I was reading something on the internet and one person asked a professed Christian who was a homosexual how homosexuality was not antithetical to the Christian faith. This is a paraphrase but the individual asking the question said something like this: "I am asking this question in no bad faith. I am genuinely curious. How can one come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not sinful?" Another person on the internet replied to this questioner something along the lines of, "I am asking this question in no bad faith. I am genuinely curious. I found that I fall short of Christian ideals so much that I am too focused on fixing myself and rarely have time to gaze outwardly and question the morality of the actions of others. Can you explain what the benefit to you is of questioning the morality of others' actions?"
After reading this interaction, I found myself wondering the same question as the initial inquirer. From my understanding of Christianity, I believe it is most definitely sinful to practice homosexual activity. Any Christian man should live by the laws laid out in the good book, which from my understanding prohibits homosexual activity. And I also found myself having an answer to the second inquirer's question. The answer I came to was "The benefit of asking this question and getting the answer is the attainment of truth. In finding out whether some activity is wrong or right, one becomes closer to understanding how they themselves may live a more virtuous life." My assumption is that the individual who asked the second question in response to the first question regarding the morality of homosexuality was in fact asking a rhetorical question. He was probably trying to get across the idea that it is wrong to judge the actions of others and ask questions like "is homosexuality really not a sin?"
After thinking about this for a while, I find that this man's thought process is not right. I think every individual who is honestly trying to pursue the good should be able to ask questions regarding whether a specific action practiced in the real world is wrong or right. If no one was able to ask or try to find out if an action is wrong or right, then I feel it would be very difficult to find the truth. I think it is through asking these question and discussing openly and in good faith, that we come closer to the truth. Now this is of course not to say that it is good to continue to ask questions about the sins of others for the sole purpose of gaining pleasure from seeing oneself as superior to the sinner. Asking questions about whether an activity or action is sinful should not be an exercise of pride or ego or attack. Rather, it should be used in the practice of good faith and love and a true desire to understand and spread the truth so that both individuals in the disagreement can come to the truth of the Bible.
- Athanasius
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