Burnishing Bigotry - 3rd edition

And as far as Romans 1:26-28 is concerned, while any objective reader of the Scriptures
can easily see that Paul was indeed at least a bit homophobic (1 Corinthians 6 makes this assessment
clear enough all on its own), this passage from Romans 1 that you cite actually has him proving my
point in the case at hand (albeit inadvertently) …
As explanation, please consider the following all-important fact: We cannot understand
Romans 1 correctly unless we look at it in its immediate context – in this case, unless we also
read & apply the verses that immediately follow it … Indeed, when reading Romans 2:1-11, we
can clearly see that that Paul says ―whereas‖ – meaning he is at this point giving us the reason
behind his somewhat homophobic, anti-lust bigotries alluded to in Romans 1:18-32. And that
reason is what Paul wanted us all to remember – namely , that ―Therefore, you have no excuse,
you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are
condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do similar things.‖ (Romans 2:1)
So, putting this verse into everyday terms, Paul is using Romans 1 & Romans 2 together
to essentially say, ―We are all to a degree idolaters, and we are all to a degree fornicators, and
we are all to a degree of ‗depraved mind‘ – and a significant minority of us even lust for
homosexual sex … And therefore, we are all to STOP JUDGING ONE ANOTHER!
P.S. Personally, I believe that all sexual activity outside any committed relationship is
―immoral‖ and not in harmony with the Way of Christ (see Matthew 19:12) , and yet I refuse to
personally judge or condemn any person who engages the same – and I also refuse to believe
that God is so petty that he would judge or condemn those folks‘ mistakes either … And by the
way, I'm not pushing for us to merely ―tolerate‖ homosexuals, Dan – I am advocating that we
extend to them exactly the same Love & exactly the same Respect that we extend to our straight
brothers & sisters …
P.P.S. I would like to answer your final question in more detail, and yet I am not exactly
sure where you are going with it, so will you please clarify what you mean by: ―And do you
believe that pushing for tolerance of homosexuality and justifying sexual immorality is imputing
the character of God?‖ … Thanks!
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