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Faith & Religion

Discussion in 'Coming Out Advice' started by travelinsoul21, Apr 13, 2010.

  1. In the past few months, I have been making strides into accepting who I am. I used to deny it, but I can't any longer. Which brings up a whole new set of problems or at least issues. I'm a Christian and while I am not overly involved in church, I attend as often as I can and just let it go from there. I strongly cling to my beliefs, except on the issues of homosexuality for obvious reasons. How can I continue to grow in my faith and become the person I feel God wants me to be, when the church as a whole says that homosexuality is bad. How do you reconcile who you are, with your beliefs when they come to a conflict?
     
  2. 12tonowhere

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    You pay less attention to what the Church says, and focus on your relationship with God. Just continue to pray for answers, and bear in mind to live a moral life and exemplify the teachings of the Lord in your life by taking time to appreciate your time on earth and showing love for all people.
     
    #2 12tonowhere, Apr 13, 2010
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2010
  3. I guess that's a good idea.
     
  4. Darkwing65

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    The Church and religious entities say a lot of things. It is my view that the bible and especially organized religion are the products of humans. Yes inspired by God, they are non-the-less yielded by human hands. God alone knows the truth, not humans. It is the roll of humans to search for this truth. Jesus, being both God and man, was on this earth to help us understand the truth. What did he say? Love thy neighbor. Who did he associate with? The Socially and culturally marginalized. So if your Religion ostracizes and marginalizes certain individuals, then the truth is truly hidden like a light beneath a shroud.
     
  5. malachite

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    Ah, the old God vs Gay issue, I’ve tackled this more times then I can count.
    I have several gay and Bi friends that are super religious (In fact one I know for sure could tell you Bible by heart). Does God hate them for who they are?.......No.
    I am not a religious person, but I am deeply concerned about the HOW religion is practiced. We need to remember the Bible and all its supplements are written by man, and as much as we would like to think those people didn’t add their own views into their writing, we have to face facts…they did.
    Do you find it a coincidence that all the pen holders back in the day were men and women were painted as the big sinners? Woman is responsible for original sin and on, and on…
    So, what you can ask yourself is this: Is God a symbol of love and hope, or is he a tyrant for prejudice and hate?
    As for the whole the church says homosexuality is wrong, well lets look at what the Bible as says is wrong (and what is says is ok).
    The book of Leviticus says that eating anything from a river or ocean that doesn’t have fins is a sin, is everyone who has ever eaten shellfish going to hell?
    The book of Leviticus says that wearing clothing made from two types of animals is wrong, so wearing polyester is a sin?
    The book of Leviticus says that shaving or trimming your beard is a sin, is this where the devil having a goatee comes from?
    The Bible also says that owning slaves is ok.
    Look I could go around in circles with this all day, and I have before it very exhausting, but just ask yourself this: Is God going to condemn you because of who you love? Answer that question and you have what you’re looking for.

    Good Luck out there!:thumbsup:
     
  6. Zume

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    (Christianity is not my belief but I will try to help)

    Religion is a slippery slope. Most churches push forward what they believe to be true even if it is not. Even if the church says that homosexuality is wrong..it is not. As they say..Jesus came to the Earth to teach love and forgiveness and the power of God. At no point did he make mention that homosexuality is wrong. The church is just putting in what they believe to be true even if it is not. So you can keep your beliefs and still go to church..but remember their messages are just watered down by personal feelings. Do not take them completely seriously. People's beliefs never conflict..only personal views. God made you who you are as who he wants you to be. You can be nobody else. Even in past people of the church have done things that go against what they preach. So do not take them seriously..only focus on your relationship with god and your own beliefs and hold them dear. Those within the church will try to change your views of the outside world while teaching you through the bible (which was written by man). Just hold your head high and continue what you have been doing regardless of what others think.
     
  7. Connor22

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    No matter what people say, remember this:

    God made you, look around, God made every single thing you see, he made the light that enables you to see, just sit back and think that if God made all of these things working in perfect harmony, working so unbelievably perfectly, would he have made a mistake with you? answer? NO. Hold onto that because a real Christian will see that.
     
