Comments on: Misconceptions in sexual identity ministry https://wthrockmorton.com/2008/11/29/misconceptions-in-sexual-identity-ministry/ A [retired] college psychology professor's observations about public policy, mental health, sexual identity, and religious issues Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:50:29 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 By: Eddy https://wthrockmorton.com/2008/11/29/misconceptions-in-sexual-identity-ministry/#comment-24183 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:50:29 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=2482#comment-24183 Nice try, Michael.

What I am pointing out is that people who insist that the Bible is perfectly clear on the topic of homosexuality do not view the rest of the Bible that way. They pick and choose.

Your comments came as a rebuttal to my comments re another possible way of viewing the origins of SSA. I have never insisted while blogging here that the Bible is perfectly clear on the topic. I have presented what I believe is a plausible possibility…that it’s merely a sin likely many others with the same remedies. If it helps, you can call it a theory…just like the genetic theory, the germ theory, the ‘its perfectly natural’ theory.
And while it is true that some do ‘pick and choose’, that applies to both sides. I’ve known many from ‘the other side’ who believe so strongly that it’s not sin that they won’t even consider that homsexual promiscuity (sex with numerous partners) is sin. Both sides have people who muddle the messages we try to represent.
Since we don’t have anyone currently blogging who is trying to defend promiscuity, I avoid bringing it up in my conversations here. Since I’m not insisting that my theory is anything more than a theory, I’d appreciate it if you don’t bring the rigid folks into our conversations either. Actually, when they do show up from time to time, I’m usually one of the first to challenge their rigidity. I believe I did so in the recent Proposition 8/Castro thread.

]]> By: MIchael Bussee https://wthrockmorton.com/2008/11/29/misconceptions-in-sexual-identity-ministry/#comment-24182 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:30:14 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=2482#comment-24182 Eddy: Nope. I do not believe that “I, Michael Bussee, am completely pure and unbiased in all my interpretations.”
Far from it. Each person brings his own set of experiences, attitudes and viewpoints to the Bible. I do. You do. We all do. What I am pointing out is that people who insist that the Bible is perfectly clear on the topic of homosexuality do not view the rest of the Bible that way. They pick and choose.
The best we can do is to say, “This is what I believe…” To insist that we know is arrogant. The Bible may or may not be “infallible”. We (including me) are not.

]]> By: Eddy https://wthrockmorton.com/2008/11/29/misconceptions-in-sexual-identity-ministry/#comment-24181 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:05:10 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=2482#comment-24181 Michael–
Thanks for the excellent example of polarization thinking.
Allow me to rephrase your comments. “People who think homosexual behavior is sin view the Bible selectively, while I Michael Bussee do not. I, Michael Bussee, am completely pure and unbiased in all my interpretations.
People, like Eddy, don’t really believe the Bible is the infallible word of God like I do…They are biased.”
I’m on a blogsite, Michael, and I’m sharing the conclusions I’ve come to as they apply to the topic. I’ve reached those conclusions through prayer, Bible study and witnessing the lives and struggles up close of hundreds of people. You’ve done the same. We came to different conclusions. I will continue to discuss the conclusions I’ve come to for their potential merit. And I’ll engage in the discussion of whether or not it’s a sin when that is the topic.
I am not discussing the punishments for sin employed either by God or his followers; I’m simply saying I believe God calls it a sin. Those behaviors you cited at the end, although not punishable by stoning or able to be ‘fixed’ in the eyes of man by buying the woman, are still, at the bottom line, regarded as sin.

]]> By: MIchael Bussee https://wthrockmorton.com/2008/11/29/misconceptions-in-sexual-identity-ministry/#comment-24180 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:30:00 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=2482#comment-24180 Eddy is right on here: “And the debate over whether it’s ‘fallen’ or not is one we never really have here. It’s the question that polarizes us to the nth degree.”
So, the deeper issue is not really “science” — or “ethics” after all. It’s about whether or not one believes that the Bible calls all homosexual behavior “sin”. To arrive at the conclusion that it does, one must pick and choose which Biblical prohibitions to keep and which to conveniently ignore — a practice known as “selective literalism”.
Such persons don’t really believe that Scripture is the “infallible word of God” — just those passages that fit their bias. Otherwise, we could still stone our wives and kids, could still rape a woman if we follow-up by paying her Dad the “bride price”: and marrying her, etc.

]]> By: Warren https://wthrockmorton.com/2008/11/29/misconceptions-in-sexual-identity-ministry/#comment-24179 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:45:43 +0000 https://www.wthrockmorton.com/?p=2482#comment-24179 @Jayhuck: Thanks, if you read the comments, you can see you were in the minority there. I am planning a follow up series expanding on the three points.

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