I think that God and the love of God is within us all. And I see that as the starting point for all else. After that point, people are the ones who create rules, traditions, and cultures.

Jesse Lunas last blog post..Fast Food Tour of LA

By Jesse Luna on Jul 17, 2008

I totally agree with you. =)

By Katrina on Jul 17, 2008

I firmly believe that love between any two consenting adults is a beautiful and rare and precious thing. And I try very hard to avoid judging the actions of people in any relationship, because I don’t think it’s possible to understand another person’s choices if you haven’t experienced their situation for themselves.

I also believe that it is much easier to create parameters about what is and isn’t okay when your own natural impulses fall within the “okay” parameters. That is, it’s easy to say, as a straight person, that it is wrong to be bi or gay, because you aren’t, and you haven’t experienced it, and it’s difficult for you to conceive of how one could naturally be of a different sexuality than you.

I recognize that we make moral judgments from within the parameters of what we believe to be correct all the time; for example, when we say that pedophilia is wrong, or even murder. I believe that the place to draw the line is at the point of consent, and of rights infringement. Pedophilia harms the rights of a child who is not of reasonable mind and body to consent. Murder infringes on the right of the victim to live. Not being heterosexual does not infringe on the rights of the people involved in the relationship. The worst it can do is offend people who are observing from the outside.

All that said, I am certain that neither of us can change one another’s minds, as both of us have deeply rooted convictions on this matter. So I’m glad that you are willing to talk about these things instead of tending toward avoidance. I think we can all benefit from that type of perspective.

Jesss last blog post..How to be a grownup

By Jess on Jul 17, 2008

I am Christian as well, although my beliefs regarding sexuality tend to be closer to Jess’s than yours. But I just wanted to say that I appreciate you sharing your beliefs in an intelligent, open manner, and I think that is what is good about blogging. I also am grateful that you were willing to post something that you may not have been comfortable with, which I know can be hard to do.

-R-s last blog post..Today’s Meeting Agenda

By -R- on Jul 17, 2008

I agree with -R- that you have approached this very intelligently and were very gracious to let your anonymous blogger share a viewpoint that you disagree with on your own blog.

Kudos to you!

I have a hard time knowing when to interject my personal beliefs into the online world. I tend to hold back a little bit in that arena. I guess I’m afraid people will think I’m trying to correct their behavior or preach at them. Being assertive is hard when it’s unpopular. Kudos again to you!

citystreamss last blog post..Strollin’ Along And Singin’ A Song

By citystreams on Jul 17, 2008

First of all, I commend you for your boldness and willingness to share your truth. I definitely rarely have the courage to not tend towards avoidance because my world view is at odds with most of the people with which I come into contact on a regular basis.

That said, I think it’s important to over-stress your desire to have meaningful and intellectual dialogue about your differences in belief with one another when you know that your view is wildly different than others’(which you totally did). I think that the reason that so many people are turned off from Christianity or any other religion for that matter is that all they hear from people of faith is that they (the pious) are right and everyone else is wrong. The conversation stops there, and no one gets to share where they’re coming from. I appreciate that you welcome conversation in the light of controversy.

downbeatss last blog post..The downside to having steady employment

By downbeats on Jul 17, 2008

I just want to say I appreciate the fact that commenters are, for the most part, being civil and rational on this topic. When I saw the first couple of opposing comments yesterday, I feared it would quickly get ugly. I’m glad that instead we’ve shown that we’re all grown ups who can at least try to respect other people’s opinions, no matter how much we may disagree with them. Personally, I wholly disagree with the second paragraph of your post above, but I respect your right to voice the opinions in that paragraph (particularly on your own blog), and I appreciate the fact that you were willing to publish the anonymous post without any added commentary or disclaimer, even though you probably had reservations about doing so.

In other words, I probably could have just said, “I second what Jess and -R- said.” :-) Oh well.

stefanies last blog post..Blog Share 3.0

By stefanie on Jul 17, 2008

Amen, Seven! Good Lord, this must have been hard to write. I’m a Christian, too, but prefer not to publicly announce my feelings re: same sex marriages.

BUT, I totally support your voice and am amazed at your courage. God bless you, my dear!

Design for Mankinds last blog post..thank you, free people!

By Design for Mankind on Jul 17, 2008

Hey, everyone is entitled to their beliefs and thanks for sharing yours with us. :)

Sleepyjanes last blog post..Happy 90th Birthday Madiba

By Sleepyjane on Jul 18, 2008

As the guest blogger from Wednesday, I also want to extend my thanks to Seven.

After I emailed my post to her, I looked at her “about me” section and realized that I might be creating quite the uncomfortable situation for her and her regular readers.

I’m thankful that she was willing to share her space on the web with someone whose life she may not agree with. I hope that my comments, and my husband’s comments, have respected that by not being too argumentative or seem like we’re attacking anyone. This topic is one that seems to raise emotional defenses very fast, on all sides, so if civil discussion can happen I think that’s pretty cool.

So thanks!

By Anonymous on Jul 18, 2008

While I think sex is something special that should be shared between loving individuals, I don’t think it’s necessarily reserved for marriage. In many cultures people don’t get married. Or what about the ancient Hebrews in the Bible, where one man had many wives and concubines? I just think it’s something special that shouldn’t be tossed around carelessly.

I also think that the way to heaven is through being a good person. In my opinion, God loves each and every one of us as we are, and anyone can make it to heaven as long as they’re a good person, regardless of religion.

By Angela on Jul 18, 2008

We may all disagree on a lot of things but one thing we can all raise our glasses to is that seven is pretty darn gangster. Thanks for being the awesomest person I know in Medford. My wifes grandparents are in grants pass so I can say that withoout getting in trouble.

By Scott Overpeck on Jul 18, 2008

You’re welcome, Anonymous. It’s been really interesting to watch the discussion… Thanks to everyone for talking in a productive manner and not being mean. I know that this is a sensitive subject, but you guys are all being nice, and I appreciate that.

And Scott, maybe that should be my new tagline… “Seven: Pretty Darn Gangster.” Thanks!

By Christin on Jul 18, 2008

That sounds like a groovy tagline indeed.

By Scott Overpeck on Jul 19, 2008