Homosexuality/Christianity conflict (MERGED)

Ok heres some useful threads why don't you explore them?

some info and a discussion of a gay christian organisation

http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184746

Someone wanting to know if there is any other bi and gay christians out there?

http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=84343

and Catholic and bi

http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226166

as you can see your not alone!

 

I read the place where it denounces anti-gay scriptures, and it makes sense in reference to the King James version, but what about the NIV where it says flat out "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable."

Not only is it implying that it's customary to lie with a woman, but it says not to lie with a man in the same way! This is my biggest problem with fitting in my preference with church.

 

well if you believe the whole of the bible is true word for word, I think your going to have a problem with more than just your sexuality
S

 

:agree:

 

Jack, again I'm gonna suggest you read the book Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality. John Boswell, the Author was an accomplished biblical scholar, an historian and fluent in the ancient biblical languages. He was also a devout Catholic. He takes the Condemning passages apart describing the deliberate mistranslations placed in the bible hundreds of years after the death of Christ. Much of the bible reflects politicals whims of corrupt church and state officials. Christ Himself NEVER said anything about hommosexuality and in fact there are biblical scholars who speculate about the realtionship between Jesus and John. You are going to have to read deeper than what is presented in the local church if you want to have any idea of Christ's feelings. The problem with much of todays Christianity is that it has little to do with Christ. Please read and research before you make decsions based on what the churchs serve up as "gospel".

 

Hm... I can't really read any books like that, but I'll do some research.

 

what beacuse of your parents?

whats the legal age of consent for gay men where you are, because you could just relax a little and find yourself in the next few years instead of trying to rush headlong into adulthood
S

 

im a muslim and in my religion that cannot be definitely

 

Well, deciding to stop being gay is impossible, and deciding to stop being a christian is impossible, so I guess you're stuck to both now no matter if you think they go together or not.

Always remember that those who wrote the bible were only human. And since its initial writing, the church has edited it countless times to make it conform to its own agenda, which was one of instilling fear and guilt in the people and maintaining backwards moral values for its own gain.

 

Here in Holland we have a famous gay male comedian who is married to a Muslim man (from Algeria, if I remember correctly). It's pretty cute.

 

oh man it's so interesting... what is his name?
but don't forget this the exceptions do not break the rule
one they he ll pay it
this is his choice

 

Dick + Bumhole = compatible. There you go. Oh and another thing - the male G spot is in the bum so if anything, God made sure that anal sex would feel nice for guys. The implication of which is...Being gay is fine! Two guys are completely compatible. Joyous day.

 

Marc-Marie Huijbregts and Karim Talbi. But you got to be nice to them okay?

 

SLeFTaR, I'm sorry your religion feels so rigid. How do you feel, coming on this site, knowing your religion forbids you to be Gay? Are you looking for some help here? What could any of us do to make things better for you? When you say "he'll pay for it, what does that mean? It sounds a bit threatening.

 

Ok I need to make a point here

his religion doesn't forbid, its how he see's his religion
S

 

The Bible states that Homosexual sex is a sin. But homosexual attraction is not. As long as you don't act on your temptations then you're all good. Christ died for everyone, even gays. May christians don't even see a problem with gays.... much like myself... but I'm kinda on the fence. So the answer is YES, you can be GAY and CHRISTIAN.

 

I was actually reffering that with male/female sex, there's an actual result, but you got me with the G-spot thing. Also, I've had a much better time conversing with gay-supporters rather than non-gay-supporters, so maybe God's hinting at something. It's hard to relax about this, but I'll try to lay back. I'm young; I have a while to think it through.

Darkain, what's the point of homosexual attraction without sex?

 

Araf 80. We also (sent) Lût: He said to his people: "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you?
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Hud 78. And his people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practicing abominations. He said: "O my People! Here are my daughters: they are purer for you (if ye marry)! Now fear Allah, and cover me not with disgrace about my guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?"
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Hicr 71. Lut said: "There are my daughters (to marry), if ye must act (so)."
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Enbiya 74. And to Lut, too, We gave Judgment and Knowledge, and We saved him from the town which practiced abominations: truly they were a people given to Evil, a rebellious people.
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here is some of the text in the qoran

 

I'm Christian and active in my protestant congregation. Christians are supposed to love and not judge or condemn. Only God can judge, we are supposed to love. Anyone that calls themselves a Christian and does not adhere to that is not true to the teachings of Christ. The bible is clear about homosexuality but being gay should not prevent me or any other Christian from loving you just the same.

