So there weren't any gay people in Jerusalem? How do you know this? Where in the Bible does it say there weren't any gay people in Jerusalem? I guess they were all centralized in Rome then... that makes sense.
How do you know I don't know anything about the Bible? I was raised Methodist and went to Bible school for 4 years and I am in fact a semi-historian of many religions. Just because I look at the Bible as a religious text, one of many, and not a word for word book of law, that doesn't mean I know nothing about it. As for God loving every human being, I believe that but Bible hard-liners who try and turn parables into stark contrasts of black and white use the Bible as a tool of hate, and not love. Christianisty was never meant to be this way, and later on I will point out how.
BTW, excellent way of avoiding MY point. If man relays the POINT, then how can we be sure that the point in not fallable?
So Jesus/God treats all people evenly? Then why are people created as homosexuals if by the very act of being that they are to either be tortured by feelings they can NEVER act on, or act on them and burn in hell? Meanwhile, we heterosexuals only have to wait for marriage. People have nothing to do with this argument
I agree that they should have no role. But what you view as "few" is relative. I think a few thousand is a LOT. Enough that the Church feels it needs to protect them as they are running low on those who are willing to become priests.
I guess I should state my true purpose in this argument. Religion has been hijacked by those who feel that the Bible is a book of law, and not a book of spirituality. Christianity was never meant to be this way, and the fact that it is is more a result of it being influenced by PAGAN religions that have been incorporated over the years. Before anyone flips out, but think of all the ritual involved in the Catholic church. Ritual is a direct influence from pagan religions.
From the time when Christianity first begain to spread thousands of years ago, Christianity was a Religion based on a book of Parables that were meant to be applied to the way of life of the day. Orthodox religions are the closest to this in today's society. The closest being the Russian Orthodox Church. They realize that the stories told in the Bible are not meant to be taken literally. The word of God is intended basically to allow poeple to live to the best of thir ability given their circumstances, not to divide people into sinners and saints. Russian Orthodoxy do not even believe in Hell as we do. They believe that Hell is simply the absence of God. Hell is simply rotting in the ground and the dissipation of the soul. They belive Hell is the lack of being.
Modern Christian religions are more exclusive than inclusive and depend on fear to influence people more than love. I believe in God, and I believe in Him because in my heart I love Him. THAT is faith. Believing in God because a book told you to or because its better than the alternative that is Hell, is not. Its hedging your bets.
You claim that I know nothing about the Bible. I claim that what good is that knowledge, if all you know is the iterpretation of the Bible that has been fed to you since birth? How can you make a judgement when you walk through life with blinders on?
Modern religion is a victim from its own dogma that comes mainly not from the way Christianity begain, but from the outside influences it incorporated over the years to win converts. In fact, whole sections of the Bible have been removed. Ever hear of the Book of Enoch? It was originally in the Old Testament, only to be removed by the Catholic Church as heresy. How can the WORD OF GOD be heresy? Easy, it did not fit with the Catholic Church's own dogma. This is not how it was intended to be.
How do I know this? I have had many long conversations with my friend Edward. He is currently working on his discertation to gain his Doctorate of Philosophy and Religion from the Universtity of Pennsylvania.