The Hall of Fire

So, not playing obnoxious here by choice, but I see no such admonitions against true committed unions here by ANY biblical passage, either OT or NT. Well, I agree with this. But I also feel obliged to say that, however much I may disagree, I do understand that the positions taken by Mith, Cerin and...

I hope you'll forgive me if I don't attempt to answer your other questions. I think I've stated my viewpoints as well as I'm able and I'm not at all sure that anything else I could say would be helpful in advancing understanding. I've learned that one can easily give offense without meaning to when...

I objected to the equating of these two examples for this reason. Someone wishing to construct a Biblical support against interracial marriage must construct it out of Biblical thin air, so to speak, with no explicit references to the topic. Someone doesn't need to do that with regards to homosexua...

That leaves me in somewhat of a quandery myself - many of us here have admitted/acknowledged that we no longer find traditional teachings about Judeo-Christianity binding on our day to day lives, we are professed agnostics, atheists, deists, esoterics, etc., but we still keep popping up in these th...

So Prim, as a writer yourself, do you have any notions about why Austen might have chosen the indirect route for two of the most important scenes in the book? Austen always averts her gaze when it comes to certain kinds of emotion. I think she would have believed it improper to eavesdrop on the mos...

Is there any ANY possibility that once found, he could plead guilty and GET the treatment that it seems that he so desperately needs? I know absolutely NADDA about Canadian laws, but it seems that in his case, he is a severe addict. Does that skew anything against more prison time but getting him i...

I agree with Mithluin. Snape is an ambiguous character - by far the most interesting character in the HP books. But he is not, I think, evil. He chose long ago to take Dumbledore's side. Yes, I do believe this. I believe he killed Dumbledore because Dumbledore told him he had to, if it came down to ...

Has anyone been following the news of Ayatollah Sistani's fatwa against gays and lesbians? I may think that the condemnation that certain Christian (and Jewish) groups express about homosexuals is regrettable and damaging. I may be upset at the political effort to make it impossible for committed ga...

I doubt that acceptance of commited homosexual relationships would be the end of Christianity as we know it. I am certain it would not be the end of Judaism. No, certainly not. Some individual Christian churches have accepted homosexual unions already. Didn't Prim say her church was considering the...

Whistler wrote:Changing your mind is meaningless to God.

He wants to change your heart.

I must be a great disappointment then.

I believe God admonishes against things that are harmful to us (not to Himself). As I said earlier, by this I conclude that extra-marital sex and homosexual sex are harmful to us in some way that we don't perceive, and that is the reason we are to refrain from such practices. As a Christian, it is ...

Well, going back to yovargas's original point - clearly accepting the Biblical prohibition against homosexual sex does not, or not necessarily, mean one is 'bigoted'. I would never use that word with resepct to Cerin or Whistler, for instance. Nevertheless, I think it's a belief that does actual, ob...

I don't actually think I'm all that stupid, but somehow, every interaction I have here makes me feel so. Why is that, do you suppose? It is me? It may well be.

Okay. Sorry for giving offence. I still feel, very strongly, that if two people of the same sex love and admire each other, and can make a good home together, that's a good thing. I just don't know how to say this in a way that doesn't offend.

Okay. Once again I must apologize. Seems I'm always doing that. Cerin and Mithluin have expressed themselves properly. I have expressed myself improperly. I always seem to do this.

I apologize to everyone for coming back and... needing to apologize again!

Neither Mith nor Cerin said anything about anyone going to hell. Jn Was that the exact point? And yes, you are right. Neither said anything about Hell. But... isn't your question a little bit disingenuous? There was plenty of discussion about what a sin it is for homosexual people to have sexual re...

Wow. Wow. And again, wow. So... Cerin and Mithluin... you do not hate homosexual people. In fact, Cerin has said she feels a particular affinity for the homosexual people with whom she is acquainted. But you both are very clear that homosexual sex is unacceptable to God. I believe each of you said t...

If somebody wanted to start a thread for the sole purpose of discussing the evils of homosexuality than, yeah, I don't think I should be allowed to butt in with my opposing views. It should be very explicit though that they don't want criticism. Oh, gosh, really? What about if someone started a thr...

I feel sad for how you view Christianity, and I understand why you do (I read your post about it). I just hope you know that for many Christians, religion is about love and acceptance, not about judgement and condemnation. I know, dear. My experience was pretty horrible, but I understand that it's ...

But what you say matters less than what you do. When you do kind things, when you say kind words, when you feed the hungry and and clothe the naked, when you visit the sick and imprisoned, when you show love to your fellows - you are doing Jesus' work. Whether you label it as such or not. Yes, Jewe...