Why are gay people a Christian target?

[Colorado127]

I am perplexed by fundamentalist christians that are always targeting gay people. They want to pass all sorts of laws restricting rights and privileges that everyone else has. What frustrates me the most is that they seem to be tunnel-visioned on gays. There are many things in the christian bible that they could talk about. I bet you there are more adulterers in the US than gay people and adultery is a ten commandments topic. What about honoring your parents? Can we focus on that for a while? This gay marriage thing being a religious idea only? I know of several religions that encourage gay people to find partners to marry including Unity, Unitarian Universalists and the Quakers.

I believe that gay people are the target because the christian religion, or its higher ups, have nothing else to target? They have lost the battle with alcohol and porn, they used to say black people couldn't marry white people but can't do that anymore. They try to stop drugs but you can't pass any more laws about that. Ok I'm being a bit out there, but really, Christianity has been losing its control over its flock for decades, if not centuries. Every sociologist and psychology person can easily see that when someone or some group sees its former control waning they will do anything to regain it. It's a desparate act. These fundamentalist christians have to find something to rally the troops.....wha-laa!.....gay people. A marginalized group in our over masculinized, sports culture that many people feel uncomfortable with. From history, the Nazi's for example, we know that hate is an excellent way to mobilize a group.

Isn't it blatantly unconstitutional to forbid the marriage of two people? In Virginia they want to outlaw any 'marraige like' contracts between two people of the same sex, doesn't that seem unconstitutional? The sodomy laws that Chief Justice Souter condemned was obviously directed at gay men. The 14th amendments says no state shall pass a law abridging the rights of its citizens. The only people saying I cannot marry another guy is christians? Right there we have a church-state conflict.

Ok, let me have it!

[The Tsar]

The opinion to not have an opinion has been one that I have been using as of late. I find a problem in Christians today is the insistance of having stances which separates them from those they are standing against. This seems a tad self righteous, as the question comes back to: who are you to judge? Judge not? Speck in eye (all in Mathew 7). Before Jesus said, to the prostitute, Sin no more, He said: I condemn you not.

Where do we get off as Christians?

[otseng]

I find a problem in Christians today is the insistance of having stances which separates them from those they are standing against.

I would agree that is a problem. But, it is not only limited to Christians, but practically any group. People in general seem to focus on the differences with others.

However, I would agree that Christians should be held to a higher standard. And that standard is Jesus. And in his dealings with people, he even seemed to have a greater rapport with the "sinners" than with the "righteous". Too bad the same cannot be said of most Christians today.

[proverbial student]

I am perplexed by fundamentalist christians that are always targeting gay people.

Ok, let me have it!

It may because of this passage in Romans.....

Romans 1:
24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 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 recompence of their error which was meet.

We are taught not to judge others and quite rightly you are about adulterers, etc...but these issues are taught and abhored in Christian churches despite the fact that the church has been infiltrated with those Christians who have fallen by the wayside, however, there are no bills being placed in front of people to request their vote on whether adultery should be legalized as is gay marriage. I suppose you could say that the church is filled with a bunch of hypocrites and setting a poor example, but where else should sinners go?

I have friends who are gay. I fall back on the second to the most important commandment Jesus Christ gave which is to love your neighbor as yourself. Judgement of their practices is up to God not me, but I cannot in good conscience vote for same sex marriages because it is against my religious affiliation.

[dangerdan]

filiasan wrote:

To submit to your human desires (btw, I'm not saying that homosexuality is a human desire for all, just saying it's true for someone of course) means burning forever in a lake of fire.

I submit to many human desires - eating when I'm hungry, expressing my musical desire by blowing on a harmonica, enjoying the benefits of the married life with my wife, jumping into a cool lake when it's hot, etc.

Just because something is a human desire doesn't make it wrong (or even necessarily right).

I believe filiasan may have been referring to “the pleasures of the flesh”. Sexual desires are something seldom talked about in Christian teaching (generally, and correct me if you disagree) , and when they are, they are usually frowned upon. For example Christ saying that if you look at an attractive woman and have sexual thoughts, it is as great of a “sin” than to actually have sex with her. It is also virtuous to abstain from sex your whole life (darn it I can’t think of the word) and devote your life to God, etc, etc. I think it was termed a “gift” to do this. (if I remember correctly).

