# Homosexuality **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 20, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuality/51033 "2001-01-20T17:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ptahlis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@Ptahlis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ptahlis)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuality/51033/101 "2001-01-30T22:00:56Z")
Once upon a time, Cotton Mather’s God was my favorite God to disbelieve in. These days, Fred Phelps’ fills that role handily. His God is an asshole, and unworthy of respect let alone worship. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuality/51033/102 "2001-01-30T22:15:32Z")
\*\*Neurotik wrote: As I was reading this thread, I came across someone claiming that because they were wiccan, a Christian should not allow her to live,vbased on the “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” As I was trying to find it again, I couldn’t, so I apologize for not being able to quote. Invresponse to the Wiccan statement, however, Wiccans and the witches being talked about in the Bible are not the same thing. In the biblical sense, they are specifically referring to witches as defined as Satanists…not pagans in general. This is not to say we should govaround killing those who worship Satan, I just wanted to raise the point that Biblical passages can be taken in the wrong way.\*\* I’m the one you’re looking for! I was using those two passages to show that the Torah includes lots of instructions; many of which make no sense in a modern, pluralistic society. **JD** was saying that if the Bible (OT in this case) says it, Christians are obligated to follow it, even if the instructions don’t make sense. As for your case of translation, I had that verse broken down (Exodus 18:22) and the operative word _witch_, when translated from the old Hebrew does come very close to the meaning of _witch_ in the modern sense of the word. Literally translated, it means “a (female) whisperer of spells.” Could you explain how you found this to be translated into “Satanist” because, IRCC, the term “Satan” is only found (in the OT) in the Book of Job. And the term “Wicca” (apparently) derives from the same root as the English word for _witch_, which is the Indo-European term _wik_, which means “having to do with magic and/or religion.” See Jeffrey Russell’s _Pagans, Witches and Heretics_, 1980, appendix A). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuality/51033/103 "2001-01-31T01:05:23Z")
I don’t mean that some people don’t choose to experiment or whatever, I just think that for the most part, no one chooses to be gay. No, what I mean is, maybe some people will start realizing that homosexuality is perfectly in tune with nature and God. Maybe GOD created homosexuality? Why wouldn’t he? He’s God, he can do whatever he bloody wants to. ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuality/51033/104 "2001-01-31T06:54:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **No, what I mean is, maybe some people will start realizing that homosexuality is perfectly in tune with nature and God. Maybe GOD created homosexuality?** I think the usual response to that is that homosexuality came about due to the gift of free will to humans being abused by us evil awful sinners. Of course, this fails to explain why so many animals (supposedly without the whole free-will thing, IE-directly programmed by god) _also_ engage in widespread homosexuality. The usual response to **that** is to pretend it doesn’t exist, or that it’s “dominance behavior” or “pack bonding” or some similarly stupid crap along those lines. It’s just one of those strange inherent contradictions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homosexuality/51033.md?page=5)