Gay Marriage Ban: For or Against? (Page 4)

bmacmanus - 2006-06-08 12:34 PM I, unlike god, would love all unconditionally and forgive everyone and have no conditions placed on who gets into heaven or not. Therefore, I bless you Bluejack and welcome you unto my kingdom

            Actually bro, God does forgive you for whatever you've done or ever will do. All you have to do is, get this, ACCEPT forgiveness. Is that so horrible??? Everyone's a sinner. Everyone who wants forgiveness gets it. There is no condition placed on who gets in heaven if you ask for forgiveness. Maybe you should read the Bible and understand before you blaspheme it???? Whats with this if-anyone-disagrees-with-me-he's-an-idiot thing going around????

       Any Christian who is unforgiving about anything is not doing the best job of being a Christian. Not meant to judge, but forgiveness is everything. Along with some understanding and kindness.

Your statement is assuming that every Christian shares the same beliefs as the Pope.  Which is not the case- the Pope is affliated with the Catholic Church (corerct?).  Not every Christian is Catholic.  Just say'in.  Carry on.

                 It's not a problem at all. It's a system of beliefs. The same system of beliefs that says it's wrong to kill, wrong to cheat on your wife. Yes, if you are gay and a Christian you should ask for forgiveness constantly. The same way I have to ask for forgiveness constantly for drinking, having mean thoughts, hating other people, picking on folks, my laundry list is long. I'm not perfect, neither are you or anyone else on this board. Every person, if they examine themselves, would probably need to ask God for forgiveness all day long. I'm not too proud to do that.

                  If your life leads you down a different path, that's great. Certainly doesn't make me better than you. Doesn't make you any better than me either though. I wouldn't be so consumed by what someone thinks about you....... Unless of course your rights are being taken away. Which seems to happening with the amendment.

Computer now in flames

Let me throw this out there:

Civil marriages vs. church-sponsored marriages.

My belief is that the state should perform and recognize marriages between any citizens, as long as they conform to the laws of that state (i.e. two fourteen year old boys shouldn't be able to marry if there's an age-based law on the books.).

Churches should feel free to perform and/or recognize marriages for who they see fit. If a church doesn't want to marry two men, that's fine. They shouldn't be required by law to marry anyone they don't want to.

You just told me

those things you're asking forgiveness for are choices you have made...there's a difference, no?

No, if you are gay and are asking forgiveness in the first place, then you would also ask God's help to turn away from who you are, if you truly wanted to repent. If you enjoy who you are then there would be no need to ask forgiveness because in your eyes, there is no sin.  And for your last statement, I don't believe that forgiveness ia any Christian's business. That is between the person and God. My job as a Christian is to let people know about Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins. If a person is unreceptive, my job then becomes prayer and as you said, "understanding and kindness".

How would I know that? Again, not my place.....

I think that would be fine, if that were the way it worked in practice.  But I think that christianity's view of homosexuality as a sin is responsible for the efforts we now see to take away those people's rights...and I disagree with that.

well, if you think that being gay is a choice...then we're just going to be talking past each other.  I'll agree to disagree with you.

well, if you think that being gay is a choice...then we're just going to be talking past each other.  I'll agree to disagree with you....

            Are you implying that being gay is never a choice? Then yeah, I guess we disagree. Allthough I'm really not sure what we disagree about. I don't have any personal problems with homosexuals. Is that what you think?

I think that would be fine, if that were the way it worked in practice.  But I think that christianity's view of homosexuality as a sin is responsible for the efforts we now see to take away those people's rights...and I disagree with that.

I think that some people that identify as gay are may be straight people making a choice, the same way that some gay people who identify as straight are making a choice. But by and large, I believe that people who are gay make no more of a choice about it than do people who are straight. Of course, I also believe that gay vs. straight is more of a continuum than an either/or.

But that's just my belief. 

Det-

If I'm reading you right, I think you're confusing being gay and being with a person of the same sex, sexually...yes, one I believe is a choice, and one is not.  For example, I could choose to be with a man sexually, but I could not choose to be gay.

I don't have any thoughts about your personal beliefs about homosexuals.  I'm much more concerned with how the prevailing christian viewpoint on homosexuality affects rights in our country.