Congressman on God condemning homosexuality: 'I have trouble with that'

[SergeyDovlatov]

Wow. I never ran into ultra-right religious types, but this interview just floored me.
I thought the people like John Lofton were just invented strawmen, not real.

On the good side, I think that Ron Paul was able to turn the religion around and beat the host with it.

If you can't stomach watching the youtube,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIeW0DY64bE

there are snippets from the interview here.

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88600

Though, judging from the title, it meant to be an attack, rather than flattering article.
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Being 'gay' a sin? Ron Paul can't say
Congressman on God condemning homosexuality: 'I have trouble with that'

host John Lofton asked Paul, "Do you believe is a sin?"

"I'm not as judgmental about that probably because of my medical background, so I don't see it in that simplistic terms," Paul said. "I think it's a complex issue to decide whether it is sin or other problems with the way people are born. It's, to me, too complex to give an answer as simple as that."

Lofton then asked Paul if he believes God considers homosexuality a sin.

"Well, I believe a lot of people understand it that way, but I think everybody is God's child, too," he said. "So, I have trouble with that."

Why wouldn't you say, yeah, we'll try to stop anyone from getting in the military who is a homosexual, who is an adulterer, who is a fornicator, and other categories that indicate a character flaw?" Lofton asked. "Why shouldn't we try to do that?"

"They're imperfect because we're all imperfect, and we all sin. So, if the heterosexual or the homosexual sins, that, to me, is a category dealing with their own soul," Paul replied. "… I sort of think that for the practicality of running a military, I just assume not know every serious thing that any heterosexual did or any homosexual did. Those flaws have to do with all our flaws because each and every one of us has had imperfections, and we all are sinners."


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What I like here is that it seems to me he beats religious zealot with religious argument using the same terms as the host.
What do you guys think?

[annabanana]

1. Tell the congressman that God isn't too keen on shrimp or

polyester either. .

[DarkTirade]

9. He doesn't mind polyester. It's the poly-cotton blends that are a sin.

[Jamastiene]

15. I sure hope nylon is a sin too, because I'm extremely allergic to all

that polyester and nylon stuff. It turns my skin red, makes me feel like my skin is on fire and causes hundreds of tiny blisters to break out in less than 5 minutes. I hate polyester and nylon.

[DarkTirade]

18. Wearing clothes of more than one fiber is the sin.

So if it's nylon mixed with anything else, its a sin. :)

I assume at the time it was just a way of saying 'wasting money on fancy clothes is bad', although if there are any jewish scholars here who want to correct me, feel free. :) That's just my guess.

[The Brethren]

12. LOL A few minor biblical contradictions.

[Deep13]

2. I appreciate his candor on this,...

...although I reject the idea that we all sin. I don't appreciate being judged by other people's religious standards.

[Hissyspit]

3. There's no such thing as "sin."

So their whole conversation stems from a faulty premise.

[SergeyDovlatov]

6. True, but that is not an argument you want to use if you ...

have any hope to convince a religious nut of something. (For the record, I am agnostic with weak leaning toward there is no god, or if there is a god, that information is not helpful to us in any meaningful way)

The reason I brought this whole topic is that it showed me a way how one can argue with religious people using their terms and refusing to accept their default memes, like 'homosexuality = sin', etc.

[Ian David]

4. Yeah, but Ron Paul is STILL a nutbag. n/t

[DarkTirade]

10. Compared to sanity, yes. Compared to people who pick and choose random bits of a two thousand year

old book that's been retranslated dozens of times by people with dozens of different agendas just so they can preach hatred and bile to the masses... I'd say he'd definately fall under the 'lesser of two nutbags' category. :)

[Ian David]

17. On this particular topic, anyway. n/t

[Imagevision]

5. Like there wasn't homosexuality back in 'God's' time...?

[VaYallaDawg]

7. Wonder if he knows whether God prefers Bud Lite or Coors??

[MNBrewer]

8. My guess is Home Brew

Turn water into beer!

:beer:

[davidinalameda]

11. God doesn't drink domestic beers

I'd say he drinks Guinness

[The Brethren]

13. Unfort. they're not strawmen, they're all too real.

I've met too many in my lifetime.

And I'm not sure if all congressmen/women would agree with one such findie's views or not, but as one evangelist told me awhile ago, not only are gays sinners, but we're responsible for bringing down all great civilizations.

He was very serious about it and included the Roman Empire. Imagine that, we're so powerful we even brought down the Romans. LOL He explained that all gays, even the nice ones, are naturally hedonistic and selfish. Once we gain any social power in a civilization, we destroy it by demoralizing the people and distracting them from their faith, and down they go.

My partner and I tried to explain to him about the history of the Roman Empire and why it collapsed, which was not due to gays. He nonetheless insisted we were the worst sinners of them all because of the power we yield to destroy the world. So when things are frustrating in the news on any given day, I try to remember how powerful we are as gay people. And I enjoy my fantasy that if we can topple an empire, then we must surely be able to create one. :-) Or as one friend put it: people can rationalize anything if they want to.

[bluedawg12]

14. He beat the zealot with a tolerance and humility, which zealots seem to lack.

However, there is no winning with cults, the programming goes way too deep.

I'm guessing Lofton learned nothing.

[Jamastiene]

16. God's been running our government long enough.

And it's in shit shape after all these years of bible thumping, gay hating, and keeping women down. I say we handle things without religion dominating every discussion from now on.

Also, I have a question:
If we are all sinners and we are made in God's image, then doesn't that make God imperfect too?


I think the shape our theocratic country is in, after 8 long years of "Jesus" whispering sweet nothings into that crackpot Bush's ears, speaks for itself. x(