Much of this thread seems to be pointless arguing..so I'm going to answer Psy directly.
ok, wtf is wrong with you guys and gay ppl?
how the hell would you know if its a requirement or a choice?
im pretty sure that you are too homophobic to go and ask them, too. if it is a choice, then how the hell do you explain gay children? having crushes on other males, or other females? does a child of 5 years of age have a choice? no. it cant even shit on the toilet for itself, let alone think for itself.
If you are a true Christian, you would accept it. you wouldnt hate it/ dislike it. you would live in harmony with it. "Love thy neighbour as yourself".
so, by saying that you hate homosexuals, who have done nothing wrong, or that it sickens you, is sinning. you are disobeying one of God's rules.
I myself am atheist, however i respect all religions, and i have respect for all kinds of thoughts and ways of life, etc.the thing that i find hard to understand is how EVERY religion says it is the correct religion, and we should all believe in that one specific religion. our own ideas are banished, and we are pushed towards a religion, and given a set of ideas, which are not our own. from a very young age, young children do not get a choice as to which religion they can believe in.
each religion has its own flaws and its religious book contradicts itself a few times...
if there is a creator(which many of you believe there is) then why let so many people be pained? in Christianity, i have been told that it is because of that stupid eve and adam, who disobeyed God's rules.
also, who created the creator? nothing simply exists. there must be a reason to everything...
i know i am a sinner. i know i am a non-believer, a questioner. but if the Christian God exists, then i will be forgiven.
also, i feel that Christians these days aren't Christians... "Love thy neighbour as yourself", the whole 'Jesus sacrificed his life for mankind. we should all get along and forgive each other'. Its not what most alleged "Christians" do nowadays.
furthermore, the "Christian" Church itself has disobeyed Gods rules. 'thou shalt not steal'/ 'thou shalt not bear false witness upon thy neighbour'. Also, the 4th commandment, about the "no work on sunday", priests work on sundays, and they get paid for that...;p
First, I do live in harmony with it. I treat gays the exact same way as I treat anyone else. Jesus sure didn't hate on them, why should I?
And yes, you should love your neighbor, but that doesn't mean you should love their sin. You can love your best friend but hate the fact that they lied to you about such and such. See what I'm saying? So, I love the people who are gay, I just don't love the fact that they're gay.
Next, saying that homosexuality sickens you isn't a sin. Homosexuality sickens God. Check out Leviticus. Again, you love the people, not the sin.
To your next topic.
Can you point me out a place where the Bible contradicts itself?
And yes, people are always influenced at a young age toward whatever those who raise them believe is true. That's not a religious thing, that's a human thing. It applies to all aspects of life.
Here's the thing about pain: We caused it. When God created us, he gave us free will. We aren't his puppets, we're his creations. However, Adam and Eve took that free will and decided to sin. This created the barrier between us. This is where pain began. And seeing us in pain pains God, but he will not stop it. Why? Not because he enjoys it. Not because he doesn't love us. He won't stop it because he gave us free will, and to violate that free will would be to go back on something he gave us a long time before. Humans love freedom, and hate the responsibility. That's the exact same thing that's happening here. All this chaos? God didn't cause it. We did.
And you say that nothing simply exists. What's your theory on how everything came to be, then? Cosmos? They simply exist. Some sort of big bang? (I'm not trying to sound sarcastic or anything here, I'm trying to remember all of the different theories. I'm sorry if I'm coming across rude at all.) The thing is, everything had to come from something. And it only makes sense that it all came from the one thing that
didn't come from something. You see what I'm saying? It makes more sense to believe that an all-powerful God has always existed and always will created everything we see, than to believe that some powerless gasses just happened to mix together in a way that all this came to be.
You say that you're a sinner. We all are. It doesn't matter what religion, even as a Christian..I'm a sinner. That's our problem.
You say you're a non-believer. I cannot make you believe. I wouldn't want to. Forcing a belief onto someone is the farthest thing from love.
You say you're a questioner. So am I. And it's healthy. You see, there's too much religion these days. I'm sick of it. God wants to have a relationship with you. He wants it to be personal. Not a bunch of rules that we feel obliged to follow. What kind of love would that be? And what kind of relationship doesn't have questions?
You say that if there's a Christian God, you will be forgiven. That's your choice, and yours alone. God opened that door when Jesus gave his life, but you have to choose that forgiveness. Why? Because he gave you free will. He won't force himself upon you. That's not what he's about. That's not what love's about.
And you're right about Christians. We suck. ahaha. With a few exceptions, almost none of us are much anything like Jesus. And it's sad. The fact is, people don't have anything against Jesus: They're problem is with Christians. And I can't say that I blame them. The church has been screwing up for hundreds of years. Thousands, now.
So I won't tell you to look at Christians. Christians aren't the point. Paul knew it. 2 Corinthians 4:7 - "If you only look at us, you might as well miss the brightness." We're gonna fail. Repeatedly. Thank God (no pun intended) that Jesus won't. Ever.
my friend, my brother. i feel you are wrong here. we can go back to ancient greeks, waaayy before christ. there would be relationships between young boys and men.
they did not judge others by sexual orientation, but their status, their strength. so why should we in modern times?
they would have sex with women to reproduce, which is the main reason as to why we have sex. they would have sex with the boys for pleasure, as they couldnt have children. this practise was spread across the world, and im sure the romans did it too. Alexander the great was gay.
so, its not really any different to what happens nowadays in modern times.
Furthermore, what about homosexuality in animals?
animals dont have a choice. its instinctive. WE HUMANS are animals, too. just we have developed, evolved and moved on from the other animals.
ive given you some possible evidence that it is not a choice, now you try to prove me wrong.
i did not mean to disrespect you in any way, if i have. and if i have, i apologise.
I confess ignorance. I have a bad habit of "B.S.-ing" my way through things. Something I picked up in school. ;D
I still believe that it's a choice. A child can be born with musical talent, and choose not to do anything with music in his life. Just because there is some inclination doesn't mean that it's a requirement.
And, of course, I believe that humans are above animals. God made us to be caretakers of the world, he says. Obviously we're doing a sucky job, but that goes back to free will again.
A few years ago I took a course on evolution..a course on disproving macroevolution. It's a dying theory. Did you know that even a good number of non-religions scientists are discarding it? It simply isn't a solid theory. It made plenty of sense until one scientific breakthrough: Genetics. That was the final blow for macroevolution. You can do some of your own research if you'd like. Microevolution (when animals adapt to changes, yet remain within their species) is scientifically proven. However, macroevolution (when animals adapt to changes by changing species) isn't possible, as discovered by research in DNA and genetics.
And true, there are so many similarities between animals and humans in their makeup..but consider that the author's signature. Ahaha. Every creator has a feature that is like their trademark.
I'm not scientifically advanced enough to prove to you anything, I confess. So I won't try to "prove" you wrong.
And there's nothing to apologize for, bro. Nothing at all.