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Faith

Is Gay Behavior a Sin? This Is Where the American People Stand on the Morality of Homosexuality

Jan. 11, 2013 10:45am Billy Hallowell

It’s one thing to ask Americans if they believe that gay marriage should be legal, but it’s an entirely different matter to ask if acting out on same-sex attraction is sinful. With opinions continuously evolving on the matter, it seems the public has become more accepting of same-sex unions — but what about the purported moral issues associated with homosexuality?

Is Homosexual Behavior a Sin? LifeWay Research Asks Americans to Weigh In

Photo Credit: AP

LifeWay Research conducted a survey back in November — the results of which were released on Thursday. The organization asked respondents, “Do you believe homosexual behavior is a sin?” Forty-five percent of the American public said that it is not, with 37 percent answering affirmatively, and an additional 17 percent saying that it did not know which side to select.

These findings paint a starkly different picture when compared to the results from the same question that was asked by LifeWay in its 2011 survey. At that point, 44 percent believed that homosexuality was sinful and 43 did not, with an additional 13 percent stating that they were unsure.

Photo Credit: LifeWay Research

Naturally, one of the big questions surrounds why such a major change was observed in just a year’s time. According to Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, President Barack Obama’s change-of-heart on gay marriage in the middle of the 2012 election cycle may have played a role in overall societal change.

“The president’s evolution on homosexuality probably impacted the evolution of cultural values – there is a real and substantive shift, surprisingly large for a one-year time-frame – though this was hardly a normal year on this issue,” Stetzer noted in a press release advertising the organization’s results.

Born-again Christians and evangelicals (73 percent) and those who attend church at least once per week (61 percent) were found in the 2012 results to be most likely to believe that homosexuality is a sin. Also, those residing in the South were also more likely to answer “yes.” Among Americans who never attend church, 71 percent do not believe that gay behaviors are sinful.

Photo Credit: AP

When it comes to the legality of gay marriage, the nation also seems to be changing its views. In May 2012, just days before Obama made his endorsement of gay marriage, 50 percent of the public told Gallup they supported same-sex marriage, with 48 percent saying they did not.

Another poll conducted by CBS News well after the president’s proclamation found that 51 percent agreed with gay marriage, with 40 percent claiming that they did not. With demographics changing and with perceptions transitioning, there’s no telling what the 2013 data will look like.

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Comments (323)

Gatrfanzz
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:52pm
There is a standard by the way and it is the Bible. I wish I could have been on the Larry King interview when he had the ” female Christian singer ” who claimed to be homosexual. The topic always seems to be aimed at sin and the relativity of one sin to another. That’s not the case with the letter to the Romans. The first chapter that addresses homosexuality is not using sin as character reference, but a persons moral disposition. Those verses talk about a downward spiral in a persons moral being that can lead to total depravity without hope. God cannot be thought out of existence so He is moved to the back of a persons thoughts by a constant deviant lifestyle. If you read this passage you will see that God uses the words male and female to describe those who have morally sunk into this lifestyle. Now, God still loves them and so do I because His son died for all. There is a great ministry in central Florida called “Exodus” and it is one of God’s ways to reach even those who have fallen into this life. Is this a sinful life? Yes, but God deals with a person’s moral character and sin when they find Him.

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- tmarends
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 12:18pm
  Alan Chambers, the CEO of Exodus Intl, said last year that 99% of homosexuals will not see a change in their orientation.
  
  In Romans 1, Paul writes about idol worshipers who engaged in same-gender sexual relations as part of the worship. This was common in both Greece and Rome in the worship to false idols… it was also common to the Egyptians and Canaanites during Moses’ time.
  
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chelseachablis
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:44pm
Add your comments

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john vincent
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:41pm
Of course it is sin- ful, thats right, full of sin, as is lying and stealing; a no-brainer.

I could care less if public opinion is 50/50, just shows me 50 per cent of people have no backbone for right and wrong.

