Is homosexuality a sin?

Emily Marcelo in her column, Emily’s Post, gave an interesting advice to a mother of four who was feeling so dismayed over what happened to her children (“She thinks her children turning gay is a nightmare,” Lifestyle, 7/23/17). Two of her sons came out as gays a few years ago and recently a daughter came out too as a transgender, changing her name and planning to undergo sex change. The mother wants to know if she’s being a bad Catholic if she tolerates her children’s sexual orientation.

There was only one line I found disturbing in Emily’s counsel to the mother when she questioned her if being gay is a sin. She wrote: Was it carved in the tablets that came down from the mountain with Moses?

True, you will not find in the Ten Commandments that God forbids His people from becoming homosexuals. But from the Bible, we learned how God sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family before He rained fire to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. These two cities had one thing in common: homosexuality.

Is homosexuality then a sin? Will God condemn boys and girls who grew up having a different sexual orientation/impulse beyond their control? Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed not because the people there were homosexuals. They were destroyed because they engaged in immoral, sexual acts in total abandon, lust for the flesh their source of joy. Some even became interested in the two handsome angels with Lot and demanded that they be turned over to them and for this, they were turned blind by God.

For gays/transgenders (as well as for the rest of us), I believe their way to salvation is to stay away from the lifestyle of the Sodomites. Clean living, a healthy relationship with God and men are all that are needed to be saved. Sounds difficult? Remember, nothing is impossible with God.

THERESA PILI-NISPEROS, Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila