In our society there are many hate crimes and senseless murders against targeted citizens. In a story from CNN, a twenty year old, African American man was brutally beat by four aggressors, while walking into a convenience store. When he came out he was jumped unexpectedly by men outside the store. While assaulting the man they yelled “no faggots in Jack City”. Jack City is nickname for a suburban area in Atlanta, Georgia where the assailants lived. Humiliation played a big part in this incident because while Brandon White was being assaulted, non-violent participants where videotaping the whole incident (Basu, Moni, Police Arrest...). Mr. White sustained tremendous trauma but most of all mental humiliation, and discrimination. White is an openly gay man that was beat because of his sexual orientation. So what makes homosexuality morally and biblically wrong? I believe that being a homosexual is as moral as being a heterosexual. Through the progression of this paper I want to analyze both sides of this argument, iterate crucial points in the argument, and come to a logical consensus to why being a homosexual is moral and biblically tolerable.
To begin studies from the Williams institute say “the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community occupies about 9 million people in the united states population” (Gates), that’s roughly the population size of New Jersey. The LGBT community stands for pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. The community is notorious for their big debates about civil rights, and same-sex marriage. The LGBT community are in present day numerous court cases dealing with human rights and same sex marriage. There has also been numerous media stories of people that have come out to the public about b...
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Gates, Gary J. "How Many People Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender?" Williams Institute. UCLA School of Law, Apr.-May 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. (Gates)
McGinniss, Mark. ” The Church's Response to the Homosexual.” Journal of Ministry & Theology 14.2 (2010):129-163. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014 (Mcginniss)
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U.S. Department of State. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, 217. A (1948), U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014 (US Department of State)
Whitehead, Andrew L, and Joseph O Baker. “Homosexuality, Religion, and Science: Moral Authority and the Persistence of Negative Attitudes.” Sociological Inquiry 82.4(2012): 487-509. PsycINFO. Web. 31 Mar. 2014 (Whitehead)
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In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
The essay by Peter J. Gomes, entitled �Homophobic? Read Your Bible,� can be analyzed in many ways. The essay discusses the issue of homosexuality as it relates to religion. The Baptist minister provides an unexpected approach to the subject. Mr. Gomes�s thesis statement in this essay is, �The army of the discontented, eager for clear villains and simple solutions and ready for a crusade in which political self-interest and social anxiety can be cloaked in morality, has found hatred of homosexuality to be the last respectable prejudice of the century� (�Homophobic� 414). This essay uses effective evidence to prove the thesis statement while also doing a good job of refuting opposing views.
Although history shows us that homosexuality has been present in the development of the species, the place of homosexuals in society and the perception of homosexuality changed greatly between societies and eras. Sodom and Gomorrah, ancient Greece and Rome and ...
“For The Bible Tells Me So,” documented by Daniel Karslake, is a journey through the belief of homosexuality and its perceived conflict with Christianity, as well as various interpretations of what the Bible says about same-sex sexuality. Through the use of parallelism, pathos, and logos, the documentarian is able to communicate his creed that homosexuality and Christianity, with a lot of effort, can have a vigorous relationship. Whether or not your personal religious and political stances on homosexuality are influenced by Karslake’s film, the audience is moved by its portraits of unbreakable family love. The documentary skillfully dives beneath the constraints of its title theme to find deeper treasures that family values are still alive and well.
The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769; King James Bible Online, 2015. Web. 28 June 2015.
Homosexuality has existed since the beginning of recorded human history and yet, attitudes towards gay and lesbian individuals vary extensively. Some societies tolerate them; others openly welcome and encourage them; and most blatantly condemn them (Bates, 46). Throughout our country’s history, homosexuals have been misunderstood and discriminated against, leading many to acquire an irrational fear of gays and lesbians. Known as homophobia, this fear has prompted heterosexual individuals with a feeling a superiority and authority when using the word “homosexual” interchangeably with the words pervert, faggot, sodomite, and so on. Homophobes typically perceive homosexuality as a threat to society. Nonetheless, the Gay Rights Movement has achieved impressive progress since 1973 when the American Psychological Association (APA) eradi...
Holy Bible: the New King James Version, Containing the Old and New Testaments.Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Bibles, 1982. Print.
Somerville, Siobhan. "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 284-99. Print.
Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1995. Print. (BS195 .C66 1995)
These questions arise from our own desires as Christians to reflect a biblically sound attitude towards sexuality and relationships. That same desire to act according to biblical scriptures is subject to opposition from today’s culture and views about sexual relationships, gender, and roles. A new definition of marriage, sexual orientation, and sexual practices is challenging our relationship with God and our view of human sexuality. Bishop John Spong defines sex and its impact on relationships: “Sex can be called at once the greatest gift to humanity and the greatest enigma of our lives. It is a gift in that is a singular joy for all beings and enigma in its destructive potential for people and their relationships.” (Spong, 1988)
My arguments will be ignoring a major element in factoring the morality of homosexuality, the law. Yes, many people know that stealing and murder are both wrong, but this is based on socialization and learning passed down from previous generations. The aim isn’t to ignore the rules, but examples from history relating to homosexuality will not aid in proving ground for its ethics. A rational, autonomous decision making process must be used in order to decipher right from wrong, which can lead to solid, concrete answers.
Of all topics most popular in today's media, issues concerning homosexuals and homosexuality in general top the list. Homosexuality is generally defined as a sexual relationship between partners of the same sex. Debate concerning its causes and consequences has been going on for many centuries and almost in every period in human history. However, never before in human history has it been granted such wide scale acceptance in western society as it has now. The question that I seek to answer in this paper is whether such wide scale acceptance should in fact be granted to homosexual behavior? Is such behavior rational, scientifically functional or is it actually detrimental to the high level of civilization that we've achieved?
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.