  8. Starburst

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    I think religions were a thing of the past. Only philosophy can live on now. And if you stop and think broadly and deeply, you can see that religions can easily be a joke. Besides Buddhism, which, contrary to popular consideration, is school of philosophy, the other big religions have been slaves to selfish motives, sometimes evil. They are not liberators, but prisons for anyone who entrusts their lives within their confines. Long story it is. We can discuss it later if you would like. However, in an instance clearest to study, look at yourself and your religion moments ago when you were starting this thread. And you shall see why what you strongly believe in is a big joke.
    Anyone might think his or her religion is the purest and greatest foundational achievement of human civilization, one that offers insight into the nature of men and the universe. In fact, it is more or less like a toy politicians and their supporters play with everyday. The better description should be a mask that has been created to legitimize control, and since relentlessly been re-drawn through hundred of generations to fit the rulers that now it looks no more than a hideous and faceless piece of scrap. Harsh are my words, but not less true. All religions have been manipulated.
    You said that you strongly uphold your belief, yet would make an exception when it comes to sexual orientation "for obvious reasons." When one finds oneself at odd with what has been given to one to believe in, what was "destined" to rule over one's subsequent decisions, one immediately wants reconciliation. However, that is possible because you have more freedom now than did most of our ancestors. They could not do such thing publicly, but you have the power to. But with the power, even you are bending the rules of religion, to fit you, just as did anyone else having such power in history! The pages of history and the stories of religions are essentially the accomplishments of ones who were more powerful, who could survive the conflicts, not ones who were more righteous. Which means any action to accommodate your stance disproves your reasons and commitment to uphold your religion at first. :slight_smile:
    You may say that it is not God's will to promote discrimination. But what if it is your God's will? The truth is that you are not the voice of your religion. You are only one individual, not the masses, which have been specified earlier as a passive faction behind the evolution of religions. Anyone else out there has as much weigh in their representation as in yours. Thus, it's logical that anyone could disprove your theory. And in the real politik sense, you are to lose in number. Such outcome is always a permanent reality which you need to accept as well: Religion is not a kind place or a good place where you are to find the truth about yourself. There you are only to get lost in confusion, frustration, and hatred. Do not fight where you cannot win. Do not argue upon something loosely organized and unreal as if you could make a difference. Belief is never important. You can believe in anything and the world would go on in its same way. But changes do take place in your heart. There people cannot argue against you. Growth does take place in your mind. There people give up. Because those are the places where you are absolute! Where you find the perfect milieu for your personal growth in wisdom, to embark on the quest to discover yourself, and, most importantly, to acquire true peace, harmony, and happiness on the way.
    My advice is: Do not seek easy reconciliation, go find the truth.
    And be open-minded. You seem to suffer from too much attachment to your religion that you cannot let it go to see the better things. Learn detachment, friend.
    I have a bunch of writings I have come up with for you in this past hour. LOL. I do hope you become interested and contact me, since I haven't been able to organize them into an essay yet. And I still want to at least prove the "liberator-prison" case. But I need to have dinner soon. :slight_smile: I hope I helped.
    P/S: Why you should talk to me? I am genuinely interested. And unlike even most people, I can read what you wrote, very "vividly." :grin:
     
  9. I won't be changing my religion. It's too much of who I am for me to just go and change it. I'm tending to agree with the people who have said that the Bible is man's interpretation of God's word. Which I agree with.
     
  10. IrishEyes1989

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    Well said, I totally agree. I hate the way my religion (I'm Catholic) condemns homosexuality. I find it very difficult to put all of my faith into my Church when I don't agree with all of its teachings. This has been eating away at me a lot lately. I have several Catholic friends and there are some who feel the same way as me and don't follow the Church's teachings on homosexuality but there are just as many who are staunchly in favour of its teachings. All I know is that I believe in God and I know that He created everyone in His own image and loves everyone no matter who they are or how they choose to love. As malachite said, we have to question what God's mission was in sending Jesus to Earth. From all I know, it was to preach the Good News, the all-encompassing, pure, forgiving love and grace of God. The hate that is promoted by Christianity against homosexuality is a man-made construct. God IS love and He loves you. Just know that and you will have the confidence to go forward in your faith being exactly who you are.
     
  11. Austin

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    Realize the bible was written by men 2000 years ago. Been translated several times over.

    Take everything it says with a grain of salt.

    And without a few select verses from the bible, the church has no basis for its condemnation of homosexuality.

    And as said, I think it's better to focus on your own relationship with god.
     

