JWinQuestion: I brought out earlier how I read an article how gay partners are 17 times more likely to get an STD. The thought in my head of gay people dying because of increasing STDS due to their sexual lifestyle saddens me. That is why I don't condone the practice.
There have been many good comments already but one that may have been missed is this. Your "gay partners are 17 times more likely to get an STD" doesn't ring true. I might buy it if you were talking MEN since there is usually penetration involved. How about gay women where there is no penetration? See my point? Does this mean that men are unfairly targeted because they were born a male -- and that gay women are blessed simply because they were born a female?
I am a 73 year old heterosexual but began to question the society's (and most fundamental Christianity) harsh postion against gays when I was newly baptized at age 16. Dad and Mom had already been baptized a few years and Dad had become quite staunch about homosexuality. My uncle Leo, a homosexual, had arrived in our cityfor a visit and phoned Mom to extend his greetings and asked he we were home so he could come over. I could tell that Mama was excited that she would be seeing her brother for the first time in a long while. Not the case with Dad -- "he won't be allowed to set foot in this house if I have anything to say about it!"
I don't remember the argument that ensued cuz I stepped outside -- I hated their fighting. I do remember that Mama got her way as Uncle Leo showed up and was invited inside for a good visit.
I'll never forget the hate-filled and cruel position that Dad had adopted thanks to Watchtower teachings. I thought to myself, "are we supposed to interrogate every person that comes to our doorstep and only if they satisfy our moral standards -- then invite them inside?" Of course not, so why pick on family -- an uncle who was quite well-to-do his entire life, but simply had a different sexual lifestyle? At his death he had lived some 60 years in a monogomous relationship with "uncle" Jerry and had almost single-handedly financially supported his mother (my grandmother) from long-distance. This was before the days of our current welfare programs.
Len
