Re: Doing a great ministry.

U.P.C. - United Presbyterian Church? I'm afraid that I'm not up on my denominational abbreviations. The most successful voluntary coming out story I know of on this board (I also know of a highly successful involuntary coming out) is one in which a boylover carefully prepared the ground for six months before telling his pastor; he did so by raising the issue of homosexuality and discussing that first. You seem to have taken a similar tactic with your mother by talking to her about perverse sexual desires, and the fact that she is being supportive is a very good sign. Maybe you could put across to her that you've been seeking support to keep from acting on your desires. The more firmly she understands that you don't intend to act on your feelings, the easier it will be for her to accept that your feelings are directed toward boys. I couldn't possibly contribute much to a decision on free will that you've reached after five years of deep consideration. I'm interested, though, in the practical upshot of your beliefs. If you were to harm a boy, would you tell yourself that you weren't responsible for your actions, so you shouldn't be punished? If you were to keep from harming a boy even if you were in a position of great temptation, would you tell yourself that you weren't responsible for your actions, so you shouldn't be pleased with yourself for resisting temptation? Your very use of the word "war" to describe your conversation with Lucifer makes it sound as though you *do* believe that humans are capable of battling against temptation and that it's not simply genes and the environment that determine how we act. That's why I'm confused. That's a separate matter, by the way, than the question of whether to judge people. Jesus' words about not judging others seem to be based, not on the belief that we don't have free will, but that all of us are so much struggling with our own temptations that it ill befits us to judge others who are undertaking similar battles. Heather [E-mail]   [Home Page]