Love the Sinner, Not the Sin!

I really enjoyed the discussion we had on Friday. I agree wholeheartedly. Members of the church, or people in general, struggling with same-sex attraction simply need to be loved and accepted. We should not accept those feelings and tendencies as right or something good, but we must accept the individual. They are a child of God and therefore, no matter what, they deserve to be treated as such. For so many, declaring one's sexual orientation to be heterosexual is a way to escape to a place where they can feel accepted or special. If we accept those who are different from our view of what is male and what is female than these individuals would not have the need to seek companionship from their own sex. I love the phrase Brother Williams repeated in class, "Being informed and loving people at the same time is the best way we can help them." or something to that effect. it is completely true. Trying to get those who find themselves attracted to the same sex to fight their feelings, telling them its wrong and evil to feel that way, and treating them as wicked transgressors is the same as pushing them into homosexual lifestyles as much as telling them those feelings are true and good. Love the sinner, not the sin is one of my favorite phrases in the church. Besides, these people who see themselves attracted to their same gender are not sinners at all. They are simply fighting their way through the temptations chosen for them in this life. It is only when they act on those tendencies and emotions that they sin. This subject is particularly sensitive for me because of the views of my father. Wonderful man that he is, he finds it hard to accept those who declare themselves gay or lesbian as children of God. In theory he might understand that yes, they are children of Heavenly Father, but he does not treat them as such. Growing up in San Francisco, with a father who treated all who found themselves homo-attracted as sinners whether they had acted on it or not, i think is the reason for his take on the matter. I also had a dear friend who was a perfect example of someone who did not fit the classic description for "male", yet he did not have any sort of tendencies toward other men. He was very, very "straight". Yet very few accepted him as a man, someone who be attractive to women. Because of this lack of acceptance, he soon found comfort in the idea of being attracted to the same sex, he found this to be more acceptable for the way he acted to his friends. Strong man that he is, he resisted the urge to act upon these feelings. He knew they were contrary to the Lord's plan. He has been such an inspiration for me.