Regretfully, I don't have the time to give your post the time it deserves. But thank you for taking the time to post it. You've stated your position most eloquently, and politely too, I might add. I guess it goes without saying that I don't agree. But you seem to be sincere in your beliefs, and you seem sincere in your desire to follow God. However, I still think you put way too much faith in what you feel and far too little faith in what is stated quite clearly (IMHO) in the Bible. Interpretations may differ, but there are many things that are stated too clearly and too often to water down by trying to put a certain spin on them.

Just for the record, I don't look at oral sex as disgusting at all. I think it can be a very loving experience for both partners if it's done as part of a loving sexual relationship between married couples. Unfortunately, that excludes man/boy oral sex. I still don't see that as disgusting, just improper and sinful. And I don't believe every boy suffers harm by having a sexual relationship with a man. That may be an argument for a secular man, but Christians are supposed to be trying to abstain from sin, and yes, I believe it's sin.

You consider marriage to be nothing more than a church tradition, but it's a holy institution, if done properly, is blessed by God. You ask about those not married. They are admonished to refrain from sexual immorality. They aren't going to hell, but neither are they given permission to engage is sexual activities merely because they are born with that desire. We are not animals that have only instincts. We are humans made in God's image and are supposed to keep ourselves under control. The Bible is filled with admonishions about maintaining self control and not just giving in to desires. Paul was unmarried, and no, God did not love him any less or condemn him. But there is no record of Paul engaging in sex either. If nayone in the Bible had all the liberties given to believers, Paul was certainly among them. Don't you think he would have engaged in sex if he felt he had that liberty?

The passages to quote from Romans was talking about what to eat and what days were concidered holy. It's a huge stretch to extend that to apply to sexual freedom. That's what I meant about taking scripture out of context. You have to take the Bible as a whole, not just selected verses. You said your faith remains strong not in spite of what the Bible says but because of what it says. I'm sorry but I just don't see that. I'm not suggesting that you should believe only what others tell you about the Bible. But if I grew up on a deserted island, and a Bible washed ashore, and I had absolutely no preconceived notions about what it said or meant, there is no way I would ever take it to mean that Christians have the liberties you think they have. Basically, you're saying Christians have the liberty to sin, or maybe that Christians have the liberty to decide for themselves what sin is, regardless of what the Bible says. That is so wrong in so many ways. Remember that Eve didn't think it was wrong to eat that apple, even though God said not to. By your reasoning, Eve wasn't sinning because she was doing what she thought was right.

You seem to think that as long as we do something, anything in love, that it's not sin and God will bless it. The problem is that I think you are deceiving yourself as to the difference between doing something in love and doing something to fulfill a desire. You may indeed love the boy. He may love you. But you could quite effectively love him and nurture him without making love to him. In fact, making love to him puts him in all kinds of dangers of emotional trauma and having his life turned upside down if discovered. Where is the love in that? Also, if you didn't have the deep yearning inside you to love him sexually, I really really doubt you would engage in it only for his sake. Admit it. Giving a boy sexual pleasure, in turn, gives you an enormous amount of emotional pleasure. I'm a pedophile too. I know a little about what goes on in the pedophile mind.

To do this post properly, I should put up several Biblical references, but I'm really short on time. But I doubt it would change your mind. Just keep in mind that no where in the Bible does it say we can do anything we want as long as WE think it's ok. The passages you quote are talking about traditions and such, not outright sin. Remember that much of the books in the Bible were letters to churches, often telling them some of the mistakes they were making. Those churches were doing what THEY thought was right, just like you may be doing and believing what YOU think is right. But Paul and the other Apostles sometimes had to set them straight. I'm not trying to "set you straight." I'm just trying to encourage you to guard against deception, both from without and from within.

Let me leave you with the same caution I gave clolibre. To save time, I'm going to just copy and paste it. I think it applies. But whatever you believe, I still hope you feel welcome here. We're all on the same journey, all trying to find the way.

Part of my post to clolibre:

I want to leave you with one word of caution. We all have free will. BUT, and this is a very important but, if you are truly a Christian and truly have surrendered your will for God's, you have basically given God permission to intervene in your life as He sees fit. God has an extreme amount of patience, but it isn't infinite. If you continue down a path He doesn't want you on, especially if you detrimentally affect the lives of others (children), sooner or later He is going to get your attention, if you know what I mean. Now if you're just playing some plastic Jesus game and are just giving all this Christian stuff lip service, God may not intervene. But I know from personal experience that God chastens His own. I'm thankful for that because it keeps me from straying too far from the path He would have me follow. But it's damned uncomfortable when He does it.

Dakota