does this really make any sense? Exactly what is harmful about two people having mutually agreed upon physical contact? The Bible gives no good reason, but simply says in effect: it's not right.
Leviticus 18:22
From what I can gather, god's condemnation of homosexual acts is no more than that: a mere whim. No dire consequence result from homosexual physical expressions: it's just that god doesn't happen to like them.
Looking at it from another angle:
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) publishes a pamphlet called Critical Issues: Homosexuality. Among other things it states that:
So, my question is: What is it about physical contact---the touching of another's skin because it is pleasurable---that is inherently bad? How can mutual tactile pleasure be hailed in some circumstances (heterosexual) and reviled in others (homosexual)? As purely physical acts both are indistinguishable (anal sex among heterosexuals is seldom considered sinful). And from a purely emotional consideration both are also indistinguishable.
There must be something evil that comes alive in human physical contact when it is between someone of the same sex, but remains dormant when between someone of the opposite sex. Why is it that human physical contact has such a strange bifurcated nature: good in this circumstance but not that circumstance? It certainly can't be a matter of mental state, because most Christians readily concede that homosexual feelings are not sinful. Love someone of the same sex all you want, just don't express that love physically.
How very odd that a form of physical expression can be so schizophrenic. One that even forbids homosexuals from kissing. source
Leviticus 18:22
“ Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination."
and Leviticus 20:13“ If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
Pretty harsh punishment for acts that may otherwise be encouraged and celebrated. And harsh punishment for no reason other than one particular individual doesn't like them. I'm not saying that a person shouldn't have the right to follow the dictates of whomever they wish, but seeing as how we have all been given a brain with which to reason, shouldn't all condemnations have at least a scintilla of reasonableness to them? As a small child, if your father or mother told you to never, ever do such-and-such, you pretty much took it for granted that doing such-and-such would be bad for someone or something in some way, and that their warning was not a mere whim.From what I can gather, god's condemnation of homosexual acts is no more than that: a mere whim. No dire consequence result from homosexual physical expressions: it's just that god doesn't happen to like them.
Looking at it from another angle:
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) publishes a pamphlet called Critical Issues: Homosexuality. Among other things it states that:
"Although homosexual activity is a sin, it is not the unpardonable sin, or the most terrible of sins.
Homosexuals can only lead moral lives by remaining celibate.
Discrimination against gays and lesbians is proper, in the areas of: employment.
to protect the (presumably heterosexual) "family."
to protect other social institutions.
(emphasis mine)
Evidently, as far as the SBC is concerned it is alright to be homosexually orientated (be attracted to people of the same sex) but not alright to engage in any physical expression of those feelings. Apparently, about as close to intimacy one homosexual may get to another is to say, "I love you." So, my question is: What is it about physical contact---the touching of another's skin because it is pleasurable---that is inherently bad? How can mutual tactile pleasure be hailed in some circumstances (heterosexual) and reviled in others (homosexual)? As purely physical acts both are indistinguishable (anal sex among heterosexuals is seldom considered sinful). And from a purely emotional consideration both are also indistinguishable.
There must be something evil that comes alive in human physical contact when it is between someone of the same sex, but remains dormant when between someone of the opposite sex. Why is it that human physical contact has such a strange bifurcated nature: good in this circumstance but not that circumstance? It certainly can't be a matter of mental state, because most Christians readily concede that homosexual feelings are not sinful. Love someone of the same sex all you want, just don't express that love physically.
How very odd that a form of physical expression can be so schizophrenic. One that even forbids homosexuals from kissing. source