Reply #41: The effect of Rome

[youngred]

and by that I don't mean the Vatican. Though the Catholic CHurch says that it's not a sin to be gay (just to engage in homosexual acts) many Christians (and Catholics) both take the extreme view that all Gays are bound for hell. Having had a semi-openly gay priest in my parish for a long time and liberal priests who accept and welcome gay people at mass I had not found this until I looked outside my home parish. I don't believe that God hates gay people, I believe she made them just as she made straights and there is no reason to discriminate. But back to the power of Rome. Roman sexual values (which were actually quite conservative despite the reputation of orgies etc) were laid over top of Christian values as another means of control in the early years of the church. There was very little discussion in the eary early church years and by Jesus of sexual values, and then it was a very liberal approach. It was the later abusers and control freaks who added such bullshit to doctrine