Crazy4Coasters!

I'm sorry I needed to re-phrase myself then because those verses I gave were leaning more about the "end of times" and not about why the Bible does not condone homosexuality. And as for your points of course I agree that Jesus dies on the cross for the sins of the whole world. I would never argue that point. We are all sinners in the face of God. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) That's why everyone needs to be redeemed by the grace of God by accepting he into your heart and life. And yes we must all love each other no matter what race, religion or sexual preference any person might have, I totally agree with that and practice that daily. I personally also do follow the golden rule of "doing unto others just as you would like them to do to you." Remember my stance on this is not about hate it's about my religious beliefs. The Bible teaches me that homosexuality is a sin and therefore shouldn't be practice. People have their own life and are able to make their own choices on that. Bu that still does not change the fact that it's a sin. And just to show you how I view this, the word of God is love. It gives you a guide to how you can live a life that is "good" in his eyes. That doesn't mean the person who gives the most to charity is automatically is good because it's really what is in the person's heart that counts. (meaning if the person is just giving to give glorify to one self so that other could see it, that's not good in the eyes of God.) So if I the word of God teaches me the homosexuality is wrong then if I LOVE others I must warn them not to practice that in life. If I LOVE you I must warn you of what God really wants your life to be like. How can God see you in "good" eyes if you don't follow what he left us in his word. People warn each other about things to stay away from when they love them. They want no harm to them. BUT that doesn't mean to stay away or hate gays at all. It means to leave that homosexuality practice away from your life. And yes you will be judge of your works again in life. But it's not the only factor you will be judge by. God will expect to you to have lived a life according to his word. You can't just pick stuff you like from the Bible and just follow those. You must obey all of it and live by it as a testament of your faith. And finally when Jesus died on the cross all the "old" laws did not go away. If that were to happen then the 10 commandments need not apply today, which wouldn't make any sense because thankfully many of us even if we're not religious follow them. When Jesus died he left the disciples and apostle to continue his work and left us a way for salvation through his death. Again there are many things in the New testament other than "due unto others" verse. If you would like to know them I would be more than happy to show them to you my dear friend. I completely agree with of not listening just to the "preacher" but to look for the answers yourself in the word of God. Trust me, just like many, I have had my doubts , but the Bible has proven to me time and time again with those issues that I need more understanding about. I'm very happy to hear your that type of person as well and I know that will definitely will help you in the long run. I know you're going to hate me on this but I can assure you homosexuals will not go to heaven. I know it sounds really harsh but let me explain before the rocks start heading my way It the Bible homosexuality is a sin. Now everyone sins but when you hear "how can a murdered go into heaven and not a gay person?" Well committing murder is a sin, that's GRANTED. Now a murderer can honestly repent from his sin of murdering if he truly and honestly turns away from it and ask for forgiveness from the Lord from his heart. Only God will know if the person did repented honestly, and if they did repent, accept Jesus into their hearts and live the life just like the word of God teaches, then he will go into heaven. Now a gay person can live a great, honest, caring, giving and beautiful life but he/she is still in sin for the fact they are their homosexuality. So if that person dies then how can God accept that person into sin if that person reject his word in the Bible and lived a life not according to his word. Again it comes back to the fact that you can not pick and choose and say "well I'll give to charity, I will help the less fortunate, I live an honest life and follow every moral code, but I will still be gay." God did not intend no one to be gay from the beginning of time "Adam and Eve" and it sin lead for homosexuality to come into play. To get into heaven you must follow the word of God and accept every aspect of it. Remember if you don't believe in the Bible then of course this wouldn't concern you but as my faith leads me to, I must share his word and love to everyone and it's up to the individual to accept it or not. Freedom of choice is that gift God gave to everyone and with that if you do accept his words, your love for him will come voluntarily and not forcefully. -Josh (I really love you guys) Escobar

