Morality, religion, and politics can be great topics of fruitful conversation and discussion, provided all participants are really interested in learning something.

The word "debate" is used when the participants have chosen sides (usually by vested interests such as a party mandate) and merely want to convince readers or listeners who are still undecided. This seems to be the case with most Mudcat threads. In such a context, the best tactics is not to shout at each other, but to imagine those readers: will I make an impression of superior argumentation? --

The Old Testament, to be sure, leaves no doubt that sex between men is an "abomination". So is sex with animals (where women are also mentioned, in the third person - "thou" is always a man). As for same-sex marriage, David and Jonathan formed a highly praised "covenant" - whatever that meant.

The very notion of sexuality changes drastically with the times. The idea of a "sexual identity" would have been completely incomprehensible 300 years ago, let alone in Biblical times. Sex between men was (and is, in other cultures) often viewed as a form of onanism, sex between women as simply nonexistent by definition.