 

Jack Bond, I'm a gay Christian and I went through a period of contemplation and suffering when I was a teenager, just like you. In fact, I was about your age at the time. I was raised on certain ideas that were preached and alternatives were never presented. I was taken in by the teachings of my mother's church for years and as a result, I wasn't willing to listen to any other sides of certain issues. It was all one-sided and this was reflected in my conversations with people. If they presented an alternative idea, I wasn't willing to listen to them. I just couldn't see how unreasonable I was being in refusing to listen to all sides of certain issues.

At first I when I became aware of my attraction to other guys, I embraced it naturally as God intended me to. But when I became aware of how my church viewed such a thing, I went deeply into denial for a long time, convinced that what I was feeling was evil based on what I was taught. I became so miserable and confused. I couldn't understand how something that felt so natural could be so wrong. I prayed and prayed to God to change me and take away my "unnatural feelings". And nothing happened. I was more confused than ever by that.

When I was 13 or 14 and struggling heavily with my sexuality and my faith, I had myself committed to a Psychiatric Ward in a hospital because I was contemplating suicide from all the teasing in school because of my sexuality and the oppressive teachings of my church. I spent a week there and the seed was planted for me to start looking at things differently.

I started reading books concerning the issue and I discovered things about the history of Christianity and Homosexuality that I wasn't aware of. When I returned to my mom's church, the whole environment felt different. I felt my eyes had been opened for the first time and I started noticing the one-sidedness of their teachings. It was then that I realized that my mother's church was a Fundimentalist church.

Somehow the issue of me questioning my faith and sexuality was brought to the attention of some of the church members and they sent out a sort of "committee" to preach to me about the evils of homosexuality. I just sat there and listened to their nonesense with open eyes and took all of it with a grain of salt. Then my uncle tried the same thing on me. I took his preaching the same way. (Ever since then I have disliked him). Then the youth group leader offerred to counsel me and bring me back to the "straight path".

That was the last straw. I gathered up my courage and left that church for good. Ever since then, anytime I have ever set foot in that church for weddings, funerals, or get-togethers, I felt what seemed like an atmosphere of evil and close-mindedness all around me. For a while I lived as an atheist, but the urge to reconnect to God was too over-powering. So I started looking around for another church to go to, one that accepted me for who I was.

I eventually tried going to an MCC (Metropolitan Community Church) and I absolutely LOVED it there. I swear I have never been at a church where I felt so loved and comfortable. However, the church was too far away to attend very often, so I only got there a few times. But the loving environment and what they taught me sowed the seeds for me to look into the issue of homosexuality and Christianity even more. The more I read about alternative ideas regarding gay Christians, the more I began to realize that God made me just as he wanted to and that I shouldn't fight it.

I am now at a UCC (United Church of Christ) and I am completely happy. Now that I've educated myself in the false teachings of some churches and my own sexuality, I no longer feel at odds with my sexuality and my faith. I am now in a relationship with another gay Christian and I feel comfortable and completely at ease with myself and God. I feel that we were designed to be together by God and that he has blessed our relationship. I no longer feel as if I were being led astray or doing something wrong.

It's not an easy path to take, and can take a long time to reach that comfort zone, but it can be done. So long as you are willing to look at things in depth with an open mind, you can begin to see things different. The problem with many Conservative Christians is that they are raised to believe one thing and are not provided with all sides of the debate. They spend their lives defending their beliefs with closed minds without giving any alternative ideas a chance. The sad thing is, that once a person buys into flawed teachings, it can be very difficult to get them to open their eyes to new teachings.

Jack, you are at the age now where you can decide for yourself whether you want to follow the crowd in your church and never look at things in a different light. Or, you can take the time to look at all sides of the issue and decide for yourself. I personally feel that the Bible is a wonderful framework for living a good, peaceful Christian life. However, one must not forget that God did not write the Bible. Men inspired by God did. And as we already know, no man, except for Jesus, is perfect.

So never forget that just because it is written in the Bible, doesn't make it literally true. The writers of the Bible lived in a time when the ideas and laws were very different from today's. Many of them strictly revolved around procreation. A belief at the time, which we now know is untrue, was that men had limited sperm in their bodies. So all sexual activity was to be confined to procreation and all other sexual activity, including masturbation, was considered a waste of this sperm. So alternate sexual activities were outlawed. Since women didn't have sperm, they were not included so long as they bore children.

The culture of the time also believed that men lived long in their afterlife as long as they had plenty of heirs to carry the family bloodline. So once more, procreation became a must and laws were written accordingly. One must also not forget that the laws written in Leviticus were written exclusively for the Jews only, as a set of Purity and Holiness laws based on procreation as a must.