slippery slope news...

[schmosef]

You did by using their words without marking them as a quote, thus making them your own.

What are you saying? You think I'm against gay marriage? I've been for it in every discussion we've had here about it in the last several years.

Come on az, you should know me by now!

[az]

I'm saying you should have worded your post more carefully, is all I'm saying. A few quotation marks can go a long way

[Gurm]

*ahrm*

I wasn't Christian-bashing. It's not bashing someone's religion to simply state what they believe.

Jews believe that any ol' day now, Elijah the Prophet is going to come and herald the coming of the Messiah. Islamics believe that martyring yourself gets you 47 virgins... or Virginians... or some crap. Hindus believe that the two animals which could possibly feed the billions of them which are starving... are sacred (as well as the rats which are killing them with disease, go figure).

I was simply pointing out what it is that Christians believe that causes the mindset of gay = polygamy.

[az]

And I was pointing out that it isn't "the Christians" who believe this sort of thing, but rather the more extreme ones. Just like there are millions of muslims who don't want to kill every nonbeliever and millions of jews that do wipe their ass on shabbat.

[Gurm]

And I was pointing out that it isn't "the Christians" who believe this sort of thing, but rather the more extreme ones. Just like there are millions of muslims who don't want to kill every nonbeliever and millions of jews that do wipe their ass on shabbat.

This is where you and I disagree. There are a LOT of born-agains out there. The phenomenon of "mega-churches" is proof positive of this.

[KvHagedorn]

Not necessarily. A lot of it is people who basically consider themselves Christians and are seeking a group to belong to where they are comfortable.

[Wombat]

Not necessarily. A lot of it is people who basically consider themselves Christians and are seeking a group to belong to where they are comfortable.

Since identifying Christian is a purely self-selecting group, this statement is a truism for all Christians.

[az]

This is where you and I disagree. There are a LOT of born-agains out there. The phenomenon of "mega-churches" is proof positive of this.

We don't have that many lunatic christians here

We also don't have those huge glass churches with live satellite transmission etc. I'm not saying we don't have any people here who take their religion too serious (or maybe actually not serious enough at all) and are over the top, but you'd have to search quite a while before you found someone like that psycho mom from that wife swapping TV show posted recently. "Intelligent Design" was once recently brought on the table by one person (he wanted to invite someone to speak about it at a conference), but IIRC he quickly withdrew because of the public outcry.

But regardless of number, moderate christians I have absolutely no problems with. Lunatics, yes - whether there's one of them or one million, only that I perceive the latter as more of a threat because of power in numbers.

[Dr Mordrid]

Just for the record those "tv ministers" you see on cable etc. make up a very small percentage of the Christian community in the US. The VAST majority of Christians are not anything like 'em, though like anything else it's the outrageous examples that get all the press & publicity.

Dr. Mordrid

[az]

Of course. Still it can't be only five people they're preaching to, or they wouldn't make any money off their TV channels, so I don't think it's a very small percentage. Small maybe, but not very

[Gurm]

Just for the record those "tv ministers" you see on cable etc. make up a very small percentage of the Christian community in the US. The VAST majority of Christians are not anything like 'em, though like anything else it's the outrageous examples that get all the press & publicity.

Dr. Mordrid

Certainly not, those guys are real chuckleheads.

BUT that doesn't change the fact that there are an awful lot of Christians who feel that sin is sin, sin begets sin, all sin comes from Satan, that once you start sinning you're "backsliding" and need to repent all over again. This is the sort of thinking that leads to the conclusion that homosexuality and polygamy are in any way related.

[Brian Ellis]

If a gay person cheats on his/her partner, is that adultery?

[Gurm]

If a gay person cheats on his/her partner, is that adultery?

Of course not. Adultery is cheating on your SPOUSE. That requires you to be MARRIED. Since marriage is between one man and one woman, a binding union before God in which sexual intercourse is allowed for the purposes of procreation only... gays aren't even invited to the party here.

[Brian Ellis]

That implies that you need a human partner of the opposite sex to commit adultery. What you are saying therefore that if someone who is married and who has an extramarital sexual relationship with a member of his/her own sex is not committing adultery. However, the Old Testament states:
[Jeremiah 3:9] Shee..committed adultery with stones and with stockes. This implies that such things as dildos are adulterous. Using Rabbinic logic, if we take this line of argument to its conclusion, if I indulge in Schmosef's hippo's pastime and take myself in hand, I commit adultery. Furthermore, Jesus told me "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.", so sexual activity is not a prerequisite to adultery. Going back to Leviticus ch 18-20, it is interesting that the punishments for being gay and for adultery are the same. I am able to infer that both practices were rife at the time of writing.

[Sasq]

I am able to infer that both practices were rife at the time of writing.

I would say no more, no less then they are today.