homosexuality- a sin

[krisle703]

Hi I just want to ask for opinions about this topic..
Do you believe that homosexuals are bound to go to hell since it is a sin? or is it really?

This is based on a bible story about Sodom and Gomorrah.

[the_witness]

Hirap yung "opinion" lang sis since this is a very complex subject.

Now, if you want the Bible's viewpoint (God's viewpoint), it condemns homosexual acts.—Romans 1:26, 27.

Thus, the person who is struggling with same-sex desires is presented with a reachable goal—he or she can choose not to act on those desires.

Granted, same-sex desires may be strongly entrenched. Be assured, though, that even deeply rooted wrong desires are not insurmountable. (1 Corinthians 9:27; Ephesians 4:22-24) Ultimately, we are in control of how we will live. (Matthew 7:13, 14; Romans 12:1, 2) And despite claims to the contrary, we can learn to control our impulses—or at least refrain from acting on them.

It's the ACT that is  a SIN.

[the_witness]

Now sa question mo, that people who practice homosexual acts, are they bound to hell? First of all, "the literal hot hellfire that is being depicted today na susunugin ang kaluluwa mo for all eternity" DOES NOT EXIST! But this is a different topic we are not tackling right now.

Pero if your question is, ang mga gumagawa ba ng homosexual acts are  simply condemned and, as it were, dropped eternally from God’s favor?  That's unreasonable. Jehovah, the God of the Bible, is considerate of mankind’s weaknesses. He is a God of love. So he does not cast aside as totally irredeemable any person—as long as that individual strives diligently to conform to His will.

(Isaiah 55:7) 7 Let the wicked man leave his way, and the harmful man his thoughts; and let him return to Jehovah, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will forgive in a large way.

[Lady Croft]

i used to go out with homosexual friends.. i've always enjoyed their company.. although i always have fun with them, in the back of my mind i know something is wrong kasi bukod sa nakalagay yan sa Bible, i felt na san papunta relationships nila in the long run diba?
then i embraced a new faith.. naging klaro utak ko sa consequences ng homosexuality..

yes we can have sex all the time but permissible lang ito between a married man and a woman kasi ang ma-ki-create na offspring ang magbubuo ng strong society.. imagine a society na puro gays and lesbians, san ang pro-creation? mawawasak ang society dahil ang mga babae na kailangan mag-produce will end up na matandang dalaga kasi ang mga lalake are now having relationships with gay tapos iyong mga gay na may "matagal na relasyon" with men will end up just like that, no offspring.. so saan tayo patutungo kung ganon ang scenario? diba?!

correct ka Sis the_witness in saying na the act is a sin but keep in mind also na a gay or a lesbian cannot stay like that without having sex, they'll end up doing it in the long run kasi they are defeated by their own desires...
Just a thought! 

[smartstarter]

as for me. some homosexuals dont engage naman in same sex relationship. they just feel that they were trapped in a wrong body. admire same sex but they dont commit on that manner.

[miss resilient]

^really? natitiis nila na walang intimate connection?hmmm...

[smartstarter]

hahaha..ewan ko lang.di naman lahat ng mga bading kong friends open sa akin sa kanilang ga ginagawa. but they're the classy one's. i guess

[ellesur]

Sa tanong sa first post, it's a yes. Kaya nga ginunaw yung mga nasa sodom and gomorra.

[davesant32]

a person is more than his or her sex, ikaw ba, ano maffeel mo kapag ang inaacknowledge lang sayo ay yung sexual preference mo? paano na yung hobbies mo? yung iba mong likes and dislikes? yung mga pinaghirapan mo, education work, ano pa? :J

[miss resilient]

^^right, pero ipagkadiinan natin na homosexual acts ang sin. kaya nga nilusaw yung sodom and gomorrah...dahil sa matinding kalaswaan.

speaking of this place, alam ninyo ba yung cousin ko may pictures siya nito..its a tourist spot in Israel. sana puede ako magpost dito kasi di naman..

