Posted on 05/24/2013 8:24:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Between the faction of gay Christians who are happy with their sexual identity and "ex-gays," who say they've removed their homosexual yearnings, is a third group that gets little attention. These so-called Side B Christians identify as gay and believe it's not sinful to do so. But because they see acting on their orientation as ungodly, they commit to a life of celibacy.
Now, for the first time, a sociologist has taken an in-depth look at what makes Side Bs tick, particularly how they navigate their same-sex desires and their awkward position as stuck in the middle of ex-gay groups and content gay Christians. The study is small, but finds that Side Bs experience both tension and connection with these two groups. (The origins of the "Side B" term are foggy, but the terminology seems to come from the organization the Gay Christian Network, which labels gay Christians who do not see their sexuality as sinful as "Side A" and those who do as "Side B.")
"The networks overlap with these two groups very strongly, and they did often feel kind of caught in the middle, certainly," said study researcher S.J. Creek, a sociologist at Hollins University of Virginia.
The study of Side B Christians grew out of a larger research project by Creek looking into the lives of ex-gay Christians. This movement, which centers largely around the organization Exodus International, claims that same-sex desire can be stifled and that sexual orientation can be changed — hence the term "ex-gay." Numbers on ex-gay individuals are hard to come by, but Exodus International claims 3,000 people worldwide attend one of its ministry events each week.
In interviewing people who had sought help from ex-gay groups and then left, Creek found two distinct groups:
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Geez, and we thought the Soviets were bad. This is far more radical. And they (the radical opponents of the natural family) are accomplishing more evil with confusion and "consent," than the Soviets did with coercion and force.
Sometimes it’s not a substantive disagreement. There is much confusion in language right now.
"You can," he said. "The rest of you, can't"
Question: Is heterosexual fornication a lesser sin than homosexual fornication?
I agree
Exactly. Why everyone makes it seem like it's SOOOOO hard to be a Christian with homosexual desires over that of a Christian with equally strong, normal, heterosexual desires is beyond me.
Desire is desire and the only difference is how it's directed. Sin is sin.
It's not stronger desire or harder to manage because it's directed toward the same sex as opposed to the opposite sex.
What so many people fail to realize is that temptation is NOT sin.
Temptation comes, but it’s what we do with the temptation. Do we resist it through the power of the Holy Spirit?
Or do we entertain and engage it and then end up falling into sin?
So being tempted by homosexual sin is not sin itself, nor is it any person’s identity. It’s simply an area where they are easily tempted and they struggle with it. I pity people who deal with that particular attraction because of the stigma attached to it. Nobody is as hard on people for being tempted sexually when it’s with members of the opposite sex, and yet it still is sexual temptation.
Praise God that He can deliver and free people from homosexuality.
Anyway, Romans indicates that same sex attraction reveals a depth of depravity greater than usual, but there is also 1 Corinthians 6 where Paul says,.....
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Homosexuality is a choice, just like all sin is.
Good article from 2009 on this topic-
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10082#.UaGaqkBQFsc
We live in a media culture which uses sexual stimulation 24/7/365 for random entertainment, sales, and social change strategies. This combination of a temptation-packed, visually-saturated, "lust-o-genic" culture, plus a social-change agenda to twist people away from a commitment to sex that is specifically procreative, marital, and holy, has set up everybody for barrages of temptation.
And although "everybody" is the target, young males are the bulls-eye. Hence the LGBT campaign to capture the Boy Scouts.
How far this has been wrested from the will of God and from our own good!
May God help us all.
Amen! Prison convicts engaging in homosexual behavior has always been a strong contra-indicator of the “born that way” myth. Active homosexuals are perverts, they CHOOSE to act that way, and they try to convert others. Promiscuous activity is a choice driven by evil temptations that are not resisted.
How could any man really know that?
Is original sin considered a choice?
Show me “original sin” from Scripture.
I’m not familiar enough with scripture to do that. I thought original sin was what we all had because of Adam and Eve.
We have a sin nature.
That is what makes it so easy to sin, but that is not sin itself.
Sin is a choice, just like with Adam and Eve.
They CHOSE to disobey.
We choose to disobey.
So no one has original sin, it doesn’t exist.
Thanks
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.