Daniel, I'm confused about what you mean when you use the word "Literalist". As far as I'm familiar with the word it is used to refer to someone who takes the Bible to be 100% literal, which would mean that when the Bible says "the sky is a done over the Earth" they'd take that as a literal statement instead of realizing that the statement being made is a poetic one and that the Bible is not a scientific document but a theological and historical one.
Anyway, if I can try to explain a little, people who take the Bible literally when it comes to what it says about homosexuality do so because those eight verses are there. As a disciple I can say that the Bible isn't something that we can pick and choose over at our own yearnings. If I don't like part of it I cannot ignore it or rip it out.
People have done that in the past and they've done horrible heretical things; and I'm referring to people who aren't identified as heretics by the church. There have been people throughout the ages who have waged wars, executed people, and done an untold of evil things in the name of Jesus Christ. If you want a good example, of "good" people doing "good" things, look no further than the Spanish Inquisition. These are the people that are like the Pharisees, those who keep the letter of the law but not the heart of it.
Still, a disciple isn't going to suddenly rethink and rewrite to blot out passages from the Bible because the times have changed. God's word and God's law are unchanging and absolute. Yes the Bible does contain some very specific laws meant strictly for the Hebrew people; however none of these laws was simply a law for the sake of having a law. Each and every law that is found in the Torah is theologically important because it set apart the Jews from the civilizations that surrounded them. So the Hebrews were forbidden to participate in fertility rituals like their neighbors did and human sacrifice was not an appropriate way to make it rain; even the construction of the Jewish Temple was to be set apart from Israel's pagan neighbors.
I'm explaining the Jewish people's history because Christians also share in that history because our Messiah was a Jew. We know from our history, in addition to our calling, that we are supposed to be set apart from the rest of the world. That means that when society enters into a new philosophical age or has a sexual revolution (both of which have happened in the last century and had a profound impact on everything) it is the Church's job to recognize that the rest of the world is changing, to see what is good about the change and what is not, and then to continue to preach the Eternal Word in a temporal society.
There are people out there who are modern day Pharisees, they hold the word of the law perfectly in their lives but they fail to remember the heart of the law. Christ said "Love the LORD with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself, these are the two greatest commandments." Upon these commands every Christian should reflect day and night so that when we "uphold" the law in anger and hatred we realize that the law is love and that such a law cannot be upheld in hatred.
I'm sorry that at your school you felt that people were hard hearted. Christians must uphold their beliefs and they cannot change their morals as society changes its morals however Christians must also remember, above all else, to love. It was a radical love that took our savior to the cross where he died and a radical love that brought him out of the grave.
A lot of the time, if not almost all the time, we Christians are nowhere near as radical in our love as Jesus is. Sometimes some of us think that we're especially special because we're set apart and that it gives us the right to persecute others who we think are so different from us. However we do forget two important things that connect each and every human on this planet. First "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"; that's Biblical, whether you believe in it or not is up to you but to Christians that is a binding truth. Second "for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Christ is for everyone. Some people hate to admit it because they like their pure and stainless ivory tower that's rotting on the inside but looks good on the outside.
There are many "literalist" Christians out there who can still uphold their convictions, in regards to many things besides homosexuality, and still love the people they disagree with.
Literalists, show love.
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