Orthodox position on homosexuality?

[MariaRegina]

Pray and fast .... and do lots of prostrations.

Practice custody of the eyes, especially when going through those check out stands in the supermarkets where they sell those sensational magazines and newspapers.

Avoid R and X rated movies. Disconnect the TV. These are other recommendations.

And last, but most importantly, have a good spiritual father and obey his recommendations.

 

[The Prokeimenon!]

How are we to fight sexual lusts and temptations? (Whn it isn't related to homosexuality)

Like Aria said- lots of prostrations. There are definate spiritual reasons to do prostrations when tempted by sexual thoughts, but on the practical side, it makes your body much too sore to act out on sexual thoughts.

It is possible, through much prayer and honest confession, to learn to stop the intrusive thoughts from entering and making a home in your heart. That's a long story for another post, though.

Moses

 

[pilgrimtim]

On the ordination of Women:
First all women Orthodox or something else are ordained by GOD with a special calling.
Women since the day of their creation are called to bring soul in to the world. They are called to nurture them and give them the life skills to be faithful Christians. Men are universally excluded form this priesthood. Some men are allowed and set aside for the adminstration of certain procedures that help the child grow in to vibrant faithful Christian. Since in the Orthodox church all believer are priests as witnessed by the construction of a normal orthodox temple. There is the outer court or the nave, narthex where people from world may worship GOD. There is a set of doors and an inner court close to the High Altar. In the inner court only priest are allowed. At the inner court is where small offering and oblations are offer to GOD. Finally there is the altar were we offer ourselves in union with Christ at the Divine liturgy. GOD recieves our offering, takes it, returns it to us changed in to Body and Blood of His Son and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit.
Some issues have not been throughly looked in to from and Orthodox perspective. But we continue on waiting for the Holy Spirit to guide the Church, the Bishops, Clergy and Laity. IF there comes a time that the Holy Spirit decides that ordination to liturgical priesthood would be a beneficial thing I am confident the Holy Spirit will change enough hearts and mind to allow for this to happen.
For now the question of ordination does not seem to be coming from within the Church but from outside.

 

[MariaRegina]

How are we to fight sexual lusts and temptations? (Whn it isn't related to homosexuality)

I've thought about what I previously posted and realized what several Orthodox Priests have stressed ... we cannot achieve sanctification apart from the Church.

Orthodox Christians are told to focus on theosis - becoming Christ - putting on Christ. As we grow in Christ, we will gradually become dispassionate, where our passions will not rule over us. However, we must be joined with Christ and His Holy Church.

We do this through receiving the Sacraments (or Holy Mysteries) of our Holy Church: Baptism, Chrismation, Holy Confession, Holy Communion, Holy Unction, Matrimony, and Holy Orders. The monastic tonsure and funerals are also considered Sacraments.

In the process of theosis, Christians strive to be liberated from their passions, including the sex-drive. Periodic and regular fasting (including abstinence from sex) along with praying and almsgiving helps us to achieve sanctification. As we grow in the love of Christ, we begin to realize that sex is for making love and making babies, and is not just for immature self-gratification.

We will also realize that any sex outside of marriage whether alone or with others (thoughts, words - dirty jokes, or deeds) is wrong. Within marriage, chastity and self-control are needed too in order to be faithful to Christ and our spouse. Hence, even natural birth control is not something we can do on our own. We need to be open to our spouse and our priest. As we become true Orthodox Christians through theosis, we will discover that the true goal in life is to "put on Christ" and live for Christ so that we become one with Christ and ultimately die to our passions and any selflshness or self-centeredness.

Marriage and celibacy, then, are roads to sanctity. Each path is a school of martyrdom: a death to our sinful selfishness so that we can rise with Christ at the Resurrection.

 

[Xpycoctomos]

Pilgriom Tim... your post on Women and the Priesthood was helpful. THanks

Padraig

Could you expand on this?

3.) Ordination of women isn't allowed because it perpetuates a fundamentally incorrect view of the charisms of men and women. From an Orthodox perspective, it is actually against the nature of what it means to be Woman to be ordained.

You hooked me.. but left me hanging

 

[Matthew777]

I honestly do not understand why homosexuals are given such a hard time. Sure, gay marriage should not be allowed but there should be no reason to have a polarizing political debate over the whole gay issue. It's honestly no worse of a sin than masturbation, something which most heterosexuals would rather not admit to themselves.

 

[MariaRegina]

I honestly do not understand why homosexuals are given such a hard time. Sure, gay marriage should not be allowed but there should be no reason to have a polarizing political debate over the whole gay issue. It's honestly no worse of a sin than masturbation, something which most heterosexuals would rather not admit to themselves.

All sins are serious offenses against God.

To say that one sin is surely not worse than another is to minimize it.

All these sexual sins of thought, word and deed, committed alone or with others, committed deliberately or indeliberately, must be rooted out by the grace of God if we wish to be saved. We must repent.

To give you an example, St. Paul said that we are Temples of the Holy Spirit. The First Council at Jerusalem admonished all new converts (that is us) to "flee from sexual immorality."

So if we engage in any sexual immorality, then we are defiling the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

I honestly do not understand why homosexuals are given such a hard time. Sure, gay marriage should not be allowed but there should be no reason to have a polarizing political debate over the whole gay issue. It's honestly no worse of a sin than masturbation, something which most heterosexuals would rather not admit to themselves.