[joban99]

Hi, for me, no homosexuals are not bound to go to hell and I dont think homosexuality is a sin. I really feel theres nothing wrong with 2 men or 2 women expressing their love for one another. Ok, it says this in the bible, but we shouldnt take everything the bible says word for word. Pls dont get me wrong, Im an evangelical and we base most of our values directly from the bible, but I believe we need our own logic and the counsel of elder people to think things through. If everyone took the bible literally, then we would have all committed adultery coz it says to just look at someone rather than your spouse in a lustful way, weve committed adultery. So when you looked at Ding Dong Dantes or Marian Rivera and thought they were hot you committed adultery according to the bible (Oo Kapuso ako, hehe..) Im not a hard core Christian, but I did become more serious about my faith just recently and one thing I knew of dati pa and really believe in more nowadays is the 2 most important values Jesus taught us is to love God and love your fellow man. Its unfortunate when people judge others coz of their sexual preference kasi its just the same as judging people based on their race or religion. No one can really say all Pinoys or Americans are bad and will go to hell or that all Muslims and Buddhists will go to hell. I know medyo exagerrated ang comparisons ko, pero I think you see my point. If the homosexual raped someone, of course he or she will go to hell, but actually most homosexuals are really good people. You dont really hear so many stories of them doing bad things. Can you really say Ellen DeGeneres or Sir Elton John are going to hell? These people have done so many good acts and give to so many charities. Again, my examples are a bit extreme, but its just a point that Id like to make. Anyways, Im glad we have threads like these and were all civil when we talk, thanks GT.

[sis.cattleya]

For me naman, baka din may deep meaning kung bakit God created Adam and Eve kung puwede naman Adam and Mike or Adam and Eric?  Yeah, of course yung multiplication ng lahi is given, pero feeling ko meron talagang much deeper meaning.

[janix athena]

I want to believe that homosexuals are not doomed. Marami ako friends who are gays and are really nice people. Now let's say totoo ang sinabi ni sis the_witness na ang literal fiery hell does not exist, ibig sabihin ang sinasabing hell ng bible ay hell na consequences ng wrong deisions natin dito sa mundong ibabaw, na mararanasan ng ating katawang lupa. Nakikita ko ang parallelism nito sa hell na kinasasangkutan ng maraming homosexual ngayon which is ang pagkalat ng AIDS among gay men. Makikita natin sa statistics (let the numbers talk kasi eto fact na talaga) na ang pagtaas ng cases of AIDS ay kasabay ng liberalism pagdating sa sex kung saan kumalat ang paniniwala na ok lang mag-sex ang lalaki sa lalaki.

Ngayon naiintindihan ko na, kaya pala binabawal ni Lord, kasi pag sinaway mo Sya ikaw rin ang mahihirapan. Ang magkaroon ng AIDS ay impyerno nang maituturing dahil sa hirap ng katawan at stigma ng society. Branded ka na for life, walang gamot dyan. You are in effect, considered doomed.

[joban99]

Hi everyone, actually I wasnt going to post again about this issue as I dont really like to talk about hot topics. However last Friday when I went to church (I live in Kuwait, so Thursday Friday is when people have their day off, its like Saturday Sunday in the Philippines), our pastor talked about this subject and I was really touched with what he said. He pointed out that (as I mentioned in my previous post) the bible does say homosexuality is a sin, however I stand by my point that we shouldnt take everything the bible says word for word. Because if we do take everything word for word, than I, you and probly more than half of the population would be going to hell because my pastor said premarital sex, extramarital sex, homosexuality and beastiality are all sins in the same category. He didnt give us quotes, but asked for us to look it up ourselves. I found a site that explains it a bit and you can read it if you like:

http://www.christianinconnect.com/truthco3.htm

So if thats the case, then again a great number of people have committed the sin of premarital sex. This example is much more closer to the example I gave last time wherein I said even if you look at someone with lust, your committing adultery (and I believe EVERYONE has done this). But again, the point remains. If you take the bible word for word, then just looking at someone you have committed a sin. So my point again here is dont take everything in the bible word for word. Look at how radicals in Islam take the Quran word for word? They believe that if they sacrifice themselves against the infidels and non believers, they will go to heaven. Again, the comparison is a bit extreme but its just to show my point of taking the bible/quran word for word.

