Homosexuality, eek.

As I was watching a show recently my mind began to wander onto the whole issue of homosexuality. As a christian I believe homosexuality is unnatural and a sin. But then I started to think of the various arguments about how everybody sins everyday and ask's for forgiveness and is forgiven. Why is homosexuality any different then any other sin that you commit, probably, on a daily basis. Here is what I strongly believe. There are two different kinds of sins, the sins you willingly and knowingly commit and the sins that you commit that you are unaware of. The difference between these sins is quite evident, one you commit purposefully and completely in a conscious state and the other you commit unknowingly and sometimes you in your mind will never know that you have committed it. Its the same as the law is. For example: If you hit someone as you are driving down the road and kill them accidentally you are not held responsibly for that persons death. Now if you are driving down the road and swerve into someone and hit them on purpose you are liable for that persons death and will be punished accordingly. I know that it seems like an extreme example but it does apply. There is a difference in the court of sins we have a judge that is just. I believe that God will take into account the sins we have knowingly committed and the sins we have unknowingly committed.

Now in review there are two different types of sins: The sins you know you are commiting and the sins you do not know you are comitting. As a good friend pointed out to me this is hardly to the extent I should take this. I am not suggesting that the sins homosexuals are committing belong to the group of unknowing sins. For the sake of my arguement I must further break down the knowing sins. I believe that when you are asking for forgiveness you must be asking it with a sincere heart and you must also repent with a sincere heart. If you are going to ask for forgiveness and repent you know you have done something wrong and you have a will to change your actions in a way to conform to the will of God. If you are comitting a sin that is a choice of lifestyle and you ask for forgiveness but do nothing to change it how can you really be forgiven. A homosexual can not ask for forgiveness and then go on living as a homosexual and really expect to be forgiven. Where is the remorse in that, where is the aknowledgment that you are doing somethign wrong. That is like saying well I am sorry that I hit you and then punching the person again. Are you still forgiven after you punch them the second time? If I was the guy you punched then definetnly no. I make this point to define the fact that the sin of homosexuality is a constant sin. Not only do you know that you are doing this sin you conitnualy committ this sin by living a certain way. So, as it is with any sin, you must have a sincere will to discountinue living like this and you must take actions to change.

Now it is being argued that people are born gay and do not have a choice in the matter. I whole heartedly disagree wit that. God created man to be with woman and anything  besides that is unnatural and against the will of His creation. So if we are to look at it in the light that you are born gay then this is a birth defect. I highly doubt that any homosexual or any of their supporters will agree to it being called a birth defect.

Lets for a moment observe nature and how it works. If you observe nature at the most basic level the whole purpose of it is to propagate a new generation. If this was not the most basic instinct or neccesity of nature then all life would cease to exist. Therefor it follows by logic that, considering the fact that homosexuals can not propagate, this form of relationship is an unnatural one. Therefore it is yet again a birth defect. Anything that is unnatural in a child when it is born is a birth defect. If it is a birth defect then we should be doing all we can to cure it! Now I do not mean cure in the sense that some of you have heard in the media today. I do not mean that we should start up clinics for gays and try to cure them in the medical sense. I say cure in the sense that sin is a very real disease and we must come to God with all of our sins and be forgiven or in a more human sense cured. But all of this is on the basis that you are born gay, which is obviously not the case. One has a choice wether they are gay or not just as one has the choice to eat oatmeal or cereal for breakfast. You make a conscious choice as to who you find attractive and who you do not. Now has something in their childhood or early development given them a tendency to become homosexual, that I am not so sure of, but I am not here to argue the field of physcology. As with any knowing sin there is a choice, you can either choose to steal that candy or not. It is as simple as that. Maybe we should start treating homosexuality the same as alcoholism or sexual addiction. I would think that the lifestyle becomes so natural and strong that it is nearly impossible to stop.

Now I am sure that I will be considered hateful and close minded, but I find myself to be much to the contrary. If you look at this from pure logic I would have to physcotic to be considered hateful in this situation. Let me explain. I outline all of this with a great conviction on my heart that these people need to be saved. I do not hate any of them, I love them all with the love my Saviour would show me. I hate the sin that they are committing, but I do not hate them. For you to say that I hate them would betray my concious. I would have to be showing great concern for these people and hating them at the same time. I am not sure that is possible unless I had multiple personalities. I as a christian love everyone no matter the state of their life. I would only hope that this essay would give others a new insight into this subject. I do not profess to be a pastor or any sort of a great theologian. So if I have mispoke in this essay and you feel something has been said in error feel free to contact me. I love a good discussion.

   - Josiah Augenstein

Facebook

As it turns out, deleting a facebook account is not as simple as it seems. They really bury the option to be able to permanently delete an account. Deactivating an account is simple enough, that option is simple to get to. Luckily we have google to solve most of our problems these days. I searched "How to delete a facebook account" and there were tons of answers. Oddly enough, one was a facebook group...

Why delete facebook? You could say that facebook is the great equalizer, everyone becomes an immature child. I am sick of seeing adults become sniveling little bullies and snots. The internet empowers people to be jerks. There is no physical contact with a person, you can just hit and run. I never really used facebook as a serious tool to convey my emotions. I mostly was my goofy self on facebook. Every now and then I expressed sincere emotions, generally much to my regret. It is a sad state to see what this world has become through such a medium.

I also deleted my account for the privacy concerns. Facebook is starting to sell users information, and that I am not down for at all.