Growing up in a Catholic High School this is what I learned on the true sin of Sodom:

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49)

Of course Donald Sensing would have none of it, as do most Christians I encounter in the United States:

A ready-to-hand case in point: sexuality. The biblical proscriptions against certain kinds of sexual acts – homosexual acts, bestiality and adultery all alike are strictly prohibited – are as clear as anything that can be found in Scripture. But modern liberal scholarship has invented ingenious arguments that the proscription of homosexuality isn’t real, that what matters most is the “authenticity” of the relationship, whether there is love and caring, and then they claim that what is really being forbidden by the texts is not homosexuality at all, but pederasty, claimed to be quite common in the ancient Mediterranean world, and that “non-exploitative” homosexual relations are actually quite in accordance with the Bible. (full text about The Metrosexual Jesus)

And Eric Scheie has his take on the culture wars too:

This war — a three-way war between sex, religion, and politics — has been going on for too long. Fifteen hundred years is too long for a war, by any standard. I wish that all Americans could realize that the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and yes, even the founding of the United States of America, were periods when reason, art, and real culture prevailed, and the war died down, even appeared to be over. Reverting to that which is dark and dismal in the past when there is so much to choose from that is not dark and dismal makes no sense to me, and I wish it didn’t make so much sense to others. (full text of Every plot should have finality!)

Now, I like Donald Sensing since he doesn’t pontificate as much as he integrates his value system with his opinions, which is why I respect him though there are ideas of his with which I do not agree. I will note though, as a response to Eric’s desire for the culture wars to end — and I do need to beg pardon for my increasing cynicism here — that for as long as certain issues are brought into the area of morality, people will be judged, people will be alienated, and people will find other peoples’ actions and natures to be deplorable. How I wish that a great number of our societal issues be simply left alone and turned into non-issues, but I think we all know where the pandering comes from.

Even I, in my early twenties, won’t live long enough to see the end of the culture wars that Eric yearns.

[A warning to ANYONE who would like to disagree with me on the quoted bible verse above: stay away. Do you think that throwing contesting bible verses and commentaries would change my mind? No. I present that verse as elucidation of the fact of what I learned in school. Pray for my misled soul if you want. Include me in your wishes. Go ahead. But there will be no religious debate here. Besides, I'm on my way to have a life. How about you? - Jay]