Homosexual inclination vs behaviour

[Presence]

So I had a discussion this morning with a couple of friends I work with brought on by one of them telling me that Pope Francis is changing the churches position on homosexuality. Yeah, right. Anyway, that lead us into a discussion about what is sinful about homosexuality.

I tried to make the point that merely being homosexual or having that inclination, that while unnatural, was not in itself sinful. I said that acting on such inclinations would be considered sinful but not merely having them.

They then proceeded to point out scripture where lust and murder in the mind are tantamount to actually committing them. Leaning on those verses they said that if you are homosexual you are therefore sinful.

That doesn’t seem right to me for a couple reasons. First - having a homosexual inclination is not the same thing as being lustful because then the same could be said about straight people. We do not equate someone’s sexual orientation directly with being lustful. Also, whenever scripture talks about the sin of homosexuality it doesn’t say that merely being gay is sinful but the actions are.

Would any of you care to confirm what I’ve said or educate me properly? Thanks!

 

[JimG]

“Lusting in the heart” is the desire to do a deed which is sinful, such as any type of immoral behavior.

Merely being inclined to evil is a result of original sin–concupiscience.

One can have tendencies to sin without deliberately incorporating those desires into one’s heart and mind with the intent to actually do the sin. That is the difference.

 

[po18guy]

You have it right. They are twisting the meaning of the scriptures to suit their argument. “Lust” is the key word. If a homosexual does not lust, then there is no sin. It is their cross to bear, just as the rest of us have our crosses.

 

[SMGS127]

Much like if a man encourages lustful thoughts for a woman, he sins, if a gay person encourages homosexual thoughts, they sin too. However, the mere presence of same sex attractions is not, in any way, sinful, and as such, a gay person is not sinning merely because of their sexual attractions.

 

[Presence]

Thanks for the confirmation. It’s probably not even worth pursuing a further convo with them as it was their anti-Catholicism that sparked it in the first place.