Future Religioustolerance.org press release:
How the Bible Condones Homosexuality
In light of a certain article posted on their site, most certainly this is a future posting on the religioustolerance.org website. Advisory note: follow this link and read their article first, then be nice and come back to read what is below.
Quotations by learned men from the 20th and 21st centuries:
"The overwhelming evidence is that there is very significant, substantial genetic component to it…From a religious point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have created gay people." Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Party1
"On this July 4, the United Church of Christ has courageously acted to declare freedom, affirming marriage equality, affirming the civil rights of gay - of same-gender - couples to have their relationships recognized as marriages by the state, and encouraging our local churches to celebrate those marriages," Rev. John H. Thomas, the president and general minister of the denomination2
"Well, I know the deep beliefs, I respect, I'm a Christian, I've read the Bible, and I know you can find the clauses that go both ways," he said. "I'm not here to argue that with you."United States Senator John Kerry, when asked what the Bible said about homosexuality.3
Quotation from the 21st century:
”References to Sodom and Gomorrah were tantamount to threats of ‘hellfire’ for those who did not mend their ways. That is all that Scripture has to say about homosexuality. Even if one is a biblical literalist, the biblical references do not build an ironclad case for condemnation.”Rev. John Shelby Spong, a very influential American Episcopalian bishop.4
Overview:
The quotations above prove that the Bible condoned homosexuality. In addition to that, many people from the United States during this time believed that homosexuality was sanctioned by the Bible, or at least not condemned. They argued that, in the words of a major group called SoulForce,
Eventually, pro-family activists were able to ban gay marriage and roll back the Lawrence et al. v. Texas decision. In due time homosexuality was recognized as an ultimate evil. But this paradigm shift in understanding came at a cost. Christians wondered why the Bible was so supportive of such an immoral practice. They questioned whether the Bible was entirely reliable. Some started to wonder if there were other practices that the Bible accepted as normal that were actually profoundly evil—like blasphemy, murder, adultery, or even slavery. The innocent faith that Christians had in "the Good Book" was lost -- never to be fully regained.
References:
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A63152-2004Jan7?language=printer
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/national/05church.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
3. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37533
4. Spong, John Shelby, Living in Sin?, HarperSanFrancisco, 1988, p.154.
5. http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christ
