Posted on 10/20/2005 4:46:43 PM PDT by wagglebee
That's it, exactly. Many don't realize the complexity of same-sex attraction and tend to write homosexuals off as sub-human. As I see it, that's the wrong way to get homosexuals to realize real help exists.
They just haven't thought it all the way through. As difficult as it can get helping folks see past their current mindset, I encourage you do keep trying!
I got into a discussion with someone on another thread about this. He claimed that "celibate" meant "unmarried". But when I consulted a dictionary it said that while this used to be accurate, the meaning of the word has been changing, so that "celibate" is now usually taken to mean "abstaining from sex" and that using it in another fashion risks confusion. In other words CELIBACY now means CHASTITY to most people. This is the way I was using it and it appears to also the meaning intended by Rev. Wilkins.
That's key to the bigger picture. While it's quite possible to struggle with same-sex attraction and remain celebate, somebody with same-sex attraction is not a viable candidate for spiritual leadership. Of course the same is true for those who struggle with pedophilia. As I see it, those who struggle with and/or are addicted to porn are not viable candidates as well.
Indeed!
I really appreciate all you guys do in running the ping list.
So, this calls into question the character of those who identify as homosexuals and with homosexuality and behaviors as to their character.
It does not mean that persons with that or any disordered state in person are turned away from the faith. It means that they are not considered qualified for the Priesthood. Or should not be, as per what Pope Benedict has said.
While I am not Catholic, I agree that homosexuality is a disorder, perhaps not of reasoning alone. I also agree that it is probably unwise to ordain homosexuals and that they appear to have had an undue influence in seminaries.
Yes, it didn't look so good when the head of the Harvard Divinity School was found to have a huge stash of porn on his computer.
"....he told students that although having same-sex attractions is not a choice, acting on those feelings by engaging in homosexual behavior is; but freedom from homosexuality is available through Jesus Christ.
I agree with every word of this statement. We must remember that as a result of what happened in the fall of man in The Garden of Eden, we live in a world that is under a curse. The "curse" that this earth is under "works it's way out" in different ways in different people. Homosexuality is one of those areas of living in a cursed world that, in my opinion, there is no deliverance from outside of a born-again experience through faith in The Lord Jesus Christ.
It's a high tide running right now - so many articles! Ramping up.
Harry's pulling more than his weight right now; I'll be less busy after Sunday.
(If anyone knows of any way - up to and including hypnosis - of how to reduce sleep needed, freepmail me!)
I feel that this particular issue is the one that liberals are MOST close-minded about. They simply refuse to consider anything other than that people are "born gay." I once read an inspirational article about an ex-gay man who became infected with AIDS but got saved in the last 2 years of his life and called the disease "Adventures in Divine Submission."
When I was discussing this issue with a friend from school, he actually became angry, refused to read the article and asked me not to discuss the subject again.
Considering there was a recent thread about results from PET Scans of Heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and gays, it might be interesting if the PET scan were performed on Wilkins. It would be interesting to see what happens to the metabolic activity of his hypothalamus, if he were exposed to male pheromones.
I've noticed that a lot of people on FR will not even accept this as a fact.
The fallacy is that this is an either/or type of thing. Perhaps there are those who are hardcore homosexuals, who absolutely were born this way. Then there are the "tweeners", then there are the hardcore hetero's. I believe that for the tweeners, it is something of a "choice", in that they choose to immerse themselves in a culture which then promotes gayness.
This is my theory, and I am sticking to it. It comes from many years now of dealing with homosexuals within my family, and their friends.
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