Lesbian Teens Allowed At Prom -Scottsboro, AL

[Antipas]

Originally Posted by Rico

Along with establishing a nation, God set up a system of welfare to take care of the poor.

Most of our conservative friends will never see this. In their minds such systems are not worth their tax dollars...they'd rather bomb nations for WMDs that don't exist and spend HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars stabilizing the nation afterwards.

[Antipas]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

Regarding the welfare system and other government programs--while I don't think it is as efficient as it should be at present (to say the least), and while I don't want my tax dollars to support people who are simply too lazy to work, I DO want there to be some assistance offered to people who need it. And I don't mind paying for it out of my taxes. I am all for tightening up, but eliminate it? No way. Those who use it will return the favor when they have jobs and start paying taxes.

Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."

Amen!

[Antipas]

Originally Posted by Timmy

I happen to believe that homosexuality is not a sin. But even if it is, wouldn't it be better just to let God take care of it? Don't OPs teach that the Holy Spirit convicts and changes? Someone here the other day said they don't even have to preach about dress standards. The HS takes care of it. Why can't He do that for homosexuality, too? How powerful is He, anyway? How loving is He? If it's important to God, He'll take care of it!

Could you elaborate on the bolded part of your post above?

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

I don't think it's the idea of a lesbian attending the prom that may have people up in the air. I think it's the idea of lesbians attending the prom, showing public displays of affection, dancing together, and maybe even kissing one another that folks are going to object to.

For me it's the idea of normalizing it for our society to the point of insisting we have to be accepting of such a lifestyle. To object is to full of hate according to them

[Antipas]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

For me it's the idea of normalizing it for our society to the point of insisting we have to be accepting of such a lifestyle. To object is to full of hate according to them.

I see no issue with personally objecting to any lifestyle that one deems to be inappropriate. I think the issue is how far do we expect the government to enforce our personal objections on others and the lifestyles they have chosen to live? How far do we empower the government to police our bedrooms and our marriages?

Some things, appropriate or not, are just personal and private issues. I think we've become a tabloid society focused on the sensational and the outrageous. We're whipped up into a heightened state of hostility toward one another. It's just not good for our society. It would be best to allow individuals to live the lives they choose and allow churches and private entities to address the various issues among their constituents and counsel those who need the issue addressed in their lives. It just seems like we're exploiting private and personal behaviors to generate animosity to fuel our cause.

As a Christian I'm getting tired of every time I hear Christian social commentary I'm given something, someone, or some group of individuals to be mad at. I didn't know Christians were supposed to be so angry at so much all the time. C'mon...the world will be the world. Do we expect their culture or their politics to reflect values that are born of having the Holy Ghost? This world isn't going to be set right until Jesus returns.

[TK Burk]

Originally Posted by Timmy

I happen to believe that homosexuality is not a sin. But even if it is, wouldn't it be better just to let God take care of it? Don't OPs teach that the Holy Spirit convicts and changes? Someone here the other day said they don't even have to preach about dress standards. The HS takes care of it. Why can't He do that for homosexuality, too? How powerful is He, anyway? How loving is He? If it's important to God, He'll take care of it!

Originally Posted by Antipas

Could you elaborate on the bolded part of your post above?

Sure, Timmy can explain what HE believes, but there is no way he show scripturally where God agrees with him!

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by Antipas

Bro. Eastman, there are many genetic issues that have developed as a result of sin. Paul said that in our flesh dwells no good thing. The flesh has lusts and corruption of it's own. Are we to be surprised if science finds that the genetics of the flesh are predisposed towards sin?

Also there have been blind tests showing that homosexuals hormonally respond to same sex hormones given in blind samples. There appears to be something biological to this. Also we see teens that have killed themselves because they couldn't just "choose" to be straight. Certainly if they could have chosen to be straight they would have. Also we have spouses who endured years of pretending that they were not homosexual because they thought they could just choose to be straight. Most will tell you that if there was anything they ever wanted in this world it was to be straight. But they just weren't.

