There's a third option: things that God permits. God permitted multiple wives, divorce, rape, and slavery (there are actually some very facinating and pretty darn reasonable justifications for slavery in the OT law) because of our weak, sinful nature. There are explicit and specific laws regarding all of these things that he permits. But He never permits homosexuality. At worst, He condemns it, but at the least He certainly does not permit it nor approve it. The argument that God permits it out of His silence doesn't work, because God obviously took the time to permit certain things explicitly in Scripture. Like I mentioned, God even permits RAPE and laid down specific laws as to when rape should lead to forced marriage or the death penalty. Of course, God never declares that rape is not a sin. Rather, He gives us laws to deal with it. Once again, no such permission on homosexuality.
And we know that homosexuality existed during the time of the Bible. Heck, scientists would like us to believe that "it is natural" so therefore it certainly was around during Biblical times. So again, the argument of "the Bible is silent on airplanes. Are those wrong too?" is silly, because they didn't exist at the time.
So, I cannot accept the defense that "God neither condemns nor approves of homosexual behavior" as if that means anything. There is not a single instance when God permits it in either the OT or the NT. There are plenty of times when God condemns homosexuality (though defenders of the gay/lesbian lifestyle are quick to interpret these verses in their own special way, even though these verses were never interpreted that way for 1,000s of years), and He even takes the time to clarify and permit other things. He gives specifics as to when divorce is appropriate. He tells us that lust and anger are just as sinful as adultery and murder. He told Peter that "unclean" animals were fine to eat. Heck, God even clarified what a man should do if he has a "wet dream"! And yet, we can never find God clarifying, approving, or even permitting homosexuality. We can only find Him disapproving of it.
And I must wonder: are we doing anybody a favor by trying to justify it? The Bible is pretty clear that when we say "I have no sin", we make God out to be a liar. I am cautious to call anything "not sin". Jesus saved the life of the adulterous woman by saying "he who is without sin may cast the first stone", but Jesus still sent her away with the admonition to "go, and sin no longer". He never made excuses for her sin. Even though Christians can be very hateful and abusive to homosexuals (and we should stop that behavior), we can't defend them, send them away, and say "go, you are not a sinner".
