LGBT and Christianity

Frankly I can't fathom WHY an LGBT person would WANT to take part of a religion that has done nothing but spew hatred, bigotry and vitriol towards them merely because of how they were born. It seems like a perverse form of Stockholm Syndrome to me...those childhood fears of eternal damnation drilled into our heads by parents and authority figures held over into our adulthood.

 

I am a christian because god loves everyone and not all christians are hateful

 

I am Christian but I don't go to church or make something of religious (for example if I'll get married, I don't matter if the ceremony isn't religious).

I believe in Christian God but at the same time I have an (original?) view of religion. Simply.

 

So I totally get where you are coming from. I have a strong dislike for any organized religion. But I will say that there are church communities out there that love and accept people for who they are. Me and my partner belong to a United Church of Christ church in downtown Portland. Great group of people. Also my partner is an ordained pastor and currently is working at a Presbyterian Church and we are out. We don't hide anything. When he was looking for a job in a church he said he was going to tell them he is gay right off so that he and we are not hiding anything. But I have been to many other conservative churches and I know where you are coming from. So the thing for me is spirituality, that is the relation that you have with your God. That doesn't mean you have to go to church to get that. God is love, but some Christians spew hate. If you are looking for a church community it takes a lot of patience to find one that makes you feel comfortable.

 

I'm gonna answer even so I'm not in a samesex relationship (not even sure about my sexual orientation at this point in time...), hope that's okay.

My parents aren't overly religious, but I grew up Roman-Catholic. And to be honest, not once did I encounter a sermon in my community where the minister spoke about anything LGBT related, so I think their was never really hate preached.
When growing up my parents made sure to instill certain values - which could be consider religious, but I'd go with humane - into their kids like treating others with respect and being kind and helpful, but not once did I hear I'd go for hell for something I've done or that God wouldn't approve of my behaviour.
I guess with growing up I increasingly questioned the perspectives of the catholic church on what the right way of believing in god is. And to be honest, here in Germany the catholic church causes scandals quite frequently lately...
I for one came to the conclusion that believing in God and believing in everything the institution church says to be right are two very different things. And for me, being LGBT doesn't go against my christian values just because it's LGBT. That's my opinion...

 

I agree.

 

The book or the religion itself isn't the problem. It's the people obsessed with interpreting it literally or using it to justify their bigotry that are the problem.

 

I full on agree with what you have to say about how God loves everyone. Jesus made a point on preaching about love. He even stated that one of the most important commandments is to love one another.

 

There are so many scholars who hold that being LGBT is not against God's will. Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, there is great debate over Paul's words (mostly translation-related issues), and the Old Testament a) does not apply to Christians, and b) is completely irrelevant in today's context anyway.

There is so much good that comes out of a strong relationship with God and Jesus, I feel it would be a huge shame to throw the baby out with the bathwater just because of what some very vocal idiots say.

Google "gay Christians" and you'll find tons of info (of course not all positive, but it's pretty easy to weed that out).

 

Should they be interpreting it anti-literally then?

 

I'm an atheist, but was raised for the first 11 years or so as a Christian in a Catholic school.

There are a lot of good Christians who will preach that God is accepting and loves everyone...it's just the ignorant bigots are usually the most loud and obnoxious, therefore get heard more, sadly.

 

Seems like you're all set, then!

---------- Post added 17th Feb 2014 at 04:29 PM ----------

"Nothing but hate, bigotry, and vitriol"? You haven't seen everything, clearly.

Right now you're being as offensive to Christianity as is the segment of Christianity that is offensive to gays...

 

So, you presume to know my life, and what I and friends of mine have had to endure at the hands of Christians? If you did, you might understand why I'm not all smiles and roses regarding this religion. As it stands, how about you accept the fact that not everyone is going to agree with you, and quit trying to start an argument because I don't accept your version of the truth. THAT's what is offensive, people like you who can't accept not everyone has had the best of relationships with religion and think because they are wary of it as a result, that somehow makes them bad people.

 

Christianity is, at its most basic level, one of the most tolerant religions in the world. It is all about love and forgiveness andmercy. If being Christian means following the teachings of Christ, there should be no problem for you.

There are, of course, some Christians who... their actions are the angry echoes of times and men long dead. Povincial prejudice found flesh through ancient words in vague passages from scripture all but abandoned by the modern world.

 

I felt like I'd been expelled for treason...

 

Given what I've said about religion previously, I'll have to tread lightly here, but I'd simply ask the following:

If homosexuality has been a controversial issue in many Christian communities, and only recently has there been a positive trend in acceptance of homosexuality in certain homophobic Christian communities, how is it that so many people can be wrong about the true nature of Christianity and only recently coming to the correct view?

 

I think that it depends on how accepting you church is, you couldn't feel welcome in a church against gay rights.

 

In the middle ages, homosexuality was mostly ignored. As long as you weren't too public with it nobody cared. Saint Anselm was famous for preventing the council of london from making sodomy a hanging offence. There are many examples of... homoerotic poetry being exchanged in monasteries and an astonishing number of ceremonies that involved the spiritual binding of two men, so much that some speculate they acted as same sex marriages. You may here a horror stoy or two about some sodomite being impaled, but from what I've gathered, widespread homophobia is a recent phenomenon that has occured as a result of our culture of no-privacy.