My pastor has talked about this on occasion and has stated that he isn't shocked at all if science proves it's genetic....all they prove is that the flesh is predisposed to sinful inclinations. We serve a healing and forgiving God who died to save a fallen, twisted, warped, creation deformed by sin.

Here's a question to consider. Did you "choose" to be straight? I didn't. I couldn't be gay if you paid me a million dollars. If you feel it is a choice...does that mean that you could choose to be gay? If you couldn't "choose" to be gay and I couldn't "choose" to be gay...what makes us think it's entirely a choice? I think science proves that it is a lust of the flesh that some have as a result of man's fallen nature. This lust burns in their flesh regardless of their desire to be straight. They can only get victory over this through the power of the Holy Ghost, living clean lives. However, they may only face absolute deliverance through a healing of their complete person. Jesus can heal one's genetics, delivering from this lust of the flesh.

Antipas, you give excuse for those that don't have a choice, I beg to differ, God is going to judge mankind based upon his choice. I do not see any reason why men couldn't make the choice to abstain from the behavior. The chemical imbalance thing isn't going to work standing before God. Just as poor behavior because of road rage isn't going to work when standing before a traffic judge; what would the judge say to the perp when he says "sorry judge, I have a chemical imbalance whenever I'm on the highway and someone does something to set me off"? Do you think the judge will let him off the hook because there was nothing he could do about the chemical imbalance? Especially if he harms or kills someone,Dude, get real.

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by Antipas

I've never entirely understood those who believe it's just a choice. I always wonder...do they believe this because at one time it was a viable choice for themselves and they feel they choose to be straight? LOL

Any real straight dude can say that being gay couldn't ever be a choice.

Why do some people steal and some do not? Why do some people commit adultery and some do not? Why do some people kill and some do not? It is because certain people have certain weaknesses that are there temptations to fight. One doesn't choose to be gay because of his strength to be straight, one chooses to be gay because of a weakness. Just as some people who do not have an issue with not stealing, and not committing adultery, and not killing, and not.......... well, you get my point.

[BrotherEastman]

Originally Posted by Antipas

I'm arguing the conservative point in contrast to reality. LOL

To which you aren't doing a very good job. I'm still waiting to see a convincing argument.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Antipas

Could you elaborate on the bolded part of your post above?

Originally Posted by Lost and Found

Sure, Timmy can explain what HE believes, but there is no way he show scripturally where God agrees with him!

True! I can't show scripturally, but I don't accept that the Bible is 100% infallible and inspired, anymore.

One of my reasons for this is the realization that way too many things don't make sense. Spent decades believing it, but finally got tired of the contortions we all had to go through to turn contradictions into "apparent" contradictions, etc. Every error in the Bible can be explained away if you work at it. But why work at it?

There are also a lot of "apparent" broken promises. The promises of healing are almost never fulfilled. As with the contradictions, there are always explanations. They didn't have "enough" faith, or there is sin, or they didn't follow the instructions. Sorry, but I don't think God is so nasty that he will let someone's child die because of loop holes. It's much more likely that God didn't have anything to do with inspiring the words "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up". It was wishful thinking.

There may have been a good basis for forbidding homosexuality, back then, I don't know. Or maybe it was just the writers' own prejudices coming through in the commands they thought God had for us. But now? The condemnation and preaching against it, and the resulting artificial guilt, and the hateful attitudes toward gays are the worst things about it. If there are any truly delivered ex-gays, then for every one of them, there are probably thousands who are struggling, frustrated and depressed, wondering why God doesn't help them. It's another broken "apparent" promise, if you ask me.

Why is there a need to preach and teach against it, even supposing I'm wrong about it and God does hate it? As I posted before, why not just let God deal with it? What could possibly go wrong? Would homosexuality continue, even among Christians? Probably, but that would be God's decision, not ours. And what if I'm right? God would let them all live their own lives in peace. And as it is now, all the depression, destroyed families, and suicides are completely unnecessary. They were because of a lie.