The Bible condemns homosexual sex

The Debate This debate, as stated in my opponent's opening statement, is "(...) to determine if the Bible, taken in context, condemns homosexuality". The stated goal of my opponent in this debate is to show "(...) that anyone who states a sincere belief in the Bible cannot say that they agree that homosexuality is moral in the eyes of God". My opponent has said in Round 2 that she believes "that (one) can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that God condemns homosexual acts, and to a lesser degree, homosexuality in general". Therefore, my opponent must have shown that it is impossible to honestly interpret the Bible as saying that God sees homosexuality as anything but immoral. A secondary objective of my opponent is to show that God condemns homosexual sex. Translations My opponent and I are in agreement that no translation is free from cultural bias and that the ONLY true words of God are found in the original texts of the documents. As most people are not skilled in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, we must settle for translations. My opponent agrees that the Bible was tailored for the cultures in which the original documents were written. Any attempts to translate cultural meaning will introduce contamination of the true word of God. When reading our translated word of God, it's important to remember it is only a translation and may not mean what the original document intended to say. When different translations disagree, that is an indication of ambiguity. My opponent expressed an intention to provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Her textual evidence in this debate has relied on ambiguous passages. Therefore her textual evidence does not conclusively indicate that the bible condemns either homosexuality or homosexual sex. With regards to my opponent's thoughts on religious elders, I am afraid I must strongly disagree. Even within Christianity, there are sects, such as Quakers, which have no hierarchical structure. My opponent believes that religious are able to reliably interpret the Bible through their close relationship with God. Consider that the Catholic Church endorsed geocentrism until 1820 [1]. The religious elders of the Church, for 1,800 years, believed that the Bible stated that the Earth was the center of the universe. Elders are as subject to mistakes as any other person and are prisoners of their own culture. If we will not consider the opinion of a Church elder in 1600, why should we take a Church elder of 2014 seriously? In the 17th chapter of St. Luke it is written that the kingdom of god is within you- not through an elder or group elders. Marriage and 1 Corinthians My opponent did not account for the authority of Paul when he was writing 1 Corinthians. There is no indication that Paul is speaking on behalf of God, and therefore his writings ought not be construed as being the word of God. Paul spent much time with Jesus, but this does not mean that Paul became Jesus or has the same authority. Regardless, I will address the issues which my opponent brought up. With respect to the assertion that people ought to marry, in 1 Corinthians 1:6 Paul says that this is only a recommendation- it isn't a command. In other words, Paul recommends for men to marry women and vice versa. Paul's recommendation does not in any way imply that all sex outside of marriage is immoral nor that marriage between two men or two women would be immoral- he merely says that marriage is a way to avoid immorality. It is true that the Church has regarded all sex outside of marriage to be a sin, but I've already expressed my opinion about Church elders. I would be interested in continuing this tangent, so feel free to send me a message about it. Consider, however, that the Catholic Church practices clerical celibacy- they seem to be ignoring Paul's recommendation. Thought Crimes My opponent misrepresented my argument by saying "My opponent has stated that finding someone attractive does not necessarily entail that you are sexually attracted to them". While romantic and sexual attraction are very distinct, I never separated the two concepts. I will repeat myself: Being homosexual does not mean that you will think about having sex with a member of the same gender. Being homosexual and thinking about having sex (I.E. "lust") are two different things. Moreover, recognizing someone is sexually attractive and fantasizing about having sex with that person are also two different things. Finding someone sexually attractive is akin to an emotion. Thinking about having sex with that person is a conscious thought. It is fallacious to conflate these concepts and consider them all to be 'homosexual'. However, this entire line of reasoning is flawed because homosexuals do not have a monopoly on having thoughts of sex. Stipulating that thoughts of pre-marital sex and adultery are immoral, then everyone has an equal propensity to commit thought crime- regardless of orientation. My opponent's reasoning basically asserts that all people are sinners (except possibly asexuals). Since this argument is not exclusive to homosexuals, it is beyond the purview of this debate, and therefore irrelevant. In closing, My opponent needed to show that God unambiguously and irrefutably condemns homosexuality. My opponent has conceded that: 1. The Bible makes no mention of female homosexuality. 2.."the Bible does not contain these (unambiguous) verses and that the determination of these biblical moral standards must be done more delicately". Therefore any condemnation of homosexuality must be implicit. My opponent provided several verses which she believes implicitly condemn homosexuality. I responded by demonstrating the ambiguity of each passage. If every passage interpreted as condemning homosexuality is ambiguous, then it is certainly possible for the Bible to be interpreted as being accepting toward homosexuality. My opponent's thesis that no Bible believing Christian can think homosexuality isn't a sin is therefore refuted. I hope I have shown that a Christian need not abandon their religious convictions in order to be accepting towards the LGBT community. Jesus said to love thy neighbor, and I hope that intolerance, discrimination, and violence directed at the LGBT community will continue to decrease, that our fallen world may be one step closer to a new Eden. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org...