Which "lifestyles" are acceptable.

[Jeffrey H 25]

"I don't care about your lifestyle as long as it is checked at the door ..."

That's why the BSA does criminal background checks on adult applications.  They want to see what is being checked at the door.  The various lifestyles out there is why we have youth protection and two-deep leadership. 

[Engineer61 19]

"Acceptable? In whose sight? I try to live my life as God would want me to...and I always fall short. Who among you is qualified to judge? "

 

Don't you mean ...

 

"I try to live my life as (I believe) God would want me to...and I always fall short."

 

That's the rub ... we don't know what God wants...and all we know of Him is what we read in books written by Man. Not really a definitive reference.

 

Reminds me of a joke on God and religions...for another time perhaps.

[BadenP 93]

Barry

 

I think that passage I quoted speaks for itself, and it is not just about hypocrisy.

 

People love to judge others using their own lifestyle as the ideal, that does not make it right or impartial by any stretch of the imagination. That is why I used the example of Jesus, taking in all who came to him without question, without a third degree, and looked at them with a sense of compassion and caring, seeing the true person. For us to do otherwise is not being a true Christian. In fact what you are saying is being truly hypocritical to what we are called to by Jesus.

[Eagledad 2779]

>>I think that passage I quoted speaks for itself, and it is not just about hypocrisy.

[BadenP 93]

Barry

 

My point was on the topic of this thread, it is not our place to judge anothers lifestyle, even if we may disagree with it. For as the quote states if we judge than we ourselves and our lifestyles are open to judgement. The point is we are not the ones to judge how others choose to live their lives as there is only one true judge of all. This is not about individual sin, it is about judging and condemming a whole group or groups of people based on limited human understanding.

 

This kind of discrimination has been used to justify extermination of whole groups of people throughout history because they were different in lifestyle or beliefs. The point is it is not your place or my place or anyone elses place to pass judgement on any other group of people.

[Eagledad 2779]

>>The point is it is not your place or my place or anyone elses place to pass judgement on any other group of people.

[BadenP 93]

 

Oh Barry, Barry

 

Where do you get off with making the statement the Bible tells us to judge? If you are referring to the book of Leviticus let me remind you as a Christian that Jesus is the new covenant and supercedes any Old Testament covenant that was made with the ancient Hebrews. In fact Jesus himself says "I am the new and everlasting covenant",

 

What is a "normal heterosexual family" anyway, one where the spouses cheat on each other or beat or abuse their kids, depression, suicide, or get drunk and do drugs every night, fake illnesses to collect Workers Comp or Welfare, steals from the workplace, etc etc.

 

In all my years of counseling experience just about every so called "normal hetereosexual family" I have counseled has had at least one or more of these factors going on in their families, because you see Barry there really is no such thing as a "normal hetereosexual family" it is an ideal that few if any can live up to. We are ALL imperfect!!!

 

You can disagree if you like but passing judgement/condemnation on a group because you disagree with their lifestyle is beyond any of our paygrades and is truly UnChristian.

[Eagledad 2779]

There are lots of references on how we should judge, but you can just back to the scripture in mathew you refereced.

 

Barry

[BadenP 93]

Barry

 

Why are you so fixated on the one scripture that you do not respond to the rest of the posts content? Life is not all black or white, there are a lot of gray areas and sometimes you find your argument has left you trapped on the edge of a cliff with no where to go but off. Enjoy your trip down.

[Scoutfish 16]

Speaking of book of Leviticus ...I was just reading some interesting stuff the other day.

 

According to the book of Leviticus, I could sell my daughter into slavery..if I had one, I could stone a neighbopr to death for working on the Sabbath, I could kill somebody for cutting the hair around his temples...I should be killed for touching a pig, my clothes had better be of only one fiber ...UH oh! Wearing the moisture wicking blend scouts shirts is a sin!

 

And several generations of men in my family are doomed as we had garden with more than one crop in them..which is clearly a sin.

 

So, Do you follow Leviticus and Exodus strictly and specifically?

