>>The lust is also immoral.<<
That’s an interesting point and one I’ve never been completely clear on.
I’m heterosexual male, not young but not so old that I fail to notice or be attracted to pretty women in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.
It doesn’t feel in my hear that being attracted to a woman is wrong. What would feel wrong would be to fixate on/ lust after/ persue someone who I know I am not supposed to sleep with.
Extending that I can see the LDS’s position on homosexual attraction. It could still be wrong if they let it grow to fixating on/lusting after.
As for homosexuality, I think you have to be tougher still. The desire itself is always sin in every context. If you felt attracted to children would that be sin? If you felt attracted to your dog would that be sin? Some things are sin right out of the gate because the act is always wrong. To say the desire is unwanted doesn't go very far. To not want to want something is what we used to call having a conscience that is doing its job of convicting your heart.
I would like to know how a homosexual views and interacts with a friend of the same sex. Is there always that question of sex in the relationship? I would think it would drastically change the definition of same-sex friendship. It would have to totally invert the issues of same vs opposite sex friendship. It also should eliminate the appropriateness of any shared dressing rooms or restrooms or locker rooms or gym showers. The whole issue warps everything.
Guys should be attracted to guys in a friendship way, never in a sexual way. If your attraction is sexual then it is sin.
I don't think you can ever grow so old that you will fail to notice pretty women.
It doesn’t feel in my hear that being attracted to a woman is wrong. What would feel wrong would be to fixate on/ lust after/ persue someone who I know I am not supposed to sleep with.
Most males are attracted women. That seems to be part of our biological programming. If that were removed from us, we would be less than human. However, noticing an attractive woman is one thing; much more than that, and we are heading for trouble. If we give into lust—for instance, if we entertain fantasies about fornication or adultery—then we are committing sin. Often, such thoughts can lead to action.
Some males are attracted to other males. The original article stated, "LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley and others have acknowledged they don't know what causes homosexuality." In one sense, it does not matter. Arguments about whether homosexuality is the result of nature or nurture—whether it is inborn or learned—are ultimately beside the point. Whatever the cause of same-sex attraction, we believe that giving in to lust is sinful and self-destructive.
I would propose an analogy. Some years ago a member of my ward (congregation) asked for my help. He was addicted to cocaine, and had been since he was 13 or 14 years old. It was ruining his marriage and his life. No one can say why this particular fellow became an addict. Obviously, the human body is designed in such a way that addiction is possible, so in that sense we might say that addicts are "born that way." Nevertheless, we do not say that addiction is inevitable, and that addicts might just as well give in to it. My friend had to kick his addiction, and he still has to resist the urge to use cocaine.
Extending that I can see the LDS’s position on homosexual attraction. It could still be wrong if they let it grow to fixating on/lusting after.
Yes, I think you are right.
The Church's position is consistent. Homosexual attraction is just one of many temptations that may be thrown our way. Being tempted is not a sin: Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15). Giving in to temptation—thinking and then acting—is the sin.