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chelseachablis
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:40pm
Leviticus 18:22 ….You shall NOT lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
Romans 1: 26-27….For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is AGAINST NATURE. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10….Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor HOMOSEXUALS, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God……..YES….it IS a SIN

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RestoreCapitalism
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:40pm
It’s the overton window folks. As much as I think of the American people, they are not the determinant of what is sin and what is not. God’s word is not evolving, and sin is still sin. Let God be true, and every man a liar.

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AntonW
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:38pm
BroEd. Support your premise with some proof. You contend that religion explains “why.” How so?

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chuckm310
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:32pm
Is same sex marriage, aka homosexuality a sin? Well that depends, if your agnostic or atheistic, no it’s not a sin, just a matter of partner choice. If your a christian, regardless of denomination and you believe that the Bible is God’s word, then it is truly a sin. God specifically mentions homosexuality as a sin that no one will inherit the kingdom of heaven, with that sin on their soul. Now that does not mean you cannot be forgiven. Of course, you can be forgiven, but to be forgiven, you must; accept Jesus Christ as your lord and saviour, Confess that Jesus is your Lord and savior, turn away from your sin, repent and you shall be forgiven. That is why he died on the cross, for the sin’s of all man kind, was buried, arose from death and asended into heaven. And that’s the long and short of it.

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john vincent
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:32pm
‘Is gay-ness sin…?’

Lets see, I can think of lying, stealing, pride, slander, fornication, adultury, covetousness as sin- so I’ll go way out on a limb yes, homosexuality is sin also.

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another mimi
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:30pm
The gays I know were born that way.
So… how can it be a sin if it isn’t chosen , but is “the way God made you”???

I think attitudes from several thousand years ago formed when there was no understanding that being Gay was due to an (minority) orientation some are born with.

Weren’t left handed people also thought to be evil by some in the past? Also epiletics?

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brother_ed
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:26pm
@ANTONW

Autism is genetic, also.

Science explains how, they cannot explain why – that is religions job.

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AntonW
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:18pm
Science to the rescue once again. Yes folks, science. Knowledge, truth, facts. And they lead to understanding and a better world for everyone. Science is revealing the cause of why some people are born that way. It’s a natural occurrence that has nothing to do with the tenents of some supernatural belief system. In light of this new and developing understanding, religion’s attempt to pin the label of “sin” on it becomes ridiculous and silly.

BTW, LifeWay Research is not an impartial source. They’re a religious organization. http://www.lifeway.com/LifeWay-Research/c/N-1z13wgl

It’s really disappointing to see these kinds of stories on The Blaze. As a father and grand father, and a person who has been married to the same woman for over 35 years, I’m happy to see people changing and becoming smarter, more sophisticated and less superstitious. My children and grand children will live in a better world than the one I grew up in because of it.

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- TNway
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 12:03am
  Anton, if science proves that being gay is something innate then many non-religious women will want a test done so they can abort the baby if it is predisposed to being gay. Gay people statically live shorter, disease, addiction- filled, lives. They also are more likely to suffer from mental illnesses. Look at what happened to the population of Downs children. That population has dropped by 90% since the amniocentesis test was introduced. The only people who will give birth to “defective” babies will be those people who believe it is murder to abort a baby.
  
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YOURSENSEI
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:13pm
This is what you must know:

Methinks y’all doth protest too much.

It is so.

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ClunkerT
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:12pm
Sodomy is a sin against nature, the ******** are always concerned about nature so why would a ******* support such a perverted sin as one man satisfying himself by putting his penis in another man’s rectum and feces? Sodomy is a sin against God’s laws. The immediate physical punishment is the sexual diseases associated with such perverted behavior and the lifespan of sodomites is on average 10 years below the normal lifespan of those who do not participate in the perversion.

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bankerpapaw
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:09pm
Homosexuality IS a sin. Pure and simple. All the homosexuals are trying to do is to legitimize their
sin by using political correctness to force us to accept their sin.

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Chuck Stein
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:07pm
@ 00100111
Good one! I laughed.

