Why do they say this ... ?

Question

.... "Love the sinner, hate the sin" ... in reference to homosexuality? That seems very insulting.

It's like saying, "Hate everything that makes this person a lovely human being. Hate his lifestyle. Hate his choices. Hate his inspiration for living. Oh, but love the skin that holds him together."

Why deem something so beautiful as a sin? Just say "Love the person" and move on with your life.

To the "are you 16" guy ... comparing 'murding children' to 'loving someone of the same sex' is completely ridiculous. And what would my age have to do with it? Are 16 years olds incapable of asking insightful questions?

murding = murdering ... oops ... maybe I am 16! lol

Answer 1

Good question.

Its just a nice way for christians to say that they hate everyone who isn't like them, without saying that they hate them. After all, homosexuality results in "sinful" thoughts, actions, and ideas ... and really, who are we beyond our thoughts, actions, and ideas?

You can't hate everything that a person is and still say that you love them. Not possible.

In response to the Amish school shooting comment: Murder and homosexuality are two completely different subjects. We're focusing on the idea of "love the sinner, hate the sin" in reference to that only. The difference between committing ONE murder and being gay is that this one murder doesn't define everything about who you are. Most of a person's life revolves around their sexuality. It affects how we think, what we do, the movies we see, the music we like, the clothes we choose. the person we spend the rest of our life with ...

You can't hate all those things about a person, and still love them. To love someone based on the idea that there is some straight person hiding inside isn't really love at all.

We can hate a decision that a person makes, but we can still love them and forgive them. We can't hate someone's entire lifestyle and everything about them and still love them. How is this possible?

Answer 2

CG,

It may seem insulting to you and those that are deviant in their lifestyle. I am hetrosexual and I would hate to think that makes me a lovely or not a lovely person. My inspiration for living goes deeper than sexual persuasion.

But, the jest of the saying is love the person or if you will the soul of the person. Homosexuality as with all sin is a disease and nothing more. You do not love the person's cancer that is eating away at a persons flesh you love the person that is trapped in a dying shell. Same principle.

Let us move from Homosexuals to the pedophile. How can you love a person like that? You can, but abore everything that they stand for and practice.

The list goes on as it is not just to those that people have deemed "a greater sin." Sin has no rank with God all reeks to high heaven if you will and he will give all the same punishment.

Jesus, when confronting a sinner would say "You are forgiven, go and sin no more." He too love the person and not the sin. He would never love the person and move on. He kept loving until we nailed him to the Cross and even there he kept forgiving and loving the person and making an atonment for those that wish to free themselves from that hateful sin.

Answer 3

Because with every sin there is a difference between the dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God and the things we do that mar that image.

It is not just an issue of homosexuality versus heterosexuality. It is that any misuse of sexuality misses the mark. Sexuality has two goods... untive and reproductive. Homosexual intercourse (man on man) might be unitive, but it is not reproductive and open to the goal of sex ... life, and so is considered a sin.

What is more important to remember is that sin is sin... What I mean by that is that homosexuality is not the only thing condemned... Hypocrisy is condemned... dishonesty... looking to control God... hatred... selfrighteousness.

All of us fall into one of these things some time or another. So it has to be hate the sin and love the sinner... because that's what God does in relation to all of us sinners and what He did when he sent us a redeemer.

I wish you peace. God have mercy on us sinners.

Answer 4

Many people who are gay will say that they were born this way but that is not true, just like someone might say I was born a liar or I was born a thief which to anyone with common sense sound ridiculous.Nobody is born gay everyone that is gay chooses to be gay .The act of homosexuality is not a beautiful thing in the eyes of God it is an abomination. The thing that I have observe is that many people who are gay they were either molested or experience a negative sexual act or for men they might have had an overbearing father or mother or an absent father .Love the person hate all sin.Remember all of us will have to give an account for the life we have lived and all of us will be rewarded for the life we have lived.

Answer 5

Since a lot of Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin, they condemn it. Many of them believe homosexuality is unnatural or disgusting. Since it is considered to be a sin by many, they hate it.

However, in Christianity, people are supposed to show compassion to all. They especially want to help people who are "living in sin" to become "saved". It would be incredibly difficult for a Christian to lead a homosexual to "salvation" if they showed hate toward them.

Christians must show compassion toward "sinners", or they will be ignored. If they are ignored, their message cannot be spread.

So, "Hate the sin, love the sinner".

By the way, this is not what I believe. I was, however, raised in a very Christian environment in which I was taught these things.

Answer 6

I would hope the gay person has more to his personality and being than just his/her homosexuality. Think about it. To love the sinner means to acknowledge the individual; their personality, the ability to think, their ability to care, their uniqueness as an individual.
To hate the sin means to disagree with the choice that separates them from God. I do have to admit it could be stated more diplomatically but the strength of the word hate indicates how much the separation from God should mean.

Translated into action it means accept the choice the person has made (which does not require approval) but let them know you care about them enough to tell them you disagree and why. Disagreement does not mean forcing them to change but does include telling them why you disagree.

Answer 7

Love the sinner, hate the sin...It is a way of saying to never hate the person, just hate what they did or do. But some people cannot separate the two. The problem here is the definition of the word 'sin'. Most of us are learning to obey Christ's words when he said, 'Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.' So many self proclaimed religious people have forgotten those simple, kind words. You have made an excellent point.

Answer 8

Sadly, this is a cop-out for Christians who do not take "Love one another" as Jesus had meant it. If Jesus were walking the earth today I am certain the parable of the Good Samaritan (Samaritans were hated by the Jews of his day) would instead be the parable of the "Good Homosexual".

I know many Christians on this site will vehemently disagree with me, but careful study of scripture (in the Greek) does not condemn homosexuals as we have been taught.

Remember, "NOTHING can separate us from the love of God" and "Judge not lest you be judged in the same manner".

Answer 9

why not put i into a context that hopefully you do not relate to, love the murder but not the murder, love the adulterer but not adultery. even though some adulterer and murdered thing of what they do as beautiful.

we all have things in our lives that others think of as sin, but by bypassing the sin we can still love the person.

it does not mean that they thing of you a one big sinner, or that your lifestyle makes up everything that you are.
.


much as many can love a Jehovah's witness but not love getting their door beat on every week.

Answer 10

In some religions they believe that it is not the fact that you are gay that is wrong but the sexual acts that you commit. They say that you should resist the temptation to do these acts and a lot of people believe this is how you can cure people.

I don't personally believe this but have known people that held this view. God loves all his children.