Interesting Freudian slip. Disturbing, but interesting.
Freudian whoosh; more of a Joycean slip.
In any case, it made me grin. Thanks.
It’s truly nice to have an unforgivable sin that you personally, no matter how depraved you might be, and we are all Sinners, do not suffer from. Preaching about adultery, or tax fraud, tends to hit too close to home for many parishoners.
Maybe fundies have…
Toaster envy?
HAW! That’s GOTTA be it!
And lis, keep it in your pants, okay?
Of course; that’s the only place this debate has any right being.
To clarify: the debate I initiated in the OP belongs here in GD; the debate that Svvt wants to hold instead is the one that belongs in my pants.
Yes, how stupid of me to ask for a link to one of these threads. I can see how this deserves to be in great debates, as long as no one disagrees with it.
Svvt, the debate I’d hoped to initiate was why many fundamentalist christians exert so much energy on gay issues; you want to debate whether they do. I’m not interested in indulging your diversionary tactics; feel free to start your own thread.
But they’re fundamentalists.
Were you talking (way up a the top where you said ‘most debates’) specifically about debates on this bard lissener? - I didn’t read it that way.
In any case; the request for a cite is a diversion - the question here is (paraphrased) “Why do fundies get so uptight about homosexuality in particular?” - I suppose a cite would be appropriate if anyone is going to assert that fundies don’t ever get uptight about homosexuality…
guh
bard>board
To answer the OP: Its pretty simple really. If you pick up a bible its mostly about Homosexuals and their deviant ways. Its in large part about ways to fight such contaminations before your kids catch gay. Omitted passages of the bible detail gaybashing weekend fun with Jesus and pals.
Mebbe we should have a proper debate as to whether fundamentalist Christianity should be seen as normative. Certainly a lot of anti-fundamentalist gays are doing their darndest to see that it’s not.
Turnabout is fair play, and all that.
Good idea or bad, I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon. Fundimentalist Christianity has just entered into the mainstream of American life itself, about 20-30 years ago, and now it’s pretty entrenched.
The thing is, adultery and divorce are much more commonly accepted practices in the United States, but they aren’t protested nearly as much. Ronald Reagan, the great defender of family values, was on his 2nd wife; Newt Gingrich is on his 3rd last time I checked. (Excuse me. I just realized what a disturbing mental image that could produce.) I’m told the divorce rate is highest in the Bible Belt, and one of our most virulently Fundamentalist, anti-homosexual posters had been married 3 times. I don’t hear anyone saying adulterers shouldn’t marry, and the only people I know of who are saying divorced people shouldn’t remarry are the Catholics, although the local diocese is still fairly strict about that.
I’ve asked it before; I’ll ask it again, although I’m not sure I’ll get an answer in this lifetime. How is it that, say gobear’s wanting to marry his partner is more of a threat than Larry King’s getting married for the 6th time, and why do some people focus on “fornication” when gossip and malice are condemned in the same passages?
CJ
The first answer is that fundies (or at least, gay-bashing fundies) think being gay, or at least gay sex, is wrong; and a lot of people don’t. They react to this the way anyone would when a significant proportion of the population supports something you think is wrong.
Secondly, why do they think being gay is wrong? Answers I can envisage include the following. (1) It’s a sin - well, that’s pretty circular. (2) It says so in the bible - it says a lot of things that people claim are misinterpreted, withdrawn by Jesus, etc. Unless someone can explain clearly why the few references to homosexuality are more important than the stuff about shellfish and so on, I think this is just a rationalisation. (3) Some fundies are bigoted like everyone else, but people who are fundie and anti-gay are a lot more noticable. (4) Inertia - we’re brought up with a set of beliefs and with a handy bible to justify them, they’re perpetuated.
Anyone want to wade in with a better analysis? How about someone who thinks homosexuality is wrong, but can explain why clearly and politely. (I used to know a guy - who was really nice - who I think could. So there are some.)
I think you answered your own question. Divorce and remarriage have already been accepted as ok by both the population as a whole. The question of divorce’s acceptability has been settled, for the most part.
As to why some people focus on “fornication” when gossip and malice are condemned in the same passages, it’s because they do what every religious group with holy books have done throughout history. They focus on the parts of the holy books that support their ideas and ignore the rest.
Remember, Christian fundimentalism in America isn’t a counterculture. Christian fundimentalists, in general, share the same range of values and attitudes as the rest of society. Yeah, I know, Fred Phelps…but he’s abnormal, and not at all representative.