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vaman
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 12:06pm
Only the blaze would have such a stupid story. Once again a story aimed at it’s readers that will always think everything is a sin, as long as they don’t approve of it. Simple thoughts for simple minds.

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athiest-infedel
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:55am
Is it just me or is christian music kind of sexual in nature, seems a little creepy.

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ROBOBILLIO
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:55am
The article never defines sin. Most everyone has a mental list of things THEY think are wrong, or sinful, and that list becomes a list of sin for them. Some people have drinking alcohol and dancing on that list and some don’t. When I’m trying to decide whether something is sinful, I ask myself that if by doing, or not doing some action … do I reflect God’s nature? In other words, can I picture God doing the action I’m imagining? Having learned about common homosexual practices, I can NOT see God participating. Do I hate homosexuals? No, no more than I hate drunks, liars, thieves, gluttons, haters, sloths, adulterers and people who do all the others things that I can’t see God doing (pretty much everybody). God’s standard is PERFECTION and we are all imperfect. We would all be up a creek, were it not for God’s gift of righteousness. A gift that was/is totally undeserved. Be kind and remember where you came from.

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paulusmaximus
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:53am
HE doesn’t, never leaves his moms basement,———!

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BasketFullOfPuppies
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:53am
One reason that people are not considering homosexuality to be a sin, is that the Bible itself, is being “amended”. Many people are reading so-called “translations” like the Message Bible, because they are written in common english. But, when you look at the Message Bible, it doesn’t mention that a man laying with another man, is an abomination. It completely changes the “message”.

So now, when you or I tell someone that something is in the Bible, they rush right home and check it, in their “translation”, and it’s not there. It is a matter of controlling the language, once again.

Please be sure that you are reading an accurate and true translation. There are many good ones, out there. But, there are many, very bad versions, too.

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Iron_Wyll
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:53am
Have you noticed that Yeshua bin Yosef spoke very little about sex and sexuality? I am not a Biblical scholar, but I think He pretty much limited i to “…Neither do I condemn thee; Go and sin no more,…” (John 8:11)and “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart…” (Matthew 5:28), and “The Creator ‘made them male and female’ …what God has joined, let no man separate…” (Matthew 19:6). If he didn’t focus on it why do we? If Yeshua were here to tell us, we might be surprised by what he’d say…

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tzion
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:50am
As a society we have become too accepting of indiscriminate sexual behavior as a whole. I’m not saying I’ll stop you but I won’t endorse such behavior. Religiously, homosexual sex violates my religion but only Jews are held accountable under Jewish law. On a more personal note, I see gay sex as a purely indulgent pleasure seeking behavior the same way extramarital sex is. As human beings we are able to rise above base desires and find it pitiful that so many choose not to do so.

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ERP
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:48am
@YOURSENSEI – “Is conservatism a sexual deviancy?”

You’re a ******* moron aren’t you? A political ideology is not a sexual matter. If so, then LIBERALISM is the true sexual deviancy.

Idiot

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Depat
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:45am
Homosexuality is said to be a sin or abomination in Leviticus 18:22 and until God changes His mind and makes it known, I will not change mine. I as well as most know homosexuals and even have some in their families. It does not mean it is not sinful. God does not change His mind because things are not popular with man. If the homosexuals repent of their sins to God, they will be forgiven. But, repenting means they have to stop repeating the sin and obstain.

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- tmarends
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 12:21pm
  The problem with you statement is that abomination and sin are not interchangeable terms. Abomination, as used in the Bible, is a cultural taboo. For example, according to the book of Exodus, it was an abomination to the Egyptians if they were to share a meal with the Hebrews. However, it was NOT an abomination to the Hebrews. Every place abomination appears in the Bible it is a cultural thing, not a sin.
  
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Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on January 11, 2013 at 11:45am
Everything the media does these days is a distortion. People have been hoodwinked into believing homosexuality is not a sin and it is normal not because it is normal, but because there is an agenda. Period. Hell, we can’t even get the media or the president to tell the truth on the economy, do you think they will tell the truth about homosexuality?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLtLWnVgbHI

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