From A Storehouse of Knowledge

Homosexuality is "sexual desire or behavior directed toward a person or persons of one's own gender."^[1]

Contents 1 Biblical position 2 Viewpoints 2.1 Opposition 3 Activism 3.1 Denigration of opponents 3.2 Claiming discrimination in marriage 4 References

Biblical position

The Bible is seen directly condemning homosexual relations in both the Old and New Testaments.

Leviticus 18:22 (KJV) tells us: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

Leviticus 20:13 (KJV) elaborates: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them."

Romans 1:26-27 (KJV) includes women as well as affection: "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: {27} And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."

The International Standard Version renders the last sentence, "Males committed indecent acts with males, and received in themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion".

More controversial references are Deuteronomy 23:17, 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10

Viewpoints

Historically Christians have held that homosexual relations are unconditionally wrong, based upon the Biblical evidence, by which they see that God created humanity to be heterosexual. Prolific evangelical writer Robert A. J. Gagnon sums up this position in stating, "every "piece of evidence that we have about Jewish views of same-sex intercourse in the Second Temple period and beyond is unremittingly hostile to such behavior".^[2][3] And that "every narrative, law, proverb, exhortation, metaphor, and piece of poetry in the Hebrew Bible having anything to do with sexual relations presupposes a male-female prerequisite.”^[4] Most Christians today disapprove of homosexual acts, believing that they constitute sins, although this view is not universal.^[5] Many persons in recent times have refrained from expressing such disapproval, or even have regarded the acts as morally neutral, often arguing that the Biblical verses have been misinterpreted. Christians generally believe that some^{[6][7][8][9][10] [11]} or all of the Mosaic law does not fully apply today (for example, the penalties of such laws as Deuteronomy 21:18–21, while upholding the morality of such), with ceremonial law being defined and its literal observance abrogated, (Col. 2:14-17; Heb. 9:10; 10:1,9-10; Gal. 4:10) and revisionists extend this to rejecting the condemnation of homosexuality, although the Mosaic law is not the only basis for its rejection. In response, numerous traditional scholars and authors have written refutations of the revisionist arguments used by pro-homosexual authors.^[12]

Social scientists, particularly psychologists, have also expressed a range of opinions. Until 1973, homosexuality was regarded as pathological in the United States, but a vote in that year at the American Psychological Association (APA) resulted in the removal of homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. It is contended by some that this change was due to pressure from the homosexual lobby,^[13] which Nicholas Cummings, former president of the APA, states, "is very strong in the APA."^[14][15]

While most Christians denominations which hold to the historical position on the full Divine inspiration of Scripture, and most evangelicals in general oppose homosexuality,^{[16][17][18][19]} there are over 5,000 homosexuality-friendly Christian churches worldwide, according to a leading homosexual Christian website.^[20] The Metropolitan Community Church is an entire denomination founded specifically to support homosexual Christians.

Opposition

Many Christians call homosexual acts an "abomination," (Leviticus 18:22, KJV).

While most Christian opposition to homosexuality is done by means of apologetics, or peaceful confrontational evangelism, including some at homosexual events, a few have engaged in more provocative behavior. The most extreme case is that of Fred Phelps^[21] of the Westboro Baptist church. However, he enjoys little support, even amongst evangelical Christians, most of whom reject his tactics and at least part of his message.^[22][23] In addition, some Christians see the mainstream media portraying Phelps as typical of evangelicals.^[24] Phelps has been barred from the UK ^[25]

Activism

Homosexual activists have pressured legislators, the media, and the public to accept their views, often making use of abusive and misleading commentary.

Homosexual activists often indicate that they see most forms of opposition as persecution, while routinely engaging in certain psychological tactics and demonstrative public confrontations, as well as advocation of hate crime laws, which appear to be designed to censure and intimidate those who oppose them in any way.^{[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]}

Denigration of opponents

For more information, see Homophobia.

A common tactic of homosexual activists is to label anyone who disagrees with them for any reason as "homophobic".^[36] A phobia is an irrational fear of something, so applying this label gives the impression that the person objecting to some aspect of homosexuality is is only doing so because they are afraid of homosexuality, and irrationally so.

Claiming discrimination in marriage

Marriage is an institution originally ordained by God, whereby a man and a woman commit to joining their lives together as one. Governments have long recognised and controlled marriage. Laws governing marriage typically restrict who can marry whom, with people being unable to marry somebody below a specified age, someone already married, or someone too closely related. Some cultures do allow polygamous marriages, but Western societies do not. Such laws also either assume or explicitly state that a person can only marry another person (e.g. not an animal), and one of the opposite gender. These restrictions are all consistent with God's standards on two people joining together as one.

Homosexual activists claim that such laws are discriminatory, as they prevent homosexuals from marrying, when in fact such laws have no such restrictions. What the activists want is not the right for homosexuals to marry, but a relaxation on who they can marry, i.e. a person of the same gender.

References