men of sodom come to lot and want to rape the two angels and asay well sodom was distroyed because of rampant homosexuality well anyone who read that that has a working mind can see that that isn't homosexuality thats gang rape and any good heterosexual and homosexual alike will agree that gang rape is bad....so "sodomy has nothig to do with homosexuality to begin with. i have tons of info on this subject if you want to know more i'm be willing to get that info to you it's a topic i care about and if your interested i can set you up with some really interesting info..

Sat, 2009-02-28 10:12 — dislocatex

heeeey Ok, first of all. If

heeeey

Ok, first of all.
If your parents are giving you a hard time, as much as I hate the idea of 'not dealing' with them, i'm going to have to agree with a common consensus that one should wait until they move out and are independent before trying to 'convert' your parents way of thinking into the 21st century. This is for your safety and sanity!!

Now, if we are talking religiously, the last comment was the best response for you!
There are many a 'gay christian' book out there, just do an amazon search and you will find books that support homosexuality within religion and denounce any anti-gay quotes from the bible.
A great movie to watch is 'For The Bible Tells Me So. This is a touching movie that again, simply and clearly states where religion is going wrong in reading the bible too literally and how it has been misinterupted over the years.

As for mainstream information, i suggest going to your local sexual health clinic. They usually have a bunch of books and pamflets that explain homosexuality as well as things like safe sex etc.

And in clear conclusion, homosexuality, bisexuality, intersexism and the multiple of other ranges of sexualitys and gender presentations ARE ALL NORMAL!!!
I like to think of it this way...
If you put together all the 'deviant' or alternate sexualities and genders and the multitudes of combinations, they will always outnumber the 'normal' ones!!

Also, if you reaallllly want to get involved with your research.. i recommend getting into queer theory and post modern gender ideas. There are many books out there that hold soooo many theories and ideals from scientists, theorists, psychologists etc... good stuff!!!

Also.. if you research deeper, you will find the term 'homosexual' is only a modern invention!! Thats because back in the daaaay it WAS considered normal.. and even in old american indian tribes, you were even considered as a semi-god.. raised higher than the normal boring striahgties!!! =]

Finally...
LOVE who you are!! you are special and have a awesome and itneresting life ahead of you full of oppression and challenges!!!
Many parents are scared of homosexuality due to the 'bad life' they will lead...
Look at it as a challenge!! Break through, fight until you win! Get out amongst it and embrace who you are!
And if you find you end up with a nice bloke when your 89 the so be it! haha

xo