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Well, two parts. First, on homosexuality. This tends to be a very sensitive issue, so I'll start by laying my cards on the table. I believe that homosexual activity is sinful, but the 'condition of being homosexual' is not. This belief I believe to be clearly supported by scripture. However, I do not believe that it is something that can be proven outside of scripture. For this reason, I believe that civil society has an obligation to extend every right heterosexual couples have to homosexual couples. Now, vinmag7 says that both eating shellfish and homosexual activity are abominations; things condemned by God. And to a certain extent, he is right. But eating shellfish is forbidden in only a few verses of the OT, and it is a commandment that is explicitly rescinded in the NT (along with all of the other 'purity' laws). However, homosexuality is condemned throughout scripture, from Genesis into the NT. That's the difference. As far as willravel's comments go, he's way off the mark. Yes, tolerance and acceptance are central to Christianity, but so is the condemnation of sin. Christ dined with prostitutes, but he also told them to go and sin no more. So the church's role must be, in part, to not condone sinful activity. One must distinguish here between someone who slips up and is repentant, and someone who regularly and knowingly engages in sinful activity without any repentance. The one needs the forgiveness and acceptance of the Church; the other, Her stern judgement. I'm not singling out homosexual activity here. Someone who steals, commits adultery, screws poor people, etc. ought also to be subject to church discipline. But the idea that the Church should just be one large hymn sing is just screwy. The Church is a community, and it has the right to expect certain sorts of behavior from the people within that community.
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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."
"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
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