Has this forum changed you?

[Ridgeback]

Bascially, homosexuals either engage in homosexual sex or they abstain for religious or other reasons. Has any argument, any member, any thing presented here in this forum caused any homosexual to start abstaining from homosexual sex?

If anyone has started abstaining, what is the reason why and/or what argument caused the turning point?

 

[jamielindas]

Absolutely not.
Unless I was actually harming someone, causing suffering or damage to someone or myself, why would I stop?
My morality is based on compassion, respect, and reducing the suffering of others, not on rules and absolutism.
Nothing that has been said on this forum actually indicates that (consensual) homosexual sex is damaging to individuals or society. It has shown how damaging bigotry and hatred are though. It has also shown how powerful religious doctrine can be at overriding analytical thought at times.

 

[HaloHope]

Bascially, homosexuals either engage in homosexual sex or they abstain for religious or other reasons. Has any argument, any member, any thing presented here in this forum caused any homosexual to start abstaining from homosexual sex?

If anyone has started abstaining, what is the reason why and/or what argument caused the turning point?

Definately not.

Why would someone elses interpretation of a book or posts on the internet stop me from being sexually intimate with the woman I love? If I let it influence me I'd need sectioning.

 

[jamielindas]

Though... since the ruling in CA, everyone has asked me if I'm going to get married....
WHAT?! I've only been with my bf for 6 months! I'm not even close to thinking about marriage.... though I do want to some day...

 

[FindingaWay]

Since I started posting here (under a different name) I have gone from a position of being homosexual but inactive due to my religious convictions, to being involved with another woman, and back to believing that it is not right... for me at least.
And the hurt and damage that that relationship caused, and is still causing, confirms what I guess I knew all along.
But... nothing I have read here has changed my belief that homosexual activity is against God's perfect will. Perhaps the example of Christians who are able to reconcile their sexuality with their beliefs made me a little more open to the concept... but ultimately, my life choices cannot be informed by a messageboard!

 

[Apollo Celestio]

Informing and being informed are quite capable on a message board. I am no homosexual, but the debates on this forum have changed my views, though I did arrive on the fence, gradually climbing down to the viewpoint I have today.

 

[jamielindas]

Since I started posting here (under a different name) I have gone from a position of being homosexual but inactive due to my religious convictions, to being involved with another woman, and back to believing that it is not right... for me at least.
And the hurt and damage that that relationship caused, and is still causing, confirms what I guess I knew all along.
But... nothing I have read here has changed my belief that homosexual activity is against God's perfect will. Perhaps the example of Christians who are able to reconcile their sexuality with their beliefs made me a little more open to the concept... but ultimately, my life choices cannot be informed by a messageboard!

Are you saying that you've stopped having same sex attractions or that you've stopped acting on them or that you never did act on them?

 

[jamielindas]

Informing and being informed are quite capable on a message board. I am no homosexual, but the debates on this forum have changed my views, though I did arrive on the fence, gradually climbing down to the viewpoint I have today.

remind me again of your viewpoint...

 

[FindingaWay]

Are you saying that you've stopped having same sex attractions or that you've stopped acting on them or that you never did act on them?

Started acting on them, and stopped again.
I am not convinced, despite the arguments on here, that it is possible to 'stop having' this... though I remain convinced that God can change me whenever He wants to do so.

 

[jamielindas]

Started acting on them, and stopped again.
I am not convinced, despite the arguments on here, that it is possible to 'stop having' this... though I remain convinced that God can change me whenever He wants to do so.

yes... the evidence does seem to point that same sex attraction does not 'go away'
yes, you can choose not to act on it,
but what makes someone a homosexual...having same sex attraction or acting on it?

 

[HaloHope]

yes... the evidence does seem to point that same sex attraction does not 'go away'
yes, you can choose not to act on it,
but what makes someone a homosexual...having same sex attraction or acting on it?

If you have the attraction, your homosexual. Acting on it determines whether your a sexually active homosexual.

FindingAWay:- would just like to say that I pray that whatever happens in life I wish you happiness, if celibacy is what brings you happiness, contentment and peace with God then all I can say is, good for you

 

[jamielindas]

If you have the attraction, your homosexual. Acting on it determines whether your a sexually active homosexual.

FindingAWay:- would just like to say that I pray that whatever happens in life I wish you happiness, if celibacy is what brings you happiness, contentment and peace with God then all I can say is, good for you

I second that. If celibacy is where you find happiness, I wish you the best.

I know that celibacy and hiding who I was and what I wanted wasn't right for me. I spent 5 years (14-19) denying my sexuality and working to create a heterosexual life for myself. The pain and psychological damage I did to myself during that time still haunts me. The thought of not falling in love with man I would spend the rest of my life with and raise a family with felt like a little death every day.

 

[Apollo Celestio]

remind me again of your viewpoint...

My viewpoint is that by the bible homosexual intercourse is a sin, and anyone calling themselves Christians should refrain from it, as with all sin. But I don't think we should try and tell non Christians what to do, since it's not a life or death issue.

