Religion

Shhhhhhh. Be careful. You'll start a flame war. And in a flaming community, it won't be pretty.

 

LGBT people will not be going to hell for being LGBT.

That is a false doctrine taught by a corrupted organized religious institution that doesn't speak for all Christians let alone all people who hold a faith.

In fact I believe that those who spread intolerance and hate will be the ones who are not allowed into heaven.

I don't believe in hell to me it doesn't exist.

The truly wicked go to a realm called the void or outer darkness where they cease to exists.
Most souls reincarnate. Some souls remain earthbound and refuse to pass on.
Saints move onto heaven.

Salvation doesn't come by being non-LGBT, nor does it come by belief in a doctrine but it comes by reaping good fruit with our deeds and who can be fruitier than us. lol
We must chose to be loving to move onto paradise and we are saved from contiouns reincarnation.

Those are my after-life and salvation beliefs.

 

PREACH. It took me an extremely long time to come to terms with God and being gay. I was in a cycle of doubt and shame and God forbid I ever relapse and go back.

 

I can empathize with your anger and outrage.

At the risk of offending anyone, I will just say that I have experienced a great deal of hatred and persecution from Christians over the years, which has left me somewhat cold and bitter towards them as a whole. I understand that there are good Christians also...but the way I see it...Oskar Schindler was a good person as well, but the majority of the people around him were still hate filled Nazis.

 

Hell doesn't exist; it is an empty threat that only works on the very young (who grow up and continue believing it) or the very vulnerable - using the threat on either is terrible. Anyone who even cursorily considers the infinite torture of their fictional hell as a legitimate idea really needs to be cut out of your life because they are a revolting individual.

Be as gay as you like, there isn't any afterlife where you will be punished for doing so.

Hah!

 

My UPG is that God doesn't give a fig if you're LGBT. He wants you to trust in Him, be a decent human being and eventually rest in Heaven. Morality is situational. All I can suggest is you do what you think is right. I believe in God, Lucifer, Heaven, Hell, angels, and demons. I don't worship God or Lucifer. I'm quite secretive about this but maybe I should stand up more. I dunno. I believe that for people who die; they usually go to another universe or oblivion. I'm unsure about reincarnation right now. It is a process beyond the human understanding. I could talk about Demons and Hell until the cows come home but I think I've said enough. Of course there's a lot of human greed that takes advantage of this situation.

 

Well, homosexuality is much older than Christianity. Bible, hell? Tell that to the ancient Egyptians.

Atheism. Embrace it!

 

Amen tulips2198!

 

Amen tulips.

 

In the past year I've finally started reading the Bible, dipping my toe into the set of beliefs known as Christianity, trying to figure out what I personally do and don't believe.

Before that, I wanted nothing at all to do with religion, because of how most of them act regarding LGBT issues. I used to go to my mom's church once in awhile... Until I told Pastor-and-wife that the reason I was so stand-offish was because I didn't want them to know I'm gay. ..... Aaaand cue a full half-hour of two people *insisting* that I'm not *actually* a lesbian, it's just Satan putting thoughts into my head, and if I "find God" I'll no longer be gay.

..... Yeaaaahhh. That's my experience with organized religion. No thanks. I do believe in God, maybe even Jesus, but as a "beginner" Bible reader I just have to say that I don't "get" all the crap that's said against LGBT people. So far I have read zero passages that say it's okay to discriminate/persecute others. Zero. I have, however, read a good handful of passages that say stuff about leaving the judgement to God, no one is sin-free, love your brothers, etc etc.

 

Problem is the people who DO believe in it and makes current life of LGTB people a living HELL for being what they are.

 

I wish I could comprehend this simple statement and not turn it into some convoluted clusterfuck of eternal thinking and whatnot, but I don't think I can easily grasp this concept. Even though I'm in a liberal community and one where people who are queer are more accepted, I still have this apprehensive feeling that one day when and IF I get a boyfriend, we will get told that we must repent or we'll burn in Hell for our sin.

And people who are reading this will probably reference me to the OP's statement, "...God loves." I am totally and completely aware of that. I also believe that we have a little bit of God in all of us, so if God truely loves all of us despite all our faults and failures (ergo taking us as we are), why are we told by people that we'll burn in Hell?

Don't get me wrong. I am partly religious but as of late, I am starting to harden my heart and believe less and less. Trust me, I want to know God and know the Bible, but I don't know if that's possible and I absolutely want it to be.

 

This is the umpteenth thread on this topic. It's been a few months since the last one either died or was locked.

Here's my take: I personally do not believe in any gods that have been proposed. To me, there is not enough sufficient evidence for me to believe in said claim. However, I am not opposed to the idea of there being a god or gods. I find the idea simply fascinating, yet sadly unprovable.

If you believe in any god or gods, fine. If you tell me that said god hates me for reasons I cannot control, I will take that with as much salt as the Pacific ocean and the Morton factory combined. You are not said god. You have no legitimate reason to make said claims other than it was stated in a book with many questionable quotes. If you try and impose your religion on me, again, I will take that with as much salt as an oversaturated pretzel.

However: If you use your religion to help others, if you take the positive things from it to try and make the world a better place without demeaning others, without hurting others in any way, shape or form, I have no qualms.

 

people are just really ignorant and honestly scared shitless. It isnt the truth. God and or the creator or what ever you believe in loves you and all. Dont mind these people.

 

The original concept of hell was merely 'the abode of the dead' as opposed to fire and brimstone. People like to inflict fear upon the gullible.

 

Have you gotten to the parts about genocide yet?

May I make a suggestion? Don't look up specific verses to read, just open the book and start reading. It won't take you long before you wind up chucking that book in disgust if you don't let people read you off the censored method of reading it. Reading it for what it is makes for an entirely different experience.

 

That is a great post and I agree with it even if I am a theist.

 

I'm happy that I don't live in a religious country. I've never heard someone say "gay people will go to hell". I've never even met a religious Christian in person before