Thanks again everyone for the comments! You guys really make me appreciate people's opinions on this delicate matter. Thank you once again to everyone for not attacking or belittling anyone in this thread. To my friend "Caloway Park" just to answer your question, in Christianity we believe the bible is inspired through God which was written by man through history. So in essence we believe that the Bible was written by God per say, but of course men who were inspired by God, through history, made it in the tangible we have today. I have also read your concern and by many others with the same question about is the Bible metaphoric or just literal. I have no idea who ever started the "Bible must only be metaphoric or the Bible must only be taken literal" debate but to answer your question the Bible is both. As you can see in the following examples one can be metaphoric and the other taken literal. Psalms 119:105 "Your word is a light unto my feet and a light unto my path." You can see here that the "word" is talking about the Bible and the metaphoric phrase about light and lamp serve to describe the Bible as an "instruction manual" for life. Exodus 20:15 "Thou shall not steal." Here you can clearly see this passage should be taken in a literal sense. Obliviously you shouldn't steal anything that does not belong to you, hopefully everyone here adheres to this And for my buddy "sir clinksalot", I personally don't believe I did that because there were a number of other religions and also people with no religion at all that believed in the same way I do. Granted I know they were some people who sadly did join the cause due to hate of gays and for that I'm truly sorry. Again I stand in favor of the measure from a moral standpoint. For the most part of the 20th century homosexuality was opposed because of people believing it was immoral. I still think that not because I'm "out dated with the times" but because my beliefs show me it's not moral, natural and God never intended it to be so. Again if you don't believe in the Bible then of course all my talking sounds like crazy talk. And finally to my other friend Mr.(terrancew_hod) I totally agree with your statements because I honestly believe that in time gays will have the right to marry in the future. The United State has it's constitution and "separation of church and state" that will probably allow that to happen. And sorry to get all religious again here but I believe that God is coming back in the rapture soon. In the Bible it mentions: "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24:37-39) Trust me I'm not saying homosexuality is the driving force of all evil. There are many things that need to occur and that are occurring before the rapture happens. And just to leave some examples of these things mentioned in the Bible, I will leave you with a Bible reference: "You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars. Don't be alarmed. Those things must happen. But the end still isn't here. Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. People will go hungry. There will be earthquakes in many places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then people will hand you over to be treated badly and killed. All nations will hate you because of me. At that time, many will turn away from their faith. They will hate each other. They will hand each other over to their enemies." (Matthew 24:6-10) Sorry to get religious on you guys but I thought it would help out people that probably never read the the Bible and see where our beliefs come from. I thank you guys again for not brushing me aside and calling me "crazy." You guys have been tremendously respectful and honest with your words. I couldn't ask for better people to have a conversation with than you guys. I really hope that even if we have differences in this issue, we can all be can friends and have that beautiful thing we call "love" for each other. -Josh

Thanks and yes again my point of view is from a religious point of view, and I think that it's awesome that your mother raised you and brought up a great person like yourself for sure. Also I would never try to force anything religious down anyone's throat because that's up to the individual to decide for themselves, but I did choice to vote yes on it again for the fact that I need to back up my own personal beliefs. I thank you again and everyone who has posted respectful and kindly to this thread. I love hearing you guys out and from the bottom of my heart I love and respect each and every one of you here. -Josh (Just trying to be the kind voice of "Yes on Prop. 8") Escobar

Thank God you're alright. Life is so fragile and thankfully you'll continue to enjoy it for many more years ahead.

Thanks for posting these up. If you got anymore keep them coming

What's up everyone again. Just to inform you guys Eli (generaleclectic) and myself have had a good conversation of the issue in hand. Like I said before I didn't want to really play the religion card on this issue and just state a point of view from my beliefs. Everyone here has posted valid and very true points and I thank you all for that. Trust me guys, I know gay couples can be as faithful or much more so to each other than straight couples. I know there is absolutely no harm what so ever in a kid having a gay parents. Everything really boils down to my faith which rejects homosexuality in it's entirety but not the people who are... I hope that makes sense. That's the reason why we have different points of view in this issue is due to the fact that people are not religious, somewhat religious, or are strongly religious but interpret the Bible differently. As for myself I follow the Bible as an Evangelical so I will differ from my Eli (generaleclectic) who is Episcopal. So if you don't even believe in God or think of yourself as religious at all then I understand that I sound like a narrow minded follower of a set religion that can not open or accept that fact that a man/man or woman/woman can love each other just like we can if it were a man/woman relationship. The only difference is that I live my life using the Bible as a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and I have read that God does not condon it or ever desired it to be a natural lifestyle for us. Reasons for that are biblical but once again if you don't believe in the Bible then I'm beating a dead horse if we try to understand one another because you wouldn't agree with me on that point. Again I don't hate or despise gay people at all. I love them for who they are and respect them for what they stand for. Just as you feel so vibrant and passionate about your stance, I as well do for mine and that is what makes this country great. I really love all you guys and I only wish you guys the best in life, even if we're standing on different sides of the line. -Josh

I actually was looking to add you to my messenger list if you don't mind.

It's nice to meet you Eli and thank you for commenting on my post. Like I said I really don't want to discuss this issues in a religious point of view because believe it or not we don't have the same beliefs. I see you're from the Episcopal church and as for myself I come from an Evangelical church. They have their differences and the proof being that we are actually disagreeing on this issue. But no need to go into detail on that. I understand you're point completely about separation of church and state but when the opportunity comes to express my beliefs in society, like in Prop. 8, then my convictions lead me to be a supporter of this measure. But thank you for sharing your thoughts on this issue in a well mannered way. -Josh

^ That's good to hear buddy. Is it safe to say that Big Mike's shirt is a tad stretched out just a bit? I'm glad to hear Big Mike had you as a tour guide in Vegas. Say "Hola" to your wife for me!

