It seems to me, that when it comes to "thorny" issues like homosexuality, Christians have an "advantage" over, say, Muslims, who believe that the Qu'ran was literally dictated to Mohammad (on a mountain), and that every word is verbatim from God.

Christians, on the other hand, are well aware that their sacred texts, although based on the teachings of the Messiah, were written by mortal men. Indeed, the Synoptics clearly point to a multiple (relative) views on the same subject matter, and therefore leave considerable space for interpretation.

And, that the Gospels cannot be "etched in stone", literally, like the ten commandments, is a great boon when it comes to social issues that evolve over centuries.

For me, the Bible clearly states that homosexuality is wrong, and this is analogous to the Qu'ran stating that if all else fails, a man should beat his wife. In both texts, the injunction is written black on white.

Few, would argue that muslims should beat their wives, under any circumstances (save self defence ;-) ) , and yet many Christians feel compelled to condemn and - for some - to outlaw homosexuality.

So the question for theologians : why must the writers of these texts be considered to be "on par" with the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit - in the same way the Mohammad is considered to actually be God's scribe?

Aspects of the Qu'ran, regarding violence especially, could (in my opinion) provide to be a great undoing for the religion as a whole. Shouldn't Christians regard some of the more archaic aspects of the Bible to be a long-term threat to the very survival of their religion? If Jesus' message in the text of the Bible were truly universal, why would so many people not adhere strictly to it? Are we to believe that homosexuals, as well as Muslims, Hindus, Ashkenazis, Sephardics, are sinning according to each little prescription contained in the Christian Bible?

I question why this tiny (biblically-speaking) issue is so important to Christians, when it so clearly distracts from the real message of the Bible. Could obsessing over the issue of homosexuality be considered itself a sin? Personally I think most people take the concept of sin itself way too far, but I do understand it to be that which will distract from the message of Jesus.

(I agree with Aaron, in the first post, that how significant the issue is in the Bible is a fundamental question. My feeling is that the issue of homosexuality will create significant and catastrophic dischord between the pro and con groups in our society, but that - in theory - Christianity has a much greater margin for "perfecting" what the ultimate message of Jesus was, as in for example the historical Papal Councils.)