An Honest Question

When conservative Christian pastors and church members speak against gay marriage, are they responding to their God-given duties, or are they reacting from human fear of and prejudice against something they don't understand?--If Christian people haven't been exposed to close, gay relatives or acquaintances and haven't made an effort to process the right facts, chances are they don't understand enough...?  Please read my other posts from today.... 

A Few Comments--continued

Can mostly agree with the homosexuality booklet, except I wish they'd take out the Bible text on the death penalty for homosexual acts (Leviticus 20:13)....  It was a more primitive time, in some ways, that people lived in at that time....  Among other things, God's people were sometimes permitted, if not required, to kill their enemies....  And after Jesus came to the earth to show us how to live, He said, "Love your enemies...."  People don't live exactly the same way now as they did in the Old Testament times....

Also, the country of England, if not others also, had a death penalty for homosexual acts for hundreds of years....  People have been frightened....  I believe God had His reasons earlier for requiring the death penalty--for a number of sins--but we shouldn't take this judgment into our hands (and I'm not trying to say the Biblical Research Institute did)....  

[Sometimes the Israelites had to uproot their enemies on their way to the Promised Land.  Do Christians need to do that on their way to heaven and the new earth...?  If so, what about the pedophiles, MAPPERS, and child sex traffickers, whom we rarely hear about in churches?  Are we concerned about sin, and the souls of sinners?  Or are we just being critical?  I think we, in the western world, need to look at the history of gays in the western world within the past 1,000 years or more....  My second pamphlet and blog post go back about 700 years--and I got my information from credible sources....  We really need to see the big picture, in my opinion.]

A Few Comments on Church Research

Have been reading a booklet from the Biblical Research Institute of my church on homosexuality and the Bible, Release #6.  Was interested to read Leviticus 18:26, within a chapter on sexual sins.  "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you...."  KJV.  Even the strangers, or foreigners, who were visiting among the Israelites were required to follow the laws....  However, the Bible doesn't say the Israelites had jurisdiction outside of their territory....  Today, the church has authority over their own properties, and they have influence over church members and their homes....

As I've been saying about the apostle Paul, he said in 1 Corinthians 5:13 that, "But them that are without God judgeth...."  Do the conservative churches need to harp on their perceived evils of same-sex marriages OUTSIDE of the church...!?  Or could they show respect for the laws, tactfully, as Romans 13 tells us to honour the laws...?

Currently, my church doesn't want to hire gays as custodians/janitors and pay health benefits to same-sex partners.  But one of our church founders Ellen White, whom we consider to be a prophet, wrote that Jesus healed a lot of people when He was on the earth and He didn't discriminate about who DESERVED to be healed!  He healed everyone who came to Him; and our modern-day health benefits only have to do with healing and health care.

The conservative Christians can have an influence in the world by being a good example and by teaching about God, where they have an appropriate opportunity to do so.  Even selling a non-themed cake [a plain cake or wedding cake] to a same-sex couple is not a sin, according to my understanding at this time.

My Second Pamphlet--continued

Have written an amendment for my second pamphlet.  I wanted to emphasize that we really need some compassion, for gays in different circumstances....  The Bible tells stories about the past, and about the future; and there may be a space in between that we need to consider....  Not for a change WITHIN the churches, but for the public outside of the churches....  [And even though we have our standards within the church, we still may need compassion for some of our own members, also--but not to let down our standards....]

NOTE, added on July 12, 2023:  The earliest date that I know of was 1290 AD, when the church in England was prosecuting homosexual behaviour with a death penalty.  In 1533, under King Henry VIII, the civil courts took over with similar laws--and they lasted until 1861, when the death penalty was replaced with imprisonment or hard labour for 10 years or more.  Sometimes males were prosecuted more than females; and countries under England were affected, as well as European countries and others....  The laws were de-criminalized at different times, some earlier and some later....

My Second Pamphlet

Have written a second pamphlet, especially for conservative Christians.  I made an effort to get their attention and speak their language.

For information on accessing the first pamphlet and the updates, people can go to a post on November 28, 2022, "Accessing My Pamphlet."