^ ^^ No of course not, my statement was made in a broad sense because I did not want to involve my religion into by adding that "God intended marriage to be between a man and a woman" only. But those are my beliefs and I didn't want to add that part into my post for this exact point. No need to go around into another endless discussion on "who's wrong or who's right." My post was just a point a view from the other side of the argument and nothing else my friends.

We finally hear from the big guy! Well can't wait for your massive WCB and Las Vegas TR... It should be really good, can't wait! By the way how was the Excalibur buffet food? I remember telling you I enjoyed the food they had over there, hopefully you did too. Well until then, Peace out Big Mike!!! By the way I rode Desperado in November and it was pretty rough... Good luck not getting thrown out of the train bud!

As a supporter of Prop. 8 I would like to apologize for those people that have given us a bad name. I'm not here to bash anyone who is gay or lesbian but growing up as christian all my life has given me a moral point of view on this issue. I would never be ignorant enough to say a man/man or woman/woman could never bring up a child in a beautiful upbringing in life but the point of marriage is to live with the one you love and to procreate naturally. Naturally a gay or lesbian couple can not do that by natural means by obvious reasons and that's why the label of "marriage" should be kept as a man/woman. And please remember that Prop. 8 never see to deny gays civil unions that serve the same purpose as if they were a regular married couple. I just wanted to show you guys a very "clear" point of view of how someone normal like myself (that does not have hate, despise, or belittle gays in anyway) can support Prop. 8. My faith is about compassion and I truly believe that just because I do support Prop. 8 I know that my reasons for supporting it are honest and not fueled by a hate or fear because of someone's gender preference. -Josh "I'm just talking from the heart" Escobar

^ This is one of many WCB trip reports flying around TPR. If you read he's first sentence he did say he only had a HANDFUL of pictures. So just enjoy this mini TR and look for some others around the site for your satisfaction.

I guess it was catching when I named you that. I'm glad you're labelled for life under "Big Mike's" trademark! Enjoy!

I've rode it in the front row and the last row and there's definitely a difference between that gaps. Riding in the front row going through the pretzel loop feels like if an average person is standing on your head... In the last row it pretty much feels like a 757's front tires are sitting on your head.

Hey bro it was nice meeting you at WCB. It was great and hope to meet up again soon whenever you come back to CA. By the way I guess with a name like "Cameron" is a dead giveaway that you can fly across the Pacific in style Well bro take care of yourself and I will try to learn that charming accent of yours ... Peace!

So you are Mr. Erik Johnson... Well I called you Mr. Shorts on WCB so I'm sticking to it! It was really nice meeting you, Cameron and the the guy would looked like he was ready for skiing down some slopes (I forgot his name) It was fun hanging out with you guys and I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again. By the way you were very sneaky into getting me in a picture... (I'm the shortest one in the picture by the way)

Good to hear you're still alive Big Mike I know you've been driving like a mad man so try to enjoy Vegas in a PG-13 sorta way! Peace out buddy!

^^ Well when I read this... I assumed the word vast could come into play when they will spend ONE MILLION dollars into theming... especially when Tim explained it to us on the backstage tour on how the the theming will really play a huge part before you even board the train. If I heard correctly it will blow away Batman's theming completely out of the water... BIG TIME!

^ Thanks for the tidbit of information. I'm really stoked to see how all this theming will turn out. It sounds like a vast project in itself but it should be good!

^^ I would also like to thank William for all of his hard work for the pre-party and at WCB. You dude are quite a worker bee. It's great to know SFMM has employees like yourself. Keep it up bro!

Superman: The Escape is my pick... I still try to time covering my ears whenever I hear the train approaching the pathway near Goliath!

^ Sheeeezzzzzz it almost sounds like your mom was trying too HARD to be racist... ouch!

Well Big Mikey Mike I must say I like how you captured my anger and resentment of forcefully taking a picture with you. Hopefully there's better one's on me in your heart... Ok enough with the butt kissing before people and myself start puking Well I'm #20 and my real name is Josue but you guys can call me Josh just because many won't be able to pronounce it at first glance I go under the screename "crazy4coasters" and truth be told I think Big Mike actually fell head over heels for the little guy (that would be me, all 5' 5" of me) but it's true Big Mike's charm did rub off on me throughout the day and for that I'm forever in your debt. I had a blast with Big Mike and I actually did win prizes, yes PRIZES from Big Mike! Well My good friend can't wait until the next time we meet! Until then buddy.... PEACE!!! -Josh

^ Hey it was fun catching you guys at Ninja! You guys seem very friendly and I thought you guys were gonna stick with our group but you guys ran off Hopefully we can meet up some other time... HIIIYAAA!!!