In Reply to: Re: Heresy? posted by Farmer on March 27, 2007 at 13:45:31:
Farmer, I'm not trying to make an argument to change your interpretation of scripture. You must be true to your conscience, just as I am true to mine. My point is that people of faith differ over their interpretation of the scriptures you've cited, and I don't think that anyone's eternal salvation will be determined by who's right and who's wrong in the failure to find consensus over a total of nine verses in the entire Bible that reference homosexuality.
I frankly think sexual behavior is far over-rated as a concern for godly living. If sexual purity--abstinence for the unmarried, monogamy for the married--is as important as so many Christians seem to believe, why didn't Jesus have anything of significance to say about it--beyond the prohibition against "tearing asunder what God hath joined"--? Solidarity with the poor and taking care of socially marginalized people (e.g., lepers), on the other hand, was the subject of numerous sermons. Yet, I don't remember the last time I heard a Christian group anathemize obscenely rich & powerful people who make the kind of decisions that produce dozens of widows and orphans on a daily basis.
Why isn't there more talk about "hating the sin, but loving the sinner" by inviting the rich & powerful to repent at the altar? Maybe because it's easier to stigmatize queers (who are also condemned by non-believers) than to speak truth to power and condemn a life-destroying accumulation of wealth and power? Talk about people rejecting parts of the Bible they don't like!