The old jokes are always the best
Submitted by Forgiven on October 03 2000 14:57:15
In reply to Freedom from Afflictions of Passion submitted by Comfort on October 03 2000 13:23:48
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Push the right buttons and it will all be OK. Let's take the recipe outlined apart and see if it is bullet proof 1)The first obvious error is the reference to accountability to a married man. This reflects the Protestant failure to take seriously the ministry of the celibate. Careless, but not yet fatal. 2)'Abstain from fleshly lusts' - we're almost in agreement here; I suspect that masturabation in response to fantasies with boys is probably unhelpful, strengthening the propensity. However the absolute rejection of masturbation is a step beyond anything justified by scripture unambiguously - that the story of Onan is used to condemn the practice is a measure of the difficult involved in proving that it is wrong. 3) The listing of homosexuals in the I Cor 6 passage. Apart from the doubt which many of us here have that this passage is applicable to those stuck with an orientation, rather than to other interpretations, your logic collapses when pressed. 'Such were some of you' - you interpret to mean that the people are no longer homosexuals - i.e. they are no longer tempted in this way. Apply the same logic to the rest of the list implies that Christians can be automatically be free of the TEMPTATION - not just the practice - to be immoral, adulterers, or greedy. The TEMPTATION will go away. Wow - really? You're never tempted by that chocolate cake, cute girl / boy? I've been a little harsh here because two of the truly painful realities for those of us who are 'boy lovers' are: 1) Being told that we wouldn't have this problem is only we were more faithful to God - though seldom as clearly expresses as you have. As most of us have struggled for much time with various combinations of 'saying the right thing / doing the right thing' and have found no sign of God bringing release from our temptation, to be told there is an easy answer is very painful. Unless of course you are telling us that once you were a BL, who is now totally free of any such attraction - but I have my doubts. 2) Being the subject of hit and run exercises by comfortable evangelicals who disappear within a few days, never to be heard from again. What we need is for there to be a few 'straights' who stick around and occaisionally put in their pennysworth. They help us to remember that there is another perspective - and are the ones who truly love us (thanks Dirk and Heather!!) If you're still here in 6 months, I'll be very pleased. Till then, you have something to prove. |
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