What my pastor pointed out was ok, it says its a sin in the bible, but who are we to judge? These people (gays and lesbians) feel shunned and rejected by christians/catholics alike so sometimes they dont even go to church. Look at Jesus, I cant remember the verse but a pharisee asked him, "Why are you hanging out with theives and aldulterers and people of ill reputation?" Then Jesus answered, "Its why Im here, to help these people." (Obviously, I was paraphrasing, thats not the exact quote, hehe..). So my pastor pointed out that this thinking of them committing a sin and going to hell needs to change. We need to be like Jesus and accept these people. Who knows, maybe theyll change, maybe they wont. The point is we need to accept them and change this mindset. So again, my two points are dont take the bible word for word, think about the verses long and hard and ask for the counsel of preists/pastors/elders if youre confused and try to have a more open mind and new mindset. Again, I dont wanna sound "preachy" but thats just my two cents, thanks for reading.

[joban99]

Hi again, just wanted to point out what Janix athena wrote is right. When you get HIV/AIDS, you are branded for life and stigmatized by a large portion of society (especially in Africa, Middle East, and a few parts of Asia). However Id just like to clarify a bit that yes, a large number of people who have HIV/AIDS are homosexuals, but the largest number of people with HIV/AIDS are, believe it or not, heterosexuals. I did a workshop about this so Im not an expert with years of experience, but I do have alot of info in regards to the topic of HIV AIDS. Here is a statistic by the WHO.

http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/HIVPrevalenceGlobal2006.png

Most cases are because of unprotected sex and as you can see the highest number is in Africa and most of those cases are from women raped by men with HIV AIDS and by wives whose husbands strayed and had unprotected sex with women (or men) with HIV. But again, most cases are heterosexuals. Its just the misconception/stereotype na most people who have HIV are gay kaya alot of people shun the gay community coz of that. This can be seen most of the time in US films and it is true, the US population has many homosexuals with HIV, but its just a very small HIV infected population compared to countries in Africa who have a bigger number of HIV infected heterosexuals.

Also, dont get grossed out, but most studies says that HIV/AIDS came from a guy who had sex with a gorilla, not from a homosexual. (Who knows, maybe he liked men to, but the fact is he got it from a gorilla). There is no concrete proof about that, but thats what most scientists and studies say. So again, its unfair to say that homosexuals (gay men in particular) are the biggest carriers of HIV/AIDS and spreading it amongst the people. But I do agree with Janix athena that these people are being stigmatized by society. Kaya we need to educate our friends and family about HIV/AIDs and teach them that not only homosexuals get infected with HIV AIDS, but they can get HIV AIDS from their heterosexual partners too and that they need practice safe sex.

[janix athena]

ay tama ka joban99. Yun pala narinig kong statistics eh sa Pilipinas lang. Na dati rati di ganun karami ang may AIDS sa pilipinas pero ngayon it's rising at an alarming rate, propagated by unprotected sex nga of both straight and gay couples alike. I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.

Joban naisip ko lang, ang mga straight couple normally use condoms kung ayaw mabuntis. Eh ang gay couples din kaya gumagamit ng condom knowing na wala naman risk of pregnancy? Di kaya isa rin yung reason na baka complacent sila about unprotected sex? 

[joban99]

Hi Janix, yes, your notion is a smart and logical reason why they (homosexuals) have unprotected sex. Kaya we (heterosexuals and homosexuals alike) need to be educated about HIV AIDS. Baka there's a thread dito that talks about HIV AIDS more. If I find it, PM ko sayo.

[cristyles]

Yes tumataas nga ang may AIDS/HIV positive dito sa pinas. Ang nabalitaan ko mataas ang rate ngayon sa mga lalaki na nakikipagtalik sa kapwa lalaki.

[krimania]

its a sin.

[may12]

Joban99, hindi ako masyadong magaling sa bible verses, but I just want to share sa pagkakaintindi ko.

I think homosexuality is a sin just like what the bible says. At kahit 'yong iniisip mo ang kapwa mo in a lustful way, it's also a sin. Kasi iyon ang sabi ng bibliya, eh. Puwede ka naman tumingin kay Marian Rivera or Dingdong Dantes at humanga sa kanila na hindi nagiging lustful ang iniisip mo.

And yes, marami nga ang nagkakasala. Kaya nga sabi nila walang taong hindi nagkakasala, di ba?
At ang bibliya na rin ang may sabi na "...For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it."

So, marami talaga ang nagkakasala. Actually, lahat tayo. Ang kaibahan lang, ang iba... hindi sila nag a-ask ng forgiveness.