One netfriend:

It seems clear to me that the underlying reason is how we use the bible to understand the nature and will of God. It also seems to me that we prefer to ignore this larger question.

Another:

I think this is one of the issues, but not the only one.

At one level it is a matter of determining the means of revelation. The modern day fundamentalist considers that only the Bible is the source of revelation. This is an impoverished theology which rejects the medieval Church's insight that there are two sources of revelation: the Book of Scripture (Bible) and the Book of Nature (Science) which act in concert, not in opposition. When the fundamentalist pitches the Bible against Science he always ultimately fails under the onslaught of what Whitehead called the "irreducible, obstinate facts". We have been through this all before with the Roman Church's opposition to Copernican theory. Hundreds of years later, it remains as an embarrassment for the Church, and as part of antichurch mythology. Today and with regards to homosexuality, it is a matter of realising that homosexual orientation is not a matter of moral choice, but of biological determination.

However, the conservative side has a fall-back stance. That is, if they have to accept that homosexual orientation is biologically determined, they nevertheless maintain that to act out that orientation is sinful. They point to the fact that acting out *heterosexual* orientation can be sinful outside of marriage; and to the celibacy of Roman Catholic priests as an example of moral choice despite biological orientation.

At another level, we often assume that a fundamentalist stance on revelation gives rise to a view on homosexuality. I suspect that sometimes a reaction against homosexuality gives rise to a fundamentalist stance. Frankly, I have seen people who previously accepted a non-fundamentalist stance on the Bible being absorbed into the fundamentalist camp because of their strong aversion to homosexuality. In such cases, attempts to enlighten someone in their view of the Bible are doomed to fail.