DANGEROUS "Holy Roller" mentality

KD23:

Great attitude!

THEY'RE the ones with the PROBLEMS, not YOU; they are also the HYPOCRITES, unlike yourself!

I am sure that "hypocrites" can often make for "strange (and satisfying!) bedfellows"......

 

It would also be interesting to think of how many gay and bisexual men, who were born and raised in "Bible Belt" areas eventually relocated to more urban (or, at least, more "tolerant") areas, where they are free to be themselves.............there must be more than a few, without a doubt.

"Religious persecution" also comes to mind, in a sense.......

 

I guess I grew up in a different church than most of the posters here. I was born in 1951 and had hell fire and damn nation preachers until I went to college in 1969. They targeted everyone. Alcoholics, adulterers, abusive spouses, profanity and on and on. The basic message was we are all sinners and unless we accept Jesus as our saviour, we will end up in hell. If you understand the Bible and don't try to read your views into it, it's very simple. God had only 10 commandments and no one could keep them all. The Pharisees and Sadducees took them to the extreme because of what they read into them.
Jesus had to come and straighten things out. Jesus showed and tried to teach us how to treat each other. Unfortunately we are humans and as such can't to much of anything right, even with guidance. Just because someone is a Christian doesn't mean they are perfect. Far from it. I have been a Christian for over 40 years and I still have trouble doing they right thing. I try not to get mad at stupid drivers, not tell lies, and lots of other things. It is difficult but I try my best. I know that when I stand before God I will have to answer for a crap load of things and my house in heaven will probably be a run down shack, but at least I will be in heaven. As the apostle Paul wrote, the mind is willing but the flesh is weak. I don't worry about what other people say anymore. I can't control what other people think or say so why worry about it. What they do is between them and God. It's like worrying about what the Democrats and Republicans foam at the mouth about. 99 percent of it doesn't matter.
If you think it's bad here in the USA, think about the countries that are ruled by Muslims. In St. Louis about 30 years ago a father murdered his daughter because she didn't want to follow the teachings of the Koran. He was upset that he was charged with her murder because in the country where he was raised it was legal to do so. A lot of people complain about how bad it is to live here, but they don't move to another country. If the USA was such a bad plce, why are so many people coming here from other countries.
I know this will probably upset people here, but once again I don't worry about it.
Bottom line, I'm a Christian, bisexual, not perfect and don't give a crap about what other people think or say.

 

Charlie51:

EXCELLENT post.

You've made some very valid points here, for certain; yes, things can indeed become a matter of life and death for gay and bi men, in certain nations.............damn shame.........

 

Quite awhile back, I remember reading about how dangerous it was/is for gay and bisexual men in certain African countries.

Sadly, I see many areas in our world "staying put" in their bigoted, narrow-minded views regarding gay and bisexual men; I also know it can get pretty ugly in a good chunk of the Middle East...............

 

Think of this.........

How ironic how the Bible is all too often used as a weapon of hatred and intolerance (especially in the "Bible Belt" areas), which, I feel, is totally blasphemy, and most ironic...................

 

It is also obvious that the "fire-and-brimstone" evangelists have been brainwashed by their elders from a VERY early age.......talk about "brainwashing in the Name of the Lord"...........

 

One cannot help but wonder if, at SOME point during their "fire-and-brimstone" careers (if only for a moment or two), if any of the "hot button" evangelists think to themselves:

"Maybe I'm preaching too much HATRED and not enough LOVE."

Then again, with these fellows being so thoroughly brainwashed religion-wise from their childhood days, you wonder if they can even comprehend that "TOLERANCE" indeed has a tremendous (and important) place in spreading the Word of the Lord..............

 

.......I always thought that it was a bit ironic that one of the biggest "holy rollin', fire-and-brimstone" evangelists had "Oral" for his first name(!!)

This was, of course, the late Oral Roberts.

I've heard that Billy Graham's son Franklin (I always had thought he was sexy as all hell!) is notoriously homophobic.

So much for tolerance, love, and brotherhood............

 

I agree with Charlie 51. I remember hearing as a child "sticks and stnoes can break my bones but words will never hurt me". Call me what you want, make fun of me and whatever, I'm going to keep on having sex with another guy.

 

Way to go, my friend!

Keep on keepin' on!

 

.......Though I have said this before, it truly is nothing short of amazing at how so many fiery, hellfire "Bible thumpers" twist certain Bible passages around, to further "substantiate" their bigoted, narrow-minded views.

Best to turn a deaf ear to these religious bigots; the one problem is, far too many have been thoroughly brainwashed by them..............

