An alien with Vast Powers and Intelligence came to Earth

[Diogenes]

An alien with vast powers and intelligence came to Earth.

He gained the world’s attention by announcing that at an exact time all of the world’s religious shrines would disappear, as if evaporated, without violence or trace, leaving not even a cloud of dust or hint of residue.

He claimed not to have created the universe, but to be its oldest inhabitant, an observer who took a special interest in the Earth and its people; that he had guided the development of the world for their benefit. He offered peace, prosperity and health to all. He had but one condition, that the people of Earth would recognize him, love and worship him as their protector and benefactor.

There were some who took instant offense. He destroyed them utterly. Much of Russia and several countries in the Middle East were laid waste. Men, women, children and their possessions simply disappeared, along with half a dozen obscure and isolated tribes in Borneo, Brazil, and South East Asia.

Gardens flourished, poverty vanished, major disease and birth defects were cured. His power, wisdom, and kindness were almost universally acknowledged. He promised an eternal life of bliss after physical death.

Questions for debate:
Would you join the billions who acknowledged him as their sole lord and savior?
If not, why not?
In what ways would this alien be effectively different from the god of Abraham?

[Clownboat]

So you just pasted something that agrees with me. Same-sex behavior. It says nothing about if they are attracted to each other. Here is homosexuality as I mean it from the dictionary.

the quality or characteristic of being sexually or romantically attracted exclusively to people of one's own sex or gender.

Displaying homosexual behavior is not evidence of being sexually attracted to or romantically attracted to.

For example, suppose I stumble on a man giving another man a blow job. Suppose he was only doing it for the money. He has no attraction to the same sex but the only work he can find as a sex worker is homosexual sex, so he does it. I would be very wrong if I observed this behavior then assumed he must be a homosexual.

Yes, he engaged in same-sex behavior, but in this case, he is not a homosexual.

If thousands of examples are not enough, let's focus on just a few.

Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo have been inseparable for six years now. They display classic pair-bonding behavior—entwining of necks, mutual preening, flipper flapping, and the rest. They also have sex, while ignoring potential female mates.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scie ... %20kingdom.

So I ask again... Why do you think a creator would create same-sex behaviour in its creation? Especially if it is claimed that it detests such a thing?

What about changing sexes?:
All clownfish are born males. A clownfish group consists of a dominant male and female and 0-4 juvenile males. So where did the female come from in the group? When the female dies, the dominant male changes sex to become the dominant female and one of the juveniles becomes the dominant male.

Why would a creator include the changing of ones sex in nature if such a thing is unnatural?

The bonobo, an African ape closely related to humans, has an even bigger sexual appetite. Studies suggest 75 percent of bonobo sex is nonreproductive and that nearly all bonobos are bisexual.

Why would a creator create bisexuality in its creation?

[oldbadger]

Do you not know what a hypothetical is and how I used it to prove a point?

But you don't prove points, you simply spin up ideas and presumptions and then declare that you have proved something.

I will guess that you know nothing about the lives and persons of LGBT+ folks, or can you tell me differently?

[brunumb]

For example, suppose I stumble on a man giving another man a blow job. Suppose he was only doing it for the money. He has no attraction to the same sex but the only work he can find as a sex worker is homosexual sex, so he does it. I would be very wrong if I observed this behavior then assumed he must be a homosexual.

Yes, he engaged in same-sex behavior, but in this case, he is not a homosexual.

But in Leviticus we see that God condemns those committing the act with no mention of same sex attraction.

[oldbadger]

But in Leviticus we see that God condemns those committing the act with no mention of same sex attraction.

What gets me is that many people still despise LGBT+ folks and will quote Leviticus and Deuteronomy as they roll that word off their tongues 'abomination'!
Yet they completely dismiss or ignore the other abominations written there such as collecting gold/silver, messing with weights and measures or the consumption of various fish, fowls and meats. Picking their idea of morality from the old laws as if selecting a plate from a salad bar.

[AquinasForGod]

For example, suppose I stumble on a man giving another man a blow job. Suppose he was only doing it for the money. He has no attraction to the same sex but the only work he can find as a sex worker is homosexual sex, so he does it. I would be very wrong if I observed this behavior then assumed he must be a homosexual.

Yes, he engaged in same-sex behavior, but in this case, he is not a homosexual.

But in Leviticus we see that God condemns those committing the act with no mention of same sex attraction.

So you make my point for me. The same-sex behavior is the sin, not the attraction.

[brunumb]

For example, suppose I stumble on a man giving another man a blow job. Suppose he was only doing it for the money. He has no attraction to the same sex but the only work he can find as a sex worker is homosexual sex, so he does it. I would be very wrong if I observed this behavior then assumed he must be a homosexual.

Yes, he engaged in same-sex behavior, but in this case, he is not a homosexual.

But in Leviticus we see that God condemns those committing the act with no mention of same sex attraction.

So you make my point for me. The same-sex behavior is the sin, not the attraction.

So God creates people with same sex attraction and then condemns them for acting on it. Hardly loving or just. For me, one of the arguments against this so-called loving God of yours is that he has not ensured a level playing field for all human beings.

[Edit for spelling]

[oldbadger]

So you make my point for me. The same-sex behavior is the sin, not the attraction.

I don't think that you know what sin is.
All the laws of Moses were written for the production of a strong, secure, healthy, fast growing and successful people.
Breaking any of then (sin) could lead to weakness of the people. Sin leads to sickness.

Today we don't want a fast growing population (!!) and so hetero or homosexual couples are fine, and where people wish to live polyamorous, polysexual or polygamous lives then........ fine.

Christianity has picked and chosen its prejudice out of these laws and spun them in to some crazy bigotry that messes with human freedoms in so many ways, and since common sense and reason tells many of us that the Christian heaven and hell are both utter rubbish....we are freed to be whatever we happen to be.

Sin led to sickness..... and weakness of the people. Even the dress and appearance codes supported that.

[brunumb]

[Replying to oldbadger in post #117]

Given the power of the sex drive, if you can control the sex lives of people you basically own them.

[JoeyKnothead]

Why would a creator create bisexuality in its creation?

Cause watching two hot chicks have a go at one another is even more exciting knowing you'll have a chance to hop in there among em

I don't much fret why a god, or nature would allow for homosexuality and such. I figure what consensual critters do is their business, as long as ain't nothing else getting hurt by it.

Theists seem most upset by it because their sacred texts tell em to. If their texts said it was cool, well there we go. What's weird to me is homosexuals joing such religions, then being all shocked when they get fussed at about it, or kicked out of em.

[oldbadger]

Given the power of the sex drive, if you can control the sex lives of people you basically own them.

Yes.
Almost as strongly as if you blackmail them with eternal torture, and/or offer some strange existence in a heaven...... if they comply.

The horrors of the Catholic Laundries in Ireland are a good example of lifetime torture, how young pregnant girls were discarded by their families to be slaves in those places, and their surviving babies sold to wealthy couples. What shocks me so much is that these wicked places even existed in my teenaged years!