[Tigerlilly]

Isn't it blatantly unconstitutional to forbid the marriage of two people?

It is also in violation of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which I find that many Fundamentalists could simple care less about caring.

I think Fundamentalist christians need someone to target because they are violent by nature, and due the paradox of the pulpit, they cannot get out of this viscious cycle. The violence breeds more violence and hate, and t hey are so indoctrinated, that it's very hard to get anywhere with them.

[Amphigorey]

Gay people are a target because they constitute less than 5% of the population. You can say anything you want about them and you're not likely to experience any consequences. No one is going to object to it in your face. Gay people are a target because they're generally invisible. The average person probably thinks he may not even know any gay people when in fact he comes in contact with them everyday. When the average person has no idea who or what a gay person is, you can make any outrageous lie about them you like. Gay poeple are not just a target, they're an easy target.

I think a better question is why do certain Christians need targets? Because, if there were no homosexuals, I'm sure something or someone would still be the target. This is called scapegoating and it's an ancient Judeo-Christian tradition.

The issue here is that real Christians

No doubt you're the authority here and every other psuedo-Christian needs to listen.

believe homosexual attraction to be contrary to God's created design (and, thereby, contrary to nature)

the "contrary to nature" concept is crucial because it highlights man's divine spark - the soul - that makes him unique, above and fundamentally separate from animals and the universe. "Nature" here is read as "God's Divine Plan" and homosexuality is the monkey wrench in the mechanistic universe that implies something's wrong. Homosexuals can't just be born that way. Its got to be a choice. But homosexuality occurs widely among animals, birds and insects. Man can't be just another animal subject to all the arbitrary chaos at work in the naturalistic universe. So shoot the messenger!

It all comes down to two things: 1) homosexual attraction is contrary to God's created design for male and female (and, thus, contrary to nature) and; 2) homosexual relationships are sinful.

Chancellor, I can't blame you for sticking by your beliefs. if that's all you have. But you should realize that you live in a secular world filled with lots of competing beliefs.

How is the homosexual demand for equal rights different from that of polygamists or zoophiles or pedophiles (and don't give me this nonsense about consent: homosexuals claim to have been born with their attraction and, so, choice is not the issue)?

Not logical. Homosexuality has nothing to do with polygamy, etc. Justification for the former is not dependent on justification of the latter. They're all sins, you say? Mayan religious practice included human sacrifice therefore we should outlaw Chrisitanity because its a religious practice which leads to human sacrifice. I know, it sounds rediculous.

I also like how the use of "claim" implies dishonesty. We're just makin' it all up.

And why is consent "nonsense"? Children and woman don't consent to rape. Can you explain why you think this is nonsense?

If there is a homosexual "agenda" it is to obtain equal rights and treatment under the law.

[vitabellasarah]

Here is my opinion about the Christian view of homosexuality, please let me know if you agree or not:

As a Christian, I believe that God does not design men and women to be homosexuals. In fact, it is very clear in the Bible that homosexuality is unacceptable in the eyes of God (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-27). However, it is also unaccpetable in the eyes of God to lie, to disobey your parents, and to covet something that is not yours. I do these things everyday. Everyone does. Therefore, I do not see how a Christian can honestly judge someone for being gay and therefore a sinner while they are just as guilty of sin as any homosexual person.

I also believe that homosexuals are the scapegoats of so many Christians because people don't like what is not familiar to them. Because many people don't understand how a man could fall in love with another man or a woman with another woman, they are afraid of it. This is not a bad thing, it is a natural human reaction, but it needs to be recognized and overcome.

[science1]

i believe gays are a christain threat because it is a concept that is unusal to most of us and christians can use a "holy book" (bible) to limit homosexuals rights.

[Quemtal]

I am a Christian. I believe that homesexuality is a sin, as it goes against the Word of God. BUT...this does not make me a biget. I believe as I Christian, I must love the person, hate the sin. I'm not interested in pointing a finger at gays and calling them name--that would be un-Christian. I must love and embrace them. Yes, they are sinners, but so am I, and no sin is worse than any other. Who am I to cast the first stone? They need Jesus just as I do.

[hannahjoy]

Maybe homosexuals are a target because they have set themselves up as a target.