I know of no evidence for the claims that homosexuality should be punished with execution. Could people who make claims like this please support their claims with Ayaath or hadeeth?
To Nerd,
Most people assume that if someone is homosexual, then there must have been some environmental factors, some childhood factors, or something in their life which made them the way they are. Such thoughts,again implies that they view homosexuality as something lesser than heterosexuality.
I think its a mixture of childhood factors + genetic inclination. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, in Islam people are never judged for what they are, but only judged for what they do!
Being homosexual is not a choice. However, coming out, choosing that lifestyle is a choice. I think a lot of people do not get this and think that homosexuality is something that can be “cured” out of you.
I wouldn't use the term curing, but I do think that a person who has these urges can still live a happy, normal, natural heterosexual life if he'd choose so. Of course the requirement is that he chooses so out of will, not because he feels forced or bullied into that choice. and you said it yourself, you think that it is a matter of choice.
As far as religion is concerned, if God is great, loving, the most merciful, I refuse to believe that that God punish you for a choice that you did not make, and most of all that God will not punish you for loving.
Yes completely true, you'll only be judged for your actions and choices, not for your nature or feelings.
For all those people who oppose homosexuality on moral basis, I ask you, what is so bad about homosexuality? I think it is hard for us to accept homosexuality, only because we have been socialized in such a way from the beginning , where gender roles were defined for us and anything that moved away from such defined roles are seen as a “threat” and “deviant”.
Well that's a hard question. There's several things to say, and none are absolutely conclusive.
First let us consider sodomy, since that is one of the biggest issues here.
Sodomy is forbidden not only between males, but also between male and female. There have been studies that showed that sodomy has a much higher chance of getting STD's. Several STD's are only transmittable by blood. However as well in the vagina as well as the anus, tiny fractures can cause bleeding. The difference however is that this is a lot more common in the anus then in the vagina, since it's more tight. Several other smaller problems can occur more frequently like hammeroids for example.
Second of all there's the problem of biology. Man and female were created in that way so they could have offspring. Two men can't form a natural family (or they would have to adopt or resort to other methods).
Thirdly there's a social issue. In Islam there's a separation of gender. The idea behind it, is so people wouldn't be tempted all the time, or at least not that much. This strengthens the family relationships. The first step for a person to fall in love with someone else is to get to know someone else. Keeping separation between genders thus protects the family. However, this only works for hetero people. That's just of the top of my head, I wouldn't be surprised if there'd be other issues.
Seriously, keeping religious scriptures aside, what is so ” natural” about marriage?
The most basic function of (an ideal) marriage is to provide both sides with security, guaranteed emotional support and protection. It also guarantees fathers looking out for their children.
What is so ” natural” about intercourse between heterosexuals?
Are you serious? How about the reproductive system? I mean to me asking what is natural about straight intercourse sounds like:
"what so natural about making coffee with a coffee machine when you could just as well make tea with it?" Yeah sure, technically you can make tea with a coffee machine, but that's not what it's built to do.
What is so ” natural” about girls playing with dolls and wearing make up, and boys being brave and not crying?
Girls have natural advantages that make them better fit for nursing, and boys have natural advantages that make them better fit for protecting/hunting. Many of those advantages are obvious, others not. An example: woman's pupils are further from each other compared to men. Due to this they have a different field of vision. Men have a better three dimensional view, which allows them for example to make a spear hit a deer at 10m distance much better. Woman on the other hand have a more panoramic viewpoint allowing them to multitask better, or for example to keep an eye on 3 kids at the same time. And make no mistake, this aren't just cliché's, this is actually scientifically tested!
Again, aren’t we told all these by ” society”? …and at the end of the day, what is society? Isn’t it our own creation?
Our own creation, perhaps partially, but it was created like that based on the experience of all the generations who lived before you. They lived life, and "society" learned these things trough trial and error. And sure society will also teach wrong things. afterall humans are fallible, but there are logically sound reasons behind many of these social upheld regulations.
To really understand homosexuality means challenging all basis of society and being able to see how certain frameworks within our society are reinforced time over time to ensure the success of a certain group.
In all fairness, I do understand your argument, and see that there's a bigger picture behind it. For my part it's not a matter of not seeing the picture, but rather a matter of disagreeing with that particular picture. I guess that makes me a conservative, but to some extend I don't really object to that label.
but they'd definately get a good beating
oh: