So I've heard hundreds of times from Christians when they are talking about the LGBT community that they hate the sin, but love the sinner. The sin being that person's sexual identity. So that leads me to the question: in this case, is it possible to love someone but hate that part of who they are?
I think not. It'd be the same thing as me saying "I love you, but I hate that you're black" or "I love you, but I hate the fact you have hair."
Discuss.
To go back to the original question, I think it is possible to hate someone's sin, but love that person.
When Christians used the phrase, it's meant as a way of showing that although they are opposed to homosexuality (in this case), they don't hate gay people. They hate the fact that they are gay, but separate that feeling from the people themselves, whom they care very much for.
Here's a similar example: my best friend got bad grades in high school. I thought that was dumb, and he could have had better grades because he wasn't trying to do well. I never stopped loving him as my friend or wanting the best for him, I just wasn't crazy about his decisions. Does that makes sense?
Yes, but does your friend think he's born with bad grades?
Why should this make a difference? If I think the fact that he's making bad grades is a bad thing, but I love him anyway, I'm loving him while hating his laziness. Maybe he was born with that trait, maybe he wasn't. Point still stands.
I realize that you're implying I shouldn't see homosexuality as a sin if a person is born with/doesn't choose to be gay. I'll preemptively respond by saying that I think there is, with any sin, a difference between the temptation to sin and the act of actually sinning. For instance, have you ever walked through a store and thought, "I could totally steal that thing right now," but you didn't because you knew it was wrong and you don't want to steal? I do that all the time. Sometimes, that can go a step further, to where you're tempted to follow through on whatever the sin is, like you start actually considering stealing the thing. You haven't sinned yet, but you thought about it, and being tempted isn't sinning. And then, sometimes, you actually do act on those desires. That's where you're doing something wrong.
I believe that's true for all sin, so homosexuality shouldn't be any different. If a guy is attracted to other guys and didn't choose to be, that attraction in and of itself is not a sin because sin is a choice. That's temptation. There's a point where it becomes a sin, and I can't say exactly where (possibly if you dwell on the thought too long? It's always hard to specify when exactly a sin, particularly a sin relating to thoughts, occurs, so again, not sure when), but I hope that clears things up.
