I will agree it's odd [or at least, interesting] what folks defend and what pushes their buttons. Did Rob state that he hates gays? [/quote]
That'd be an understatement. Rob hates gays, and anyone that might be friendly toward them and doesn't hate them just as much as he does. [/quote]
Homosexuality is wrong for the same reason chattel slavery and genoicde are wrong. Its not possible to hold to absolute moral principles and condemn slavery (and racial discrimination), for example, without also condemning homosexuality. The Constitution is color blind, or of right, ought to be. However, it is not indifferent to moral distinctions. There is no moral distinction between black and white as there is between male and female. There is no moral basis for denying blacks equal protection of the laws, as there is for denying equal protection to sodomites or their abhorrent practices. Blacks are human beings in the order of nature, but blacks and whites are human beings in that same order of nature---the same nature which condemns homosexuality. Racial discrimination cannot be justified under the Constitution, including the most invidious form of racial discrimination: affirmative action. Discrimination against homosexuals is entirely permissible under the Constitution, properly understood.
That is not the same as saying I hate homosexuals. However, it is fair to infer from my posts that I don't go out of my way to associate with them. I don't care for their political agenda at all; nor do I care to be around them. That said, I've had several clients who were homosexuals and they seemed pleased with my work. I also frequent a business (green house garden supply) owned by two sodomites and we have a friendly, cordial relationship. However, a competing business recently opened in our town by a Mennonite family. I recently told my wife we should be giving all of our business to the Mennonites, unless they don't have what we need to purchase. My reason for doing so is that I would rather enrich the Mennonites than the Sodomites.
I think this is entirely consistent with condemning the racism that has been displayed (and excused by so many) on this board.
Jordan[/quote]
Except for that part where the Bible condones slavery:
Leviticus
However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)
If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)
You are even allowed to sell you own daughter into slavery:
When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)
You can beat your slaves, so long as you don't beat them to death:
When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)
Jesus even approves of beating your slaves in Luke:
The servant will be severely punished, for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it. "But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, and much more is required from those to whom much more is given." (Luke 12:47-48 NLT)
[/quote]
Slavery was common in antiquity. The Bible does not justify chattel slavery as a positive moral good. It recognizes the existence of and tolerates slavery. The Christian case against slavery, based on the bible, is much more compelling than the anecdotal evidence you have mustered of tolerance for a practice common in the old world.