I think the issue here is not whether or not the Bible condemens homosexuality because it does. The isue rather is should we take the Bible literally. And for years and years my constant resounding answer has been no. Why Why can't we believe God's word to the T? Very simple. Because it is not God's word, and it likely has not been God's word for over 1000 years. Please, I know most of you are logical thoughtful individuals. Why can't you understand that the Bible is a product of mankind. There are three points here:
1. The Bible was written by man. Whether or not it was inspired by God doesn't matter. It was written by men, who we all know are inherintly sinful. Many hated and feared homosexuality at the time of the Bible's creation and so that's what was put in the Bible. Those that practiced it freely were often the Romans who enslaved the Jews at the time, so it's natural that the Jews would resent all of their customs.
2. The Bible was translated by man. Jesus spoke in Armaic, a langauge that is nearly gone. The texts that we have now are English. That came from German after the creation of the printing press. That came from Latin within the Catholic hruch. That came from Hebrew which (as far as I know) were the original texts. And that came from Jesus' original language which was being transcribes years after the events took place. You know how wierd things get after 5 minutes of playing telephone? Imagine playing it for 2000 years!
3. The Bible is and has been manipulated by men. More and more I'm learning of parts of the Bible that were left out added and changed during its existence in the Dark Ages. The Catholic Chruch that you always accuse of being paganistic and secular (and I don't disagree, altough I still have much respect for Catholics) was in control of the Bible for hundreds of years! During that period, when they tried to attract pagans and justify indulgences or crusades, they manipulated the Bible to fit their needs. Think of how few people understood and had possession of the Bible before the printing press. I find it hard to believe that a corrupt organization of so few individuals would be able to restrain themselves from jotting in a few things here and there. Thus, the holy text you read is very much a product of the Church of Man that has fashioned it to please the masses for centuries.
The obvious argument to my assertions is that "God would not allow His Word to be changed" But how can we know what God would do and why? Why does God allow war, rape, violence and sin? God allows a lot of bad stuff. The Holocaust, the Gulag, these things could have easily been slowed by a well placed comet plumetting from space. No one would have to know that God was behind it if He didn't want us to. And yet, nothing. We cannot claim to know what God would and would not allow (and we can not point to the Bible as proof that God would not allow it to be changed if it has in fact been changed haha!) because it is God's plan. We are not meant to know. And claiming to know is simply ridiculous. We have to let our heart interpret the Bible, not the Bible interpret our heart. Because our heart is what is closest to God. It is a direct product of Him, not the 2000 year old tangent called the Bible. If we can do that, then the Bible's glory, it's wealth of knowledge and morals can be retained. The Bible is a wonderful tool because it is an inspiration of God. It is also a horrible weapon because it is fashioned by man.