My knee jerk reaction to these people is that they are ignorant bigots.
But as I think about it more, I actually think they sincerely believe the following things:
1. That people with same sex attraction is not really much different from someone with different sex attractions. That attractions are essentially a human condition that is more of a temptation. It doesn't really matter if they are same sex or different sex attractions. They are temptations that lead you towards sinful behavior.
2. That people with same sex attractions or "temptations" want the society to rid themselves of responsibility, guilt, or shame when they carelessly act on these temptations. Honorable straight people have temptations, too, but they want the church and society as a whole to control these temptations until they get married where these temptations become a sanctified and clean place to perform the biological functions to produce children.
3. By approving of homosexual behavior the house of cards would fall. If you allow homosexuals to be able to act on these temptations outside of a biblical and sanctimonious heterosexual church sanctioned marriage then you are opening a huge Pandora's box. Then they will have to approve of sex outside of marriage, etc...
I really think that is what they believe. So therefore they don't believe:
1. That sexual attraction, whether to the other sex or the same sex, is a God given, natural and biological, and spiritual gift to help create a spark that makes us want to flirt with and please another human being.
2. That these sparks create the potential for us to learn about one another, experience tenderness, and express affection with someone special in a very intimate way.
3. That as we learn more about our bodies and others bodies and learn to express intimacy with each other we become more human and more connected to humanity as a whole and to the God within all of us.
I think it is more of a fundamentally different world view about sexuality and intimacy as whole that separates these lines of thought. I never hear this question asked, "Why do you, as a heterosexual, feel that you get to experience the joy of allowing your natural attractions to lead to affection and and expression of intimacy through sex but you want to bar those with homosexuals the joy of that basic human experience?"
But as I think about it more, I actually think they sincerely believe the following things:
1. That people with same sex attraction is not really much different from someone with different sex attractions. That attractions are essentially a human condition that is more of a temptation. It doesn't really matter if they are same sex or different sex attractions. They are temptations that lead you towards sinful behavior.
2. That people with same sex attractions or "temptations" want the society to rid themselves of responsibility, guilt, or shame when they carelessly act on these temptations. Honorable straight people have temptations, too, but they want the church and society as a whole to control these temptations until they get married where these temptations become a sanctified and clean place to perform the biological functions to produce children.
3. By approving of homosexual behavior the house of cards would fall. If you allow homosexuals to be able to act on these temptations outside of a biblical and sanctimonious heterosexual church sanctioned marriage then you are opening a huge Pandora's box. Then they will have to approve of sex outside of marriage, etc...
I really think that is what they believe. So therefore they don't believe:
1. That sexual attraction, whether to the other sex or the same sex, is a God given, natural and biological, and spiritual gift to help create a spark that makes us want to flirt with and please another human being.
2. That these sparks create the potential for us to learn about one another, experience tenderness, and express affection with someone special in a very intimate way.
3. That as we learn more about our bodies and others bodies and learn to express intimacy with each other we become more human and more connected to humanity as a whole and to the God within all of us.
I think it is more of a fundamentally different world view about sexuality and intimacy as whole that separates these lines of thought. I never hear this question asked, "Why do you, as a heterosexual, feel that you get to experience the joy of allowing your natural attractions to lead to affection and and expression of intimacy through sex but you want to bar those with homosexuals the joy of that basic human experience?"