 

[KCKID]

My viewpoint is that by the bible homosexual intercourse is a sin, and anyone calling themselves Christians should refrain from it, as with all sin. But I don't think we should try and tell non Christians what to do, since it's not a life or death issue.

Please don't think that I'm picking on you, Ishida. However, yet again I feel the need to point out that other Christians DO NOT regard mere WORDS from a book determining with absolute certainty what is a sin and what is not a sin. As mentioned in another thread ...keeping a 'Sunday sabbath' is seen to be a sin (an infringement of the Royal Law) by some Christians as THEY believe it dishonors the 4th-commandment. Is one's 'Christianity' determined by which day they choose to honor? If not, why not? After all, God DID ask that His followers REMEMBER the Sabbath and to keep it holy. This is the same God who gave all of those other instructions that we hear all the time on this sub-forum.

I'm not meaning to derail the thread but simply to make a pertinent point about the PRINT from a BOOK and its unbelievable influence on the minds of people.

Furthermore, some professed Christians DO NOT regard their 'Christianity' as being dependent on a belief/adherence of EVERY printed jot and tittle from a book. One's heart determines who is and who is not a Christian ...NOT a book. Moreover, this 'heart condition' is usually evident to others ...regardless of one's sexual orientation.

I disagree with you. I believe that a homosexual CAN be a very effective Christian and I find it offensive to state otherwise. YOU, Ishida, have determined otherwise. NOT God. That's what I believe anyway. Is my belief an absolute? Could I be wrong? Could I be right? Could I be right but also wrong? Who determines if I'm right ...wrong ...other ...?

 

[Apollo Celestio]

Well, that "book" does talk about the sabbath issue

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

It supposes at the heart of this issue is how we view the scriptures. I don't think we can just throw them away.

 

[FindingaWay]

I second that. If celibacy is where you find happiness, I wish you the best.

I know that celibacy and hiding who I was and what I wanted wasn't right for me. I spent 5 years (14-19) denying my sexuality and working to create a heterosexual life for myself. The pain and psychological damage I did to myself during that time still haunts me. The thought of not falling in love with man I would spend the rest of my life with and raise a family with felt like a little death every day.

Celibacy is not an option, since I am married... in the belief that it would change me.
Didn't work... and yes, hiding is incredibly painful. But there is little choice.

I don't think that a messageboard will convince me that it is right to leave my family and live in a way that I cannot reconcile with my faith, much as I would like it to.

 

[scraparcs]

Yes. Thanks to this board, I have changed and went from being heterosexual to believing that being homosexual is the only right way. Therefore, despite my inclinations and my utter lack of desire for other women, I have vowed that I will henceforth not have heterosexual relations and will only have relations with other women.

[/obvious sarcasm]

 

[scraparcs]

Yes. Thanks to this board, I have changed and went from being heterosexual to believing that being homosexual is the only right way. Therefore, despite my inclinations and my utter lack of desire for other women, I have vowed that I will henceforth not have heterosexual relations and will only have relations with other women.

[/obvious sarcasm]

 

[scraparcs]

Yes. Thanks to this board, I have changed and went from being heterosexual to believing that being homosexual is the only right way. Therefore, despite my inclinations and my utter lack of desire for other women, I have vowed that I will henceforth not have heterosexual relations and will only have relations with other women.

[/obvious sarcasm]

 

[KCKID]

Well, that "book" does talk about the sabbath issue
Originally Posted by Romans 14

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
​

It supposes at the heart of this issue is how we view the scriptures. I don't think we can just throw them away.

Not to derail the thread but the above scripture is not talking about the 7th-day Sabbath at all. It's referring to ordinances. Besides that, this is an epistle of Paul and he had no authority to tamper with anything God had initiated. God giveth, Paul (mere mortal and fellow sinner) no taketh away!

I don't care which day Christians choose to honor, Saturday or Sunday - I DO know which day is God's Sabbath, however! - but my point is that Christians interpret the words of the Bible in different ways. Homosexuality, per se, is not a sin according to the scriptures and it's only wishful thinking by the homophobes into believing that it does. Sodomy is the 'abomination' as is long hair, sex with a menstrating woman, planting crops side by side, disobedient children, dishonoring the Sabbath, the wearing of two opposing fabrics, etc. etc. You've heard them all before on this subforum but sodomy (homosexuality?) is the only one that's ever highlighted. If we were to have a subforum on the evils of 'crop planting' it would die a quick death. Why? Because it's not popular with Christians. Condemning homosexuals IS a popular Christian past-time.

Do you henestly not see how ludicrous the argument against homosexuality is, Ishida? Once more, homosexuality/homosexual is not found in the Bible. The word 'homosexual' is the word that (wrongly) replaced the word 'sodomy'. If anything it's sodomy and NOT sexual orientation that should be targetted. Even then, sodomy appears to have been a part of a bygone law.

Hmmm . . .I've said all of the above a number of times previously. I wonder why I have to keep repeating myself? Oh, that's right. People choose not to listen because the witch-hunt against homosexuals is too great a temptation ...it's what many Christians get off on.