 

If so, I'd imagine you would not only be in jail, but would also be an outcast of your church.

 

 

[BadenP 93]

Scoutfish

 

No one, especially Christians should take the rules in Leviticus literally, they were written by men, not ordained from God, for a different time and a different people. At best they supply a historical content of the ancient Hebrew culture. Exodus was the story of Gods covenant with the Jewish people which was replaced by Jesus Christs birth, teachings, and ultimate sacrifice for all humanity.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

Hello Baden P,

 

 

I don't think we need to adopt the sexual standards of the Roman Empire either, but that's what we are doing.

 

I just finished reading a biography of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and the sexual morality of Christianity was a huge change compared to that which prevailed in Rome.

 

The values of Christianity at the time were the recognizably those of the Catholic Church today. It's amazing how durable they have been now for two thousand years. (just as an example, sex was seen as a utilitarian act to conceive children rather than something done for pleasure).

 

Personally I don't see much to recommend the sexual license that is increasingly the values of the day. It has wounded or destroyed immense numbers of families and killed off more developing human beings than Hitler and Stalin killed off --- combined.

[Scoutfish 16]

SEattle, I pretty much agree in that I am either not into, or do not believe in do I follow the ideas of homosexuality, Polygamous marrages, , Bisexuality, non monogamous marrages or relationships, or even orgies for those not in any type or relationship.

 

But I do have to argue ( surprise , right? ) a counterpoiint to something you said:

 

"The values of Christianity at the time were the recognizably those of the Catholic Church today. It's amazing how durable they have been now for two thousand years. (just as an example, sex was seen as a utilitarian act to conceive children rather than something done for pleasure). "

 

Yeah, but the other sexual values have been around that long too.

 

Personally I don't see much to recommend the sexual license that is increasingly the values of the day. It has wounded or destroyed immense numbers of families and killed off more developing human beings than Hitler and Stalin killed off --- combined.

 

So has the premis of any one group or religion thinking and acting on the idea that their religion, or religious idea were the only "right" ones.

 

MOsr wars are due to conflicts of relgions or religious views. THis religion wars with that one and many, many people die.

People are routinely killed just for being the wrong religion. Pretty much all of our terroristic woes are due to different religious beliefs. Look at the middle East or anywhere along the Gaza Strip. Look at African nations fighting over who's values or spiritual beliefs are to be followed.

 

And in the south, people will use the bible to defend racism and bigotry .

 

Again, not saying I disagree with the vaulues that you have. I think I even sher them too.

 

But for arguements sake, I have to bring out the flaws too.

 

[BadenP 93]

Seattle

 

Your post has absolutely no relationship or relevance to the discussion at hand, in fact I find it a little bizzare.

 

Scoutfish

I guess you missed the points I was trying to make to you about taking certain pieces of the Bible out of context and too literally.

 

Well I guess that's what I get for trying to rationally discuss religion and the Bible with amateurs, I am done with this thread the rest of you can have at it.

[SeattlePioneer 144]

>

 

 

 

Hello Scoutfish,

 

 

Yada, yada, yada. This is the traditional line of the liberal left to disparage Christian sexual moral teachings.

 

But varying denominations are free and entitled to decide for themselves what they will teach as sexual morality. They are free to interpret the Bible according to their own lights.

 

It's not something YOU are entitled to do for them.

 

You don't like their religious catechism? Fine. Don't belong. But neither do such groups have any obligation to accept your teachings or opinions.

 

Christianity taught that the main purpose of sex was the procreation of children, not sexual pleasure. That is still reflected in the teachings of the Catholic Church and many traditional Christian Churches.

 

If that is the fundamental value, then many other things flow from that, including the idea that gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered sex is WRONG!

 

Of course the sexual liberation movement has been selling the opposite idea for a couple of generations now --- the idea that sex is primarily for pleasure. And that has it's own consequences as well, leading to ever more extreme forms of sexual gratification.

 

There is really no end to the perversity that the sexual liberation movement has and will champion. There is no place to stop.

 

Perhaps that appeals to you, but not to me.