The other side counters with verses such as:

Both sides of this argument needlessly waste much time and energy. The above scriptures are quoted from the Old Testament under which a person must remain sinless to inherit eternal life. One of the Ten Commandments is to honor thy father and thy mother. People who broke this commandment under the Old Testament were sinning and could be put to death. If not punished others might presume they somehow escaped punishment. This could lead others into sin and thus their death. Since the wages of sin were so severe the penalties were also severe. Thus the children of Israel had severe punishments for sins which many scoff at today. When quoting these scriptures it should be pointed out that they are under the Old Testament where there was no scapegoat for people's sins. Jesus Christ had not yet come to earth to pay the penalty for mankind's sins. Selecting isolated verses to prove a point is meaningless without understanding the environment under which the verses were written. Sadly this is a very common practice.

That said, if the evangelists make this statement, "No homosexuals in heaven," they are telling the truth but they do not understand why it is true. The statement "No heterosexuals in heaven" is equally true. How can that be? The fact is that there is no sex in heaven. Bummer!

The Saducees attempted to trick Jesus by posing a question whereby one woman had multiple husbands which predeceased her. When she entered the Kingdom of God which earthly husband would become her husband in the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus answered:

God created marriage to produce families. The sexual act within marriage procreates the human race. In the Kingdom of God there are no humans and thus no marriage. There we will be like the angels which live forever. Since angels live forever there is no need to reproduce themselves. Therefore, there is no reason for sex in the Kingdom of God and thus no marriage. Every being in the Kingdom of God will be asexual.

It has recently been reported that the Moslem suicide airplane hijackers of 9/11 infamy were promised seventy-two virgins upon arrival in heaven immediately after their martyrdom. In other words, one selling point for martyrdom is good sex. How ridiculous! Many beliefs and statements from Christian clergy are equally ridiculous!

God created the sexual act for a reason. That reason was procreation of the human race. If we did not reproduce we would have expired as a species long ago. Is sex bad? Absolutely not! Everything created by God in the Genesis recreation was said to be "good." God then commanded mankind to be fruitful and multiply:

Of course mankind, being wiser that God, attempts to improve on God's creation and perverts the sex act in many different ways. So there will be no "gay" or "straight" or "bisexual" beings in the Kingdom of God. However, there will be spirits in the Kingdom of God which were born again from former "gay" and "straight" and "bisexual" humans who lived on earth! Likewise, there are no murderers in heaven. There is no one who can be murdered. There are no thieves in heaven, since there is no reason to steal. You have everything you need. Evangelists often selectively choose verses from the Bible to "prove" their points:

But in the preceding chapter the only unpardonable sin was blaspheming the Holy Ghost. The sins listed above are pardonable. Look at the next verse. After presenting a list of sinners which cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, the next verse goes on to state:

There will be no murderers, thieves, fornicators, drunkards, etc, in the Kingdom of God. However, there will be angels who were formerly murderers, thieves, fornicators, drunkards, etc, as humans on the earth. Paul and David were both murderers. Paul persecuted Christians to their death and David had Uriah killed. How does the Bible indicate that we enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

This does not mean small as a baby, helpless, etc. It means sinless. Christians will be converted from physical to spiritual bodies and become as little children once again. You start with a clean slate. God wipes away your sins committed as a human. The wages for these sins have already been paid. Thanks to Jesus, you inherit eternal life as a spirit with a clean record.

Do not assume for a moment that humans get a free ride by believing in Jesus. That is, one can do whatever he pleases, then accept Jesus and get a clean slate without consequences. We reap the rewards of our sins here on earth. These may include prison time, jail, fear of detection, guilt, venereal disease, shame, lost opportunities, divorce, low self-esteem; and the list goes on, and on, and on. In the Kingdom of God, every one present will have a purely spiritual body. The laws regarding physical sins no longer apply. Can one sin in the Kingdom of God? Since each spirit has freedom of choice there can be sin in heaven. The best example is the rebellion of Satan and his angelic followers. The sins will be of a power struggle or insubordination type of offence, and of course, blasphemy.

Can one expect less insubordination in the Kingdom of God as compared to the past? Yes, this should be the case as the newcomers have undergone a training period. The original angels were created directly as spiritual beings. Satan and his followers desired more power, so they rebelled. Man was then made a little lower that the angels, but is given the opportunity to become equal to the angels through his own personal choice.

Man is in training to learn that his way of living is not the best way. Satan and his angels did not have this indoctrination period. The Bible teaches us that following the laws of God is the best way to live. Most humans learn this the hard way. As we reach retirement age, we pause to reflect on our lives and generally conclude something to the effect of "What a fool I was."

Take me for example. At an early age, football was very important to me. I have played on undefeated football teams in high school and college. Now nobody cares. In my career I have installed real time computer systems and solved problems which no one else could solve. Now nobody cares. In one major company where I was employed, the employees revered the company president and were awed by his rare presence. Today I cannot remember his name. King Solomon, one of the most intelligent people who ever lived, reached the same conclusion most of us will reach over two thousand years ago:

Having been through the experience, perhaps the elderly can warn the young about the pitfalls they made along life's journey. But just as when these elderly were young, the youth do not listen. They are young, believe they are smarter, have a long life ahead of them, and believe they will make more appropriate choices than the previous generations. When they reach old age they reflect back and conclude, "What a fool I was." We thus cycle. Each generation is forced to learn their way is not the best way. It is a rare and intelligent youth which takes time to learn from his elders. We hardly learn from our own mistakes.

After all, it cannot be us which made the mistake. Therefore, we must find someone to blame. Kindergarten and first grade teachers know the answer to the following question before it is ever asked: Who hit who first? The answer is obvious. "He (or she) hit me first. No, he hit me first. No, he hit me first. No, he hit me first..." These children were born only a few years earlier as perfectly spotless and without even a knowledge of sin. What happened? Observe their learning environment the past six years. Daddy blames Mommy. Mommy blames Daddy. Brother blames sister. Sister blames brother. Grandpa blames Grandma. Grandma blames Grandpa, etc. Is it any wonder that we have become the most litigious society in the world? When did this blame cycle begin? In Genesis:

Neither the man nor the woman accepted responsibility for their action. Man blamed his sin on the woman, and indirectly on God for giving him the woman in the first place! The woman blamed her sin on the serpent. Man and woman have had a problem trusting each other ever since. Is this attribute of not accepting responsibility for one's actions and looking for a scapegoat another innate characteristic in man? If we could isolate a newborn boy and girl and raise them together on a deserted island, they would likely grow up blaming each other for their transgressions. Once again, we cycle.

Who is the ultimate one we blame? When you accidentally hit your thumb with a hammer, what do you invariably shout? Is it "Damn me" or "Devil damn" or "Satan sucks?" Of course not, most of us curse God, and say the "GD" word. After all, He is the omnipotent creator. If He had not given you a thumb you would not have hit it! In addition to our learning cycles, God gives us turmoil and crises as learning and character building tools. He chastises us when we disobey Him as we should chastise our children:

The conclusion of each person's short human life on earth should be to learn there is a better way to live -- God's way. Having learned this lesson these new spirits being produced for the Kingdom of God should be less inclined to revolt.