by Joseph Whalen

Created on: February 26, 2008   Last Updated: May 05, 2008

This issue is not as much a matter of whether homosexual acts are natural or sinful as much as it whether they are natural or unnatural. In order to label an act sinful one must have strong convictions along religious lines as to what is and is not sinful. Given the gross indiscretions by members of the church over the past years I find it difficult to give the church the latitude and respect it needs in order to declare any act sinful if they themselves have difficulty making the distinction.

From a purely scientific standpoint homosexual acts are not natural. If homosexuality were natural the human race would have died out centuries ago. Since human beings cannot procreate through homosexual acts it's pretty clear that if homosexuality was natural we would be unable to reproduce and continue the species. So from a simple academic standpoint we can rule that homosexual acts are not natural. Does that make them sinful, this remains to be seen?

Homosexuality is a way of life; it is a choice that people make. Given the fact that it is their life and their choice, neither I nor anyone else has the right to judge homosexuals for their choices. As such, declaring their acts sinful is something we simply haven't the right to do. Provided they aren't harming anyone and any homosexual acts they engage themselves in include all consenting parties then they should be free to do what they want. The human species engages in many acts that can be considered unnatural, that does not necessarily make all of these acts sinful.

For centuries homosexuality was considered an acceptable practice. Only in the puritan days of the later Christian religions was it deemed sinful. Somehow great civilizations such as Greece and Rome managed to survive and flourish while homosexuality was a time honored tradition. Yet for some reason church leaders long after Christ's death decided that it was a sinful and detestable act. I can't help but wonder why after hundreds; even thousands of years of being an acceptable practice homosexuality was all of a sudden labeled taboo and sinful.

Given the fact that many of those who have condemned homosexuality in the past also happen to practice it makes this one of the most hypocritical stances in human history. This practice of hypocrisy has existed until modern times where men of the cloth, sworn to uphold the rulings of the church and teachings of the bible, having taken vows of chastity eventually wind up preying on young male members of their community.

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