Homosexuality

[doe-jo]

My friend is asking me a bunch of questions about homosexuality and I am having a hard time trying to explain to her what the church teaches.

1. Is being homosexual in itself a sin?
2. How is being homosexual a disorder? Is it because it's unnatural?
3. What does the bible say about homosexuality?

I need answers ASAP. Thanks guys

[Thy Geekdom Come]

1. Is being homosexual in itself a sin?
2. How is being homosexual a disorder? Is it because it's unnatural?
3. What does the bible say about homosexuality?

1. If by "being homosexual" one means "having homosexual tendencies/desires," then no, it is not a sin. It is only by acting on homosexual desires that one can commit the sin of homosexual activity.

2. Homosexuality is a disorder in the sense that it is out of line with the natural order of the world. God made sexual love to be shared between husband and wife. The Bible tells us that God is love. The Bible also tells us that God made man in His image, which would be an image of love. The Bible tells us, in the very same verse, that the way in which God made this image was to make man male and female (Genesis 1:27). Repeatedly throughout the Bible, any sexual relationship between any two people who are not husband and wife (this includes relations between unmarried members of opposite sexes, sexual relations with prostitutes, and other sins) ends in big problems. On the contrary, when the Bible discusses husband and wife sharing the marital embrace, great good comes from it. This can be seen in the natural world. It is simply natural that husband and wife should have sex, and the fact that it is good can be seen from the fact that, generally, it tends to produce fruit, i.e. children. Homosexual relations never produce children. So both Scripture and natural law say that homosexual activity is unnatural. Part of the modern problem is that many people do not understand sexuality, what it is for, how it works, or virtually anything about it. We have been fed lies in our generation about how sexuality is for pleasure alone. So we like to think that if something feels good, then it must be good, and it must be okay, and it must be good for us to do. However, that doesn't make any sense. Some people actually think murdering others feels good. I don't mean to over-dramatize the situation, but feelings simply cannot be a good basis on which to build one's actions.

The reason this is bad is that our lives are supposed to be a participation in God's life. If we try to do things the unnatural way, so that our actions oppose the way God set up for us to do things, it's basically like trying to run a machine with one of the gears going in the wrong direction. It will break the machine...it will also break the gear. It's bad for us if we try to do things against God's way of doing things.

3. Homosexual activity has a few appearances in Scripture, all of which are negative. In the Old Testament, two towns are destroyed because of what is pretty clearly homosexual activity (all the male townspeople tried to rape two male visitors, who were angels in disguise, who later destroyed the towns). In the New Testament, St. Paul admonishes men who act like women, not meaning just those who have womanly behavior, but those who have sex with men, which is something that is meant for women, not for men.

I recommend Christopher West's "Good News about Sex and Marriage," which has a good question and answer format for these sorts of questions.

Be patient and charitable with your friend.

God bless,

Micah