Choice or Chance - Sin or Sentiment

This is a response to a blog from a friend of mine which was a response to a blog from a "friend" of hers... 

My friend is a lesbian; her 'friend' disapproves. Read on.

I am never so appalled as when a 'christian' starts espousing faith-based "wisdom" about something that is controversial. I find it especially telling when you ask one of 'them' to explain or substantiate some of their ranting...  You are liable to get the same old rhetoric and hoopla and when all else fails the old standby  "...that's what faith is all about". 

As near as I can tell, the ultimate goal is to make certain that absolutely no one is happy (except the mindless drones who meander contentedly through life, denying themselves many forms of pleasure in the now, for a promise of eternal happiness forever-after -- after they die that is).  

So here is this wonderful, loving, christian woman writing about how forgiving she and God can be of the horrible evil that is homosexuality.  You know what else I find interesting... when a heterosexual relationship is brought into question for one reason or other, a common response is 'Well, you can't help who you fall in love with".  Unless of course you 'choose' to be gay. WTF ever!

 - - Here is a snippet of the blog that started this...

...put your arm around that person and let them KNOW they are loved by God, Healer, the Almighty One who has defeated death, defeated Satan.  This war that goes on now is a war for each individuals soul.  God fights for every one persons soul out there.  Yours, mine, your sisters, brothers, mothers, neighbors, and yes...your gay friend.  Am I saying that homosexuality is OK?  Well, if I go by what the bible says, then no.  And despite the fact that I have a couple of friends who are gay...friends that I think are wonderful people, I believe that living a gay lifestyle is wrong.  It's not how God intended it.  It is a sin...

She then goes on to 'quote'/reprint a whole article from someone else, a woman who has spent her life denying who she is and what she feels because it is 'wrong'...

- - - - - - snippet of article - - - - - - - 

What I Found Waiting for Me   

by Kristen Johnson

 

I had been a Christian since I was five years old, the daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian ministers, yet I struggled with same sex attraction. I also had engaged in unhealthy relationships with men.

Although I dated in high school, I was ambivalent toward the boys I dated. I was very outgoing and active in music, theater, cheerleading, and other activities. Yet, underneath all this activity and “normalcy” I was struggling with my sexuality and self-image.

In college, I had a non-physical, emotionally dependent relationship with my roommate, which lasted over four years. I was terrified of the romantic love I felt toward her, rationalizing the relationship as merely a deep friendship. Because of my attachment to her, I was not motivated to date men or desire marriage.

After college, however, I became physically involved with a man while I was overseas. I was relieved to be in the arms of a man rather than a woman, but the loss of my virginity, my increasing promiscuity, and my occasional abuse of alcohol began to take its toll. My relationship with this man ended with my having a miscarriage.

In my late twenties, I finally acted out my homosexual feelings and had an emotional and physical affair with a woman. Initially, I felt euphoric, and yet at the same time I felt as if a war was raging inside of me. It was during this affair that I was forced to reconcile being a Christian and living in a homosexual relationship.

I wrestled with the Lord in prayer: I questioned him and I begged him. I attempted to find peace by reading books that described Christians who had reconciled their faith and homosexuality, and I even tried attending a gay-friendly church. However, my anxiety only increased because God was making it clear as I read Scripture that God’s plan for my sexuality was staring at me in Genesis and in the words of Jesus. 

 Does this sound like a choice this woman made? That makes as much sense as someone choosing forty years ago to be black. 

My question is this: How can something be a sin if it isn't a choice? 

Will someone please reference some specific scripture here that says that homosexuality is wrong. I mean I realize that the bible can say anything you want it to. Let's face it - the bible clearly says: "...and Judas went out and hanged himself. Go thou and do likewise." Take any two verses in the bible and prove any argument. 

While we are quoting scripture - let me throw a good one around.

Matthew 7  says:

Judge not lest ye be judged...

I think it is shameful that the most judgemental and the least tolerant people I know, call themselves 'Christians'.   Everywhere I turn I see WWJD.  What would Jesus do? My guess is he would have another 'cleansing' as with the money-changers then  he would weep and finally he would say "Let my children come unto me".

I remember as a very young child singing the song 'Jesus Loves the Little Children - All the Children of the World - Red and Yellow, Black and White - They are Precious in His Sight' and even then I knew people who sang it but did not live it. 

The bible says "Let him without sin cast the first stone".  Assuming someone thinks that being born a certain way is a sin, it sounds an awful lot like it is none of our business.