>I have to argue with that. Homosexuality is a condition, not an action. One may be gay & not act on that condition. <
However, sins are not confined to actions; immoral thoughts are also wrong. Conversely, suceptibility to a particular temptation is not in itself sinful, though it reflects our fallen nature; failure to resist the temptation (or willful failure to avoid temptation) is. E.g., just because homosexual sin is tempting to someone else but does not appeal to me does not mean that I am righteous and he is sinful; it is our responses to the temptations that do appeal to us that are important.
>The passage in question is generally interpreted to refer to male prostitution. A decent defense of this view is in the book by Daniel Helmaniak ...But even Thomas Schmidt, who writes to refute Helmaniak...<
My citation of references was vague. The prohibitions of passages such as Lev. 18:22 and 20:13 seem to provide a more general ban than Helmaniak accepts.
If I recall correctly, your reviews of these publications and associated discussion came up on this list a few years ago. Unless anyone particularly wishes to pursue the topic, I would refer folks to the archives for more discussion.
http://harvestusa.org/ provides a good contrast to the poor example that started the current thread.
Dr. David Campbell
"Old Seashells"
Biology Department
Saint Mary's College of Maryland
18952 E. Fisher Road
St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001 USA
dcampbell@osprey.smcm.edu, 301 862-0372 Fax: 301 862-0996
"Mollusks murmured 'Morning!'. And salmon chanted 'Evening!'."-Frank Muir, Oh My Word!
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