I am totally happy what happened, and all people should have right to marry. Even though I do not believe in it myself. In my opinion marrying is just poor attempt to keep somebody around them.
But I want to say what bible says about homosexuality, I especially want to put in light texts that actually support the homosexuality. Btw in those times it was more than common to conduct homosexual activity with other men. They even had these spa's where they could practice these kind of things. However, homosexuality was not known word back then. But back to bible and homosexuality, here are couple texts:
Samuel 18:1-4: 1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.
2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
Samuel 19:1-7:
Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”
7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
Matthew 22:37-40: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
This thread is going nowhere fast, and I don't really see me jumping in bringing it anywhere. I must say though, why does it seem to me that people who have said they don't believe in any particular religion have become Bible scholars overnight?
Relating to Sabali's post, the text from Matthew has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality. If you love someone as you love yourself, you treat them as you would want to be treated. Matthew 22:37-40's parallel passage is Luke 10:25-28. After Jesus said to "love your neighbor as yourself," He was asked in Luke 10:29 "who is my neighbor?" Instead of giving a direct answer, He responded with the parable of the
Good Samaritan. The gist of the parable was that one should not ask himself who he should be neighborly to but that he should always be neighborly to anyone he meets. Using this passage as support for homosexuality is completely non sequitur, not to mention it completely removes it from context.
The same goes for the passage from 1 Corinthians. How on earth does one get homosexuality from attributes of love?
Btw in those times it was more than common to conduct homosexual activity with other men. They even had these spa's where they could practice these kind of things.
I think you are confusing ancient Rome with ancient Israel. This was true of ancient Rome, there is evidence in artifacts. Wide-scale public baths didn't come to Israel until Rome took over.
Samuel 18:1-4: 1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.
2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
You completely took this out of context. David was sent by Saul to command troops. They were not getting naked together, Jonathan was giving him his personal items to aid him in battle. Let's see what happened next, shall we?
1 Samuel 18:5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
Samuel 19:1-7:
Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”
Where to even start? In Israel, this was punishable by death, princes were no exception. You are completely picking and choosing texts to fit your narrative. This is confirmation bias all the way.
1 Samuel 18:6-9 6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.
7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
You make it look like Saul wanted to kill David for being gay. You completely left out the rest of the story! Saul wanted to kill David because he was praised more after he had returned from battle. (He had been also anointed to be the next king of Israel.) Saul was extremely paranoid that David was planning a takeover. He eventually chased David all over the country trying to kill him. 1 Samuel 19 is the account of Jonathan pleading for his best friend's life in order to buy him time to escape. David escaped to his own home after Saul tried to kill him anyway. His wife, Jonathan's sister, helped him escape yet again. So began David's life as a fugitive.
Extensive learning of the law by the age of 13 was not only expected, but required. It was actually common to memorize large portions of it. The law was so deeply ingrained in everyone at a young age that what the law forbade and called an abomination was extreme taboo. Knowledge of Jewish culture, tradition, and law completely contradicts any notion of homosexuality in this story.
I know I am most likely not going to change someone's mind on the matter, but misinterpreting and removing Biblical text from context like this is something I personally cannot allow to go unaddressed. Aside from being a twisted presentation, IMO it's not fair to other people who haven't read it before. I enter the thread to address this, and so I exit it as well.
I only see things like this starting a flame war. I don't see the thread getting any better, so maybe we should let it die or close it.