  12. Totally agree. I've found a church here that is open to LGBT. I haven't gone yet but I would like to.
     
  13. Darkwing65

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    Yes
     
  14. Sylver

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    Here's my advice, coming from a place within my own journey which parallels yours. Regardless of your religious beliefs or convictions, allow yourself one thing - the right to arrive at your own determinations. Let go of the idea that any other person on earth can tell you what is right or wrong when it comes to your spiritual beliefs, whether that be a priest, a minister, a theologian or the pope himself.

    Ask God directly - what does He think of you being a homosexual? Don't read the bible, don't ask a priest or minister to intercede for you - ask God directly. Tell Him you need an answer. Listen to what your heart, your inner spirit, tells you. Just remember that there is a spiritual part of your being inside of you that is connected directly to God. No intercessions required, no middlemen, no translations or interpretations, no dogma and rules getting in between you and God. If you can find a place in your own heart where you can accept your homosexuality in the context of your beliefs, then this is what matters.

    And it doesn't have to negate what you already believe - it can fit within what you believe. Don't wait for someone to affirm or validate your beliefs for you. Too many people interpret religion as being about their relationship between themselves and others here on earth, when in fact it should be the exact opposite - it should be about the relationship between you and your creator.

    Take all the wonderful advice given above, especially the part about God having made you exactly as who you are, and make this a part of your beliefs - own it as though it is yours to own, because it is! After that, nothing else matters, because no one has the right to tell you otherwise. :slight_smile:
     
  15. British Lad

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    I think religion as a whole is out dated and dont believe every thing the church or any other relgion says because you know the guy, Jesus (yes i am not religious), He is a copy cat, why, well you see they was this other dude named Horus and gust what, he has the same story as Jesus like: walking on water, riseing from the dead 3 days later, dead on a cross, healed peaple, bapised by a priest, son of a god, savuer of man ect the list is endless. But do you know what is different about this Two? the same 2 storys are set 2000 years part and Horus was first. I think he is an eyption god? So the church has to be telling some porkys right. I would say leave the church but dont leave god because you dont need a priest to talk to the gods "because he says so" you can by your self. Personly i think there is no god and you should think what you think. If you think there is a god then there is one but believe in god not the Church because it is croupt and unnessary. God has a direct link to you and you to him. And you should take comfert in that. you can take my advice or leave it i dont care it what makes you happy.
     
  16. British Lad

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    Besides God perberly look at the earth and say "ow heck, there breading to fast and i can't kill them, I know i will make some of them (the new borns) Like the same gender, that will slow the growth down a bit, i hope" :lol:
     
  17. Emberstone

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    the idea of 'church' itself seems to be the root of all evil.

    Christ said something along the lines of "make your heart a temple to god, and he will dwell within you."

    christ never said to build churches, he said go out and help your fellow man.

    Churches grew in the beginning, and in some denominations, too this day, to create power bases.

    in the beginning, it was to try to fight back against persecution of chirstians... then it turned in the dark and middle ages into a base for which to persecute others.
     
  18. LostandFound

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    I know what you are going through. In September I found myself with the decision, my faith or homosexuality, I believed they couldn't co-exist. By sheer fluke though I found other Christians who were gay and I found organizations and churches where being gay didn't matter at all. Some of these people have been very liberal and others quite evangelical, the full range.

    My faith is a part of me as much as my sexuality is. I do believe that the Bible is for every generation but it was written at a specific time for a specific group of people and as such it takes an ancient viewpoint of sex. What we refer to as 20th and 21st century homosexuality and everything that goes along with it is an entirely new concept not yet seen before and you have to remember that when you apply ancient sexual ethics to the modern world.

    One of the strange things I've found is that before I came out I never really evangelised or talked about Jesus with friends, to be honest I didn't want others to experience the hell I was experiencing as a closeted Christian. Since coming out, however, I love talking about Jesus and I love sharing the idea that God loves everybody irregardless of who you are or what you've done! I no longer hate God for making me gay but love Him for making me different!
     
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  19. LostandFound

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    I agree, the Bible was never written with the idea that Christians would hold any sort of secula power. It was written with the idea that Christians would always be a minority.

    Constantine's legalization of Christianity is one of the great tradgedies of the Church. Before that the Churh was committed to helping the poor and nonviolence. Additionally, and this is always surprising, the pre-Constantine church was a huge supporter of women's, not quite equality yet, but elevating them to a stature unheard of in Roman times by giving them leadership roles within the Church.
     
  20. Étoile

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    And on Judgement Day, God says, "Ah, fuck it. You all are vile sinners!" and everyone goes to Hell.

    The End.