Masturbation isn't going to corrode society Matthew...gay marriage will, because it as an attempt to move marriage into the realm of meaninglessness.

 

[Matthew777]

Masturbation isn't going to corrode society Matthew...gay marriage will, because it as an attempt to move marriage into the realm of meaninglessness.

I am against gay marriage but I am not in favor of enforcing sodomy laws.

 

[Monica child of God 1]

Masturbation isn't going to corrode society...

Just a thought...masturbation may be corroding society as we speak. Look at the inappropriate contentography industry which basicly exsists to aid in masturbation. Before I gave up on sitcoms and most TV I was shocked by how many references there were to inappropriate content and masturbation in prime time. inappropriate contentography may also be desensitizing those who indulge so that when those beyond risque Victoria's Secret commercials come on no one thinks its a big deal.

Just because we don't see the link outright doesn't mean it isn't affecting society and the way we relate to each other. Because we are interconnected as human beings all sin has some affect on us as a whole.

M.

 

[ufonium2]

I think maybe the reason some groups seem to be obsessed with condemning sexual sin is that our society is obsessed with normalizing it. So maybe the preachers aren't standing up every Sunday and screaming that stealing is wrong because nobody is making our kids watch pro-stealing videos at school, and no states have legalized stealing.

So if my priest chooses to discuss sexual sins more than other sins, or homosexuality more than other sexual sins in particular, I'm OK with that because, in my mind, that's the logical thing to do. Send your troops where the battle is; don't spread them evenly across the country just for the sake of being even.

 

[Miss Shelby]

Practice custody of the eyes, especially when going through those check out stands in the supermarkets where they sell those sensational magazines and newspapers.

All good advice Aria, thanks.

This reminded me of a story. I have a girlfriend, if I were the type of person who has 'best' friends I'd say she's my best friend, We have been friends since childhood. She's a strong Christian woman and just probably one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Anyway, she lives in a small town west of Omaha and one day went into their local grocery store. This is just a little rinky dink town. Anyway she noticed that the magazines in the aisles were risque, but they were just your average ordinary magazines. Cosmopolotan and such. She got so mad at the way these magazines were in eye shot of her children that she demanded to speak to the manager of the store. She told him that her husband and sons should not have to come into the store and see that stuff blatantly out like that, right there where it can't be avoided. And the manager MOVED the magazines. LOL! She is courageous about doing stuff like that. I wish I could be more like her.

Michelle

 

[Miss Shelby]

Masturbation isn't going to corrode society Matthew...gay marriage will, because it as an attempt to move marriage into the realm of meaninglessness.

Masturbation can lead to severe problems with intimacy some of those problems resulting in confusion over sexual orientation. That's why the Catholic Church considers it a mortal sin. It is a very destructive sin, people just do not realize it.


Michelle

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

All good advice Aria, thanks.

This reminded me of a story. I have a girlfriend, if I were the type of person who has 'best' friends I'd say she's my best friend, We have been friends since childhood. She's a strong Christian woman and just probably one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Anyway, she lives in a small town west of Omaha and one day went into their local grocery store. This is just a little rinky dink town. Anyway she noticed that the magazines in the aisles were risque, but they were just your average ordinary magazines. Cosmopolotan and such. She got so mad at the way these magazines were in eye shot of her children that she demanded to speak to the manager of the store. She told him that her husband and sons should not have to come into the store and see that stuff blatantly out like that, right there where it can't be avoided. And the manager MOVED the magazines. LOL! She is courageous about doing stuff like that. I wish I could be more like her.

Michelle

You should see it over here in Europe. Women's chest and backsides are blatantly splashed all over the papers at the level of about a one-year old's height in front of stores.

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

Masturbation can lead to severe problems with intimacy some of those problems resulting in confusion over sexual orientation. That's why the Catholic Church considers it a mortal sin. It is a very destructive sin, people just do not realize it.


Michelle

Ah, I stand corrected. Thanks

 

[Miss Shelby]

You should see it over here in Europe. Women's chest and backsides are blatantly splashed all over the papers at the level of about a one-year old's height in front of stores.

Oh that is horrible. And we wonder why we're all so desensitized to it. Don't get me started. I can really go off on how sexually amoral society is today. It's one of those things that really gets under my skin.

Michelle

 

[OrthodoxyUSA]

You wouldn't think that all leads back to eating too much bread would you?

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

You wouldn't think that all leads back to eating too much bread would you?

 

[Rilian]

Good points made by Monica and Miss Shelby.

I also share the concern of Dominus Fidelis. I think the proponents of same sex unions and/or gay "marriage" are leading a frontal assualt on the traditional family. I read an article, I'll see if I can dig it up, that talked about how television now fosters an environment which plays in to this.

 

[Monica child of God 1]

You wouldn't think that all leads back to eating too much bread would you?

"Wise temperance of the stomach is a door to all the virtues. Restrain the stomach, and you will enter Paradise. But if you please and pamper your stomach, you will hurl yourself over the precipice of bodily impurity, into the fire of wrath and fury, you will coarsen and darken your mind, and in this way you will ruin your powers of attention and self-control, your sobriety and vigilance." --The Arena