"Judge not, lest ye be judged".
There is also a theological dispute between you and me on this.
Yeschuah said more than once and was quoted by more than one apostle:
"I have come not to take away even one whit of the law, but rather, to add to it" - which means that Halakhah (jewish law) should still apply to all Christians. That being said, law is constantly being re-interpreted all the time.
What I find to be totally hypocritical of many Christians vis-a-vis homosexuality is that they usually very quickly indicate that that most of the Old Testament laws don't really apply, since the Covenant of Jesus - in their words - replaces the old Abrahamic Covenant, and yet, they suddenly grab at two verses, one from Leviticus, one from Deuteronomy, to condemn homosexuality, forgetting all the time that Jesus himself never even said one word about it. Not only that, the verbage used in the hebrew and aramaic in those two verses are entirely different. But that would be stuff for an entirely different thread.
And finally, not a whole lot of love of fellow man coming out of many Christians when it comes to this. I don't see them condemning smokers or drinkers with the same intensity, in spite of fact that destroying the temple of God (a phrase to describe the human body in the OT) is a deadly sin.
Food for thought.
Actually, Stat, the Jewish law was not intended to make men right before God:
I admire your attempt at apologetics Stat, but this is what the Bible says about the Old Law. The ceremonial law is defunct. The moral law isn't. But the death penalty for not keeping the moral law has been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ himself.
My reason for not following the ceremonial law in the Old Testament:
The New Testament covenantal system completely does away with what is deemed as "barbaric" practices by us today, in that day and age they weren't. They suited the times and the peoples for which they were written. You speak of judging, yet here you are judging the moral standards of the Old Testament. Simply put, in order for you to raise a valid objection against the moral statutes of the Old Testament, you must provide a standard by which such judgments can be made. You speak of judging, but judge Christians based on their "intolerance" of homosexuality. You speak of judgement, yet you don't quote the entire verse in Matthew 7: 1-6:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
You speak of judgement, but judge any and all Christians by laws and commands that you yourself don't follow. Any pro-gay liberal who judges a Christian for his supposed intolerance should first address his own intolerance of said Christian's attitude towards homosexuality. Any Christian who mistreats or abuses a homosexual is wrong. Any homosexual who mistreats or abuses a Christian is wrong. Naturally those who abuse "God's temple" will have it taken from them, hence the sin of such being deadly. The punishment is clear, there is no need for us to go ballistic over it.