2007-09-10 05:35:29 · 54 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender
Yes and it is wrong...that was a main reason soddam and gamorah was destroyed!
2007-09-10 05:40:24 · answer #1 · answered by Yankeefan1986 3 · 2⤊ 4⤋
There can't be a blanket response to the question because there are many Christian people who believe that homosexuality is a choice -- others believe that it's a characteristic beyond the control of personal choice; and still others are ambivalent and sometimes feel one way about it and then the other.
The fact that the Old Testament tells us that God views it as an abomination is a separate but significant issue as well.
I would point out that regardless of our personal beliefs regarding homosexuality that we are not placed in positions of judgment as to it's propriety and therefore we should accept one another regardless of our stance on the issue of being 'gay' or 'straight'.
Also, homosexuality is not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and as such is not the one unforgivable sin in the eyes of God.
We as sinners should accept the person as just another sinner such as ourselves and reject the behavior as we see fit within the constraints of civil statute for this too is Christian canon.
2007-09-10 05:52:04 · answer #2 · answered by Eclectic 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Some do, and a very vocal sub-group within Christianity (in particular, American Fundamentalist Protestant Christianity) has made the claim that homosexuality is "chosen behavior," and moreover that it is disordered and immoral, both a rallying cry and a core of their ethical thought.
But no, it really isn't accurate to say that "Christians" as a whole believe this, or that this is somehow inherent to Christianity as a religion.
Sorry, it's kind of a personal matter to me, but it's important - Christian progressives do exist, and it's not nearly as small as is commonly assumed. It just gets drowned out by the Fundies, because for some reason it just can't get organized and isn't very good at being loud and obnoxious.
I've known so, so many wonderful people who worked tirelessly for the dignity and rights of queer people, and considered that work to be part of their calling by God. The queer youth group I went to as a teenager was run by a pastor and his husband in a church basement. And I grew up in Washington DC, where the Gay Pride Day march includes a large number of church congregations who march together. One of the local Episcopalian congregations who participated were led by an elderly nun.
The Catholic chaplain at my old college was a shy, mousy, painfully awkward 60 year old man, who has been openly gay 0since 1990 and is currently risking excommunication for heresy for refusing to stop his quiet but dedicated work for gay rights. Hell, he used to hold a special mass every year on the Sunday before Coming Out Week. At a very, very queer college, he personally did more than anyone I have ever known to alleviate the damage caused to so many young queer people by assholes who claim they're acting in the name of God. I've never seen anyone so genuinly called to the priesthood before.
I was on the Services Committee of a newly formed GLBTQ center in rural upstate NY, and out of at most two dozen people on various committees we had three local priests - a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a Catholic.
I have a degree in theology, and one of my former professors was a spectacular woman, a lesbian in her 50's who was among the first class of women to be ordained in the Episcopalian church 25 years ago. This woman was *intense,* a brilliant mind and a dedicated scholar as well as a devout and passionately called priest.
Many entire denominations are actively supportive of gay rights, or at least not overtly condemning. The Episcopalian church will not only ordain gay people, it elected an openly gay man as Bishop. Both the Episcopalian Church and the Church of England will also ordain trans people.
Christianity really, really isn't the enemy here. Not as a whole. There are a lot of people who are enemies of queer people who claim to be acting in the name of Christianity or in the name of the Christian God, but they don't actually represent the religion as a whole, even if they think they do. It's a vast, ancient, and widely varied religion, and we have a hell of a lot of allies among it's ranks too.
2007-09-10 11:18:59 · answer #3 · answered by Mike 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The issue is really not whether or not a person can choose certain behavioral tendencies. Regarding a host of tendencies, we simply don't fully understand the roles of genetics, upbringing, and personal choices in terms of how each ultimately affects the behavioral tendencies that emerge after childhood. So the question about what "Christians believe" about this is wide open, and will likely remain so.
However, most people asking this question are really asking whether or not Christians believe that people can choose to engage in a gay lifestyle (which is very different from whether or not people can choose to have gay sexual tendencies). This is really asking if people can choose to behave in certain ways rather than other ways.
One of the most fundamental points of Christianity is the Jesus provides people with the power to choose righteousness as opposed to sin. This means that whether a person has a tendency toward a gay lifestyle or a hetrosexual lifestyle, the power of Jesus in the person's life enables them to behave in accordance with His will.
Much emphasis has been placed on the "gay vs. straight" side of the sexuality debate. However, most Christians neglect the overarching issue, which is that ALL sexual behavior outside of marriage is considered sinful in the Bible. So, a person engaging in hetrosexual pre-marital sex is no "better" than someone living an actively gay lifestyle. A Christian should consider BOTH sorts of sex outside of marriage as wrong, and people in both homosexual and hetrosexual camps can choose to live in harmony with God's revealed will regarding sexuality.
2007-09-10 05:59:42 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think that all homosexual people choose to be gay... but i think that some do. I have none a few homosexual and bi-sexual people and in general they are just that way, they are attracted to people of the same sex. But I have also known some people which seem to like the life of homosexual (with all the controversy, pride, and sense of community) and they usually don't really like themselves very much, and those people seem to be choosing the lifestyle. But either way... who cares. People are who they are, whether they choose to be that person or they just happen to be that person. I choose to be a hard worker... therefore I am a hard worker. I was born a brunette... but I choose to be a redhead... does that make my hair any less red? No!
Love people for who they are! Don't pass judgement on them whether you believe they have choosen the life they live or that they were born into that life! God loves us all... and we should strive to be as much like God a possible!
2007-09-10 05:42:18 · answer #5 · answered by pdsmonki0809 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It's hard to generalize, but I've noticed the most extreme christians seem very closed minded and believe anyone who doesn't fit a certain creed is damned to hell. So some (a lot) do believe gays "choose" this sexual orientation. While some more liberal christians (especially if they have a child that is gay) tend to believe they may have been born this way. There is no clear cut answer to this.
2007-09-10 05:39:59 · answer #6 · answered by Apple 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Christians for the most part ( aside from more "progressive" types )... don't even believe that there ARE "gay" people... let alone worry about a choice...they blanketly subscribe to the notion that it's a mental disorder like pedophilia or mormonism... that can be changed if you put money in the basket...
2007-09-10 05:46:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think being Christian has anything to do with it. I think some people think people chose to be gay, and some know that it is in their DNA. It came with them when they were born. Do some atheists believe this? Do some Muslims believe this? Are they not all just people?
2007-09-10 05:39:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well, some may say that they do, but I don't believe gay, or lesbians choose to be either, We are all born who we are, yes we do make chooses in life but would we choose to be in a life style that is hard in itself, to fight everyday for right to just live a normal life, without people judging, looking out the corner of the eye, I think not, so we are whom we are on the day that we are born. Some choose to hide it others just are themselves.
2007-09-10 05:43:04 · answer #9 · answered by linda g 1 · 2⤊ 1⤋
That's pretty general. Some do, some do not. I'm gay and Christian, and certainly didn't choose to be gay.... it's the way God made me.
2007-09-10 09:00:26 · answer #10 · answered by Tim A 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some do but I happen to believe that sexual orientation is a characteristic just like the color of ones hair and eyes. It happens at such a young age, I know that young children do not choose their sexual orientation when they are under five years old, however, the characteristic's are present at very young ages.
Christians believe a lot of things that are not true but they are politicized and most don't think for themselves.
2007-09-10 05:42:28 · answer #11 · answered by darkdiva 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