re: Why do churches get so worked up over gays?

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i grew up a baptist in the 80s and 90s and thought it was a sin (even though i don't think i ever heard a preacher explicitly say it) till i was in college.

i didn't have a drink till i was 25 and didn't start drinking "semi-regularly" till i was 30.

not that i want to add extra burden on our already sinful selves, but i think it's almost better that i was that legalistic growing up. i saved a lot of money and made a lot better choices than most of my friends. i have a lot of friends in my 30s and 40s that had a good time in college, but regret that they made some bad choices under the influence now as believers.

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I think a ton of 80s and 90s kids in the South/Texas had this experience. I think a lot of people view that type of southern baptist upbringing as backwoods/rural, but in my experience there are a ton of metro-urban kids that fall into the bucket you describe. They weren't from "weird" families and eventually became well rounded, but it saved them and their families from some grief. I'd describe them as "public school youth group kids." Not necessarily pious, but were faith-oriented (and felt enough pressure) to stay out of bad spots.

You're dead on about the legalism. I mean, popular hot girls at my high school were doing "true love waits" and our coolest guys were doing Disciple Now.

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If the preacher himself does not have a drinking problem, chances are his wife does

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I don't object to people blowing holes in myths of perfection, but chances are this is a false statement.

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am saying homosexuality is a sin just like lots of other things are so why are those things just forgotten about so much?

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They're not forgotten.

It's just that nobody is demanding that they be approved by the church and celebrated by society.

There's no pride month for Ken Lay and Bernie Madoff. Nobody is screaming that they should be able to go to strip clubs in good conscience and the Church is backwards for saying otherwise.

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i grew up a baptist in the 80s and 90s and thought it was a sin (even though i don't think i ever heard a preacher explicitly say it) till i was in college.

i didn't have a drink till i was 25 and didn't start drinking "semi-regularly" till i was 30.

not that i want to add extra burden on our already sinful selves, but i think it's almost better that i was that legalistic growing up. i saved a lot of money and made a lot better choices than most of my friends. i have a lot of friends in my 30s and 40s that had a good time in college, but regret that they made some bad choices under the influence now as believers.

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I've known Protestants on both sides of that fence (I grew up Catholic in rural North La), the ones that grew up respecting the teachings and those that went hog wild the moment they were able to get away from their parents and/or peers. Heck, I can remember being young and having gone to the Baptist church with my grandparents once (they were devout Southern Baptists, especially my grandmother) and we left during the middle of the sermon because the preacher started going off on "those heathen Catholics" and "their sinful drinking" (I think that may have been the only time my grandmother left church early).

I think when you strip it down to the bare bones, it's that wise moderation is the key. Limited consumption of alcohol has been part of not just Christianity but is carried over from Judaism. The problem is that "moderation" is almost taboo in American culture, especially among the youth.

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chances are this is a false statement

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Not as false as you would think especially the wives of preachers. Also Roman Catholic priests. There are quite a few of them that have lost their license to drive. It is certainly not a majority but the incidence is a lot higher in the clerical population than in the general population by quite a bit

I knew the President of a Seminary in the Memphis area and he had full time substance abuse counselors on staff to deal with this in a discreet manner for both seminarians and established pastors.....it was always full.

Oh good grief this is too easy! Eph 5:18, Prov 20:1, 23:20, 23:29-31, Ecc 10:17, Isa 5:11, 28:1, Hab 2:15, Luke 21:34, Romans 13:13, I Cor 6:10.

NOTHING spiritual comes from Alchohol. You can drink, or like dudes if you want. But don't try to say that God doesn't hate it and warn against it explicitly in the Scripture. We love our pets...

Sexual repression while living in a bubble.

All of those passages caution against drinking to excess and encouraging others to binge drink with you. As with everything else, they are cautioning personal responsibility and moderation. None of them are explicit outright bans on alcohol like we see with homosexuality. Deuteronomy and Leviticus give laws and penalties. What you linked are suggestions. The books of Moses lay down the law on homosexuality and declare a penalty of death. They don’t take that hard line towards drinking.

With that said, I don’t have a problem with either one, nor am I an Evangelical or a good service-attending Christian.

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and here's our old friend: there's nothing wrong with it -- unless you oppose it. Then it's something nasty you're to be accused of.

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It’s simply mocking. Their opinion of sexuality doesn’t change.