 

To begin with the Bible twists and turns from book to book and contradicts itself more often than not. Then pieces are pulled out of context to support ideals that really make no sense. One thing is slowly happening across the world. People are recognizing the senseless use of religion to advance certain ideals and are turning away from it. Church attendance is waning.

 

I'd read that in the UK, organized religion was panicking over the number of people who were giving up on religion and leaving churches "in droves." You don't much hear about this in the US, but I know a lot of people who have left organized religion behind, not because they may or may not believe in a higher being but because they just no longer believe in what gets preached ad nauseum in churches. I remember when I stopped going to church because I'd finally had enough of the hypocrisy and religion's "do as I say, not as I do" way of doing things - and I thought it was pretty fucked up to hear ministers preaching about the sin of homosexuality when... we had church members who were homosexual; I'm bisexual, my wife (at the time) was bisexual as were several other members (and you can probably figure out how we knew that they were bisexual) and... I'd had enough of it.

Especially when a preacher came to preach at our church, and I knew for a fact that he was bi (and leaning more toward being gay) and was one hell of a cocksucker.

 

KD23:

As a "long, long, long, lapsed Catholic", I can certainly tell you that Mass attendance is down tremdously in many areas over the past few decades, due to many factors (as we all know, this Church is NOT known for being gay/bi friendly)

IMHO, I think that RELIGION should be just that, RELIGION, and "preach the word" without passing judgement on who does what with whom in private.

Years back, I recall reading of a Catholic priest who was known for being vehemently anti-gay, preaching to the gullible that their "obscene lifestyle" was "a blasphemous abomination in the eyes of the Lord".

Turns out that this pious "man of the cloth" was not only having affairs with several women in his parish, but also, seeking prostitutes in other cities while on vacation.

Hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me..........

 

I just shake my head over the whole matter. You cannot tell me that I'm not supposed to have sex with men when some of the people who keep rehashing this over all this time had or are having sex with men and/or women and trashing their vow of chastity and... do as I say, not as I do just ain't gonna work. Take that holy rolling shit somewhere else and get someone else to believe it.

 

KD23:

RIGHT ON, my friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've seen and have heard many a man go through that crisis of faith because (a) they're having sexual thoughts about men or (b) they just had that first experience with a man and now they're wondering what the fuck did they do, why did they do it, and is God going to punish them for doing it. I've asked them if freaking out over the religious implications really makes any sense and then I've asked why you would feel guilty about something you wanted to do or, if it was one of those "right place, right time, shit happens" events, it's done and over with so, again, why let the religious prohibition fuck with you?

The crisis of faith is an emotional response, not an intellectual one and, oddly, I have rarely heard about women having this crisis of faith but, then again, I have always believed that women handle their sexuality better than men do and, even still, it's not clear if the prohibition against homosexuality actually applies or includes women. Not that it matters because as a man, I've had beaucoup sex with other men and gleefully so because having sex is good and no matter who you're having it with. It's that human interaction that we, as a social animal, needs as a part of our physical and mental well-being and religion - and those holy rolling supporters - only want you doing things the way they want it done and, oh, yeah, like modern day women are going to go along with what religion says they're supposed to do and be like.

If a local parish priest gets "recalled" because he's a part of a sex scandal, how can you continue to believe in what religion teaches? If the pastor of your church is fucking all the women members he can - and maybe even getting dicked down on the side - how can you believe him when he's preaching about the sin of homosexuality being a guaranteed ticket to hell? Are you supposed to pay attention to those who love to point out bible verses to make their religious points - but not of a mind to include the verses before and after the one they quoted so as to provide the proper perspective about what those verses are really about?

Don't you have better things that require your attention that to be "afraid" or worried about holy rollers? They can thump their bibles all they want to, and I have and will politely ignore them while thinking all the "impure" thoughts I want to about men and women... because I have, I can, and I will.

I respect their right to believe what they want to believe... but don't expect me to be a believer.

 

KD23:

One of your BEST and most "Hit-the-nail-right-on-the-head" responses!

Indeed, "hypocrisy" is all too often the "byword" when it comes to "holy rollers", religious fanatics, and "men of the cloth".

Too many times, WHAT you SEE is NOT always what you GET!

How DO we know what they REALLY crave.......DESIRE, and GET?

We simply CANNOT get into their heads and know for certain.

"Do as I say, NOT as I do"?

Oh, man, has THAT been done to a crisp.....................

 

How do we know? Their actions will always speak for them. And does it matter if we cannot get into their heads and know for certain? Do we care? All they have to do to justify their actions is to say that God will forgive them because Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Which, technically, doesn't mean that we can just keep sinning with impunity, but many assume that all sins are automatically forgiven and excused. But that calls for you to believe that what you're thinking about doing - or what you are doing - is really a sin, doesn't it?