Homosexuality And Same Sex Marriage Essay

Throughout history homosexuality had been seen as a sin and a punishable action. In the bible, in

Throughout history, gay people have been discriminated by religious groups on a global scale. In the Room for Debate article “Have Christians Created a Harmful Atmosphere for Gays,” the issue being discussed refers to how poorly Christians discriminate against homosexuality. This Room for Debate article is mainly referring to Evangelical Christians, who are the main contributors to discrimination against homosexuality. Despite being taught to “love one another as Jesus has loved us,” there are still a majority of Evangelical Christians who preach Leviticus, the book in the Bible that condemns gay people. While a great majority of Christians condemn homosexuality, there’s also a minority of Christians that feel that homosexuality is an acceptable behavior. The statistics of Christians that oppose gay marriage versus Christians who support it vary between each Christian denomination. However, a religion’s set of beliefs are defined by generally running true for a majority of believers. There may be a minority of Evangelical Christians who support gay marriage, but many more Evangelical Christians oppose gay marriage. As a result of this majority, Christians have created a negative environment for gay people by denying homosexuality as an ethically accepted behavior, pressuring gays not to be themselves, and threatening them with eternal damnation.

Introducing the Thesis: Homosexuality, and gay relationships, are more often called, relationships and sexual acts between people of the same sex. There are many different views about homosexuality but one remains: Religious misinterpretation can lead to discrimination and hated. Equality is a possibility but it takes, tolerance, respect, and understanding. This paper examines multiple components of homosexuality and how it is viewed through the last 12 years. This paper will discuses : facts, how views and population rates differ from place to place, church opposition, problems, and solutions. This paper argues that while hatred, mistreatment, and misunderstanding

It was not until the twelfth century that homosexuality started to be condemned. This condemnation proved to live through then until now. Due to the fact that America incorporated these early views into its early laws, even the most bland of today's sex acts were seen as unlawful (“Homosexuality and Mental Health”). Since then, these laws have changed, however, there is still a primarily negative connotation on homosexuals when coming from a church or legal standpoint concerning the masses of America.

Religion also plays a key role in the persecution of homosexuals. The belief that homosexuality is a sin seems to dominate the church community. Those of Islamic religion are strongly against the very idea of homosexuality and offer a strong punishment to those who oppose their views. "In Saudi Arabia on April 16, 2001, five homosexuals were sentenced to 2,600 lashes and 6 years in prison, and four others to 2,400 lashes and 5 years' imprisonment for "deviant sexual behavior.""(Associated Press 2001) As of today, same-sex intercourse is still prohibited in Islam. Bible-believing Christians have also responded to the apparent growth in acceptance of homosexuality in various ways. Many fundamentalists view homosexual behavior as a choice, and believe that it is possible and desirable to make a transition to heterosexuality. Many evangelical

LGBT acceptance has varied greatly over time in every culture in the world. For example, while it is commonly accepted that homosexual relations were common in Ancient Greece and Rome, the same cannot be said for the Middle Ages’ Holy Roman Empire. In American culture throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, sodomy was the phrase used to describe all “deviant” sexual acts. A homosexual lifestyle was unthinkable, mainly due to the high rate of Christians who devoutly believed in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. However people such as Walt Whitman, Charlotte Cushman, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, among others all achieved greatness in literature, the arts, and other fields, while also maintaining a secretive LGBT identity (Norton, 2004). To say that the proven biological inclinations of LGBT people is a “new” occurrence that exists solely due to societal acceptance simply contradicts historical evidence.

Many religious beliefs do not encourage homosexuality in fact it is severely discouraged for example in the Islamic faith they do not allow this because there is no doubt that in Islam homosexuality is considered 'sinful'. Homosexuality as far as Islam is concerned is a profound mistake (as are

There has been no mention in the Bible that says anything about gays, and let's talk about the fact that Christians, Catholics, Buddhist, etc are told from scripture that they are not to judge thy neighbor. I don’t mean to get extremely political when it comes to religion but instead of letting it divide us we should unite and focus on problems within humanity. People say that unity and peace are virtually impossible when that’s simply not the truth. In truth, we could have peace if people got together, accepted differences and stop being huge jerks to each

limitations. Homosexual behaviors are thought to be as old as humans but it wasn’t until

Religious fundamentalism can be a powerful force, and in most cases homosexuality is taught to be morally wrong. There is a equally strong need for a more inclusive and accepting society where people are equally valued no matter the individuals sexual nature, race, social status, or religious beliefs.

Homosexuals have been looked down upon since the 1800s and even further back. In the book, What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? John Corvino, novelist, inscribes “[T]here were gays in ancient Greece, for example, even though the Greeks would not have thought of themselves in quite those terms. Constructionists, by contrast, hold that sexual orientation is cultural and historical: Prior to the late 19th century, when the term ‘homosexuals’ was coined, there were no such thing as a gay person in the usual sense. Of course, the

A major reason for the fear and objection towards homosexuality is organized religion. Whether we notice it or not, we as humans follow many everyday concepts from the Bible. Examples would be, to not steal, murder, or commit adultery in marriage. The Bible also states that homosexuality is unethical and should be avoided as other sins. These are all great to follow, if you conform to the rules of the Bible. Religious back up should not be used in order to deem something wrong or unethical. It is essential to understand, to deem homosexuality ethical or not, rational decision-making must occur. One must analyze the pros and cons; if the pros outweigh the cons, homosexuality is ethical, and visa versa. One who explicitly follows an organized religion must follow the rules of a higher power (God). Getting rid of this obstacle will leave room for autonomous decisions on homosexuality, and eventually its place in good ethics.

There are several religions which condemns the notion of homosexuality. Growing up in a Christian household I was taught that being homosexual is a sin in the sight of God. For example, in Jamaica my family practiced Pentecostal religion where they are very passionate about their traditions. There were unspoken beliefs that homosexuals were to be punished for their sexual practices. This belief followed me to the United States. Even though we went to a Baptist Church, the teachings were the same. I held on to this religious belief for many years and lived my life in a way that was conducive to my religion.

Homosexuality is not a 20th century situation but has been in history from the age of ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, and even China. The attitude toward homosexuality always has been a variable, depending on the social, cultural and morality, or even the political development (Barnecka et al., 2005). Back in Greek history the concept of relations between two men was seen as the highest form of love, whereas the Judaic view always was against and frowned upon these relations considering it immoral and illegal. However, when the Roman rule was destroyed and the Christians took over Europe, homosexuality was seen as perverse (Woodward, 1997).

In the United States in the 1960’s homosexuality was on the rise but it was also deemed as immoral or sinful to even be that way. Homosexuals were treated as criminals and became scrutinized because they were different from others, chose to love differently, and to actually be someone they wanted to be. It wasn’t until the 1990’s in the U.S. that homosexuality has decreased some but there are still people out there that believe homosexuality is wrong and often leads to more antigay and hate crimes that are often lashed out toward the group of