***Mt 5:27-28 - "You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.***
So, your arguement is that a homosexual sins because his homosexual desire in itself is a sin...
But if he was cured, his transfer of lust to a woman would make him an adulterer...
As a man with exclusively homosexual attractions, just by having those attractions does not mean that I lust for other men. I don't think I have wanted to have sexual engagement with another person in years... and if my 'orientation' was changed, then what would prevent me from lusting for a woman?... hence, your logic doesn't stand up.
What makes you define yourself as "attracted" to men? By calling yourself homosexual, I can assume that you aren't just wanting their friendship or admiring their personality traits. So I am curious where you draw the line between your definition of attration and lust? What is lust?
I read your freeper page and found it very interesting and admirable. One thing though, I don't think you can speak for the effects of religious conversion since you haven't experienced it. In the theology of Christianity, we all struggle with sin, but that stuggle lessens as we increase in our knowledge of and love for our Lord Jesus Christ. He is holy, and out of love He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So on judgement day when we all stand before God to give account of our lives, we will be judged according to Christ's righteousness. That's the judicial part. More than that, when we repent of our sins and turn to Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit to moment by moment convict and keep us from sin. This may sound like drudgery and misery to the outsider, but I assure you it is the greatest joy imaginable to the Christian because we long to be like Christ. We hate the sin in ourselves that cost Him so dearly, and we long to be free of it. He gives us His Spirit so that we can be changed -- transformed! -- into His image as we surrender our lives to Him. It isn't misery at all. And it isn't a non-cure. It is the greatest joy I have ever known. There is still grieving when I fail, but He is always there to forgive me and has given me the Bible which acts as the discerner of my heart and intentions and my instructor and trainer in rightousness. To believe He can transform us is what faith is all about. We are saved by this faith and we are to walk the rest of our lives by this faith.
Please understand that I greatly admire your courage and honesty in admitting the abnormality of homosexuality even though you had every selfish reason to deny the obvious. I think God gave you that strength and knowledge so that you could understand your own sin and guilt. He offers you forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. But there is a cost. Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt. 16:24-25). Faith is faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You make Him Lord of your life and He brings you victory over your sin (victory over sin was accomplished through His ressurection, just as the penalty of sin was paid through His death).
That is the road your friends stepped out on. They may struggle daily with sin (the longer the sin was practiced, the harder the struggle might be, which is really just a lingering consequence of sin. We are forgiven, but consequences remain), but the Holy Spirit of the living God is there to lead them through their temptations until all they desire is to know Christ and to glorify Him. They can love their brother with Christian purity. They can marry a woman or not. There is no requirement there. But they know that homosexuality is a great offense to God, and that God designed us to fit naturally with the opposite sex. Any other desire is sin that needs to be confessed and turned away from. Jesus bore the sin and the shame for them -- and you, if you put your trust in Him.
That said, I also believe that a person can choose to not be a Christian yet work to improve his life and morality. God transforms the heart, but being created by a holy God, we can manage to improve ourselves to a great degree. We are moral creatures who do recognize right from wrong, and while we cannot be sinless (we all have a sin nature), we can make right choices. We are still accountable for all our sins. But life is better seeking to do right rather than wrong even if we do not accept the claims and terms of Christianity. It won't make us righteous before a holy God, but it will leave us with a better, more manageable life. So God bless your efforts and your honesty no matter what. I wish you continued success! And I deeply thank you for your specific comment where you said you try to not let your problem be a bother to others. Wow! Bless you for that.