I'm confused about my family and faith

I know exactly how you feel, I am baptist and gay, and my church preaches against homosexuality often. What I did was, I did my own study on homosexuality in the bible and found out that it doesn't actually say anything negative on it if you look on how it is used in its context. If you haven't looked up Matthew vines on YouTube you should, he did an outstanding message at a church and talked to them about gay marriage vs. the bible. And yes, possibly a more liberal church would help but don't let the opinion of others stop you from your faith, they aren't God, even if they try to play Him. Best of luck

 

I really like and admire your positive attitude. If you have that faith and are positive, I think you could have a great impact on people's hearts, which matters more than how they analyze certain verses. It's funny, if there were a "sacred" text that said hetero's should never marry or touch each other for any reason, I bet that book would have been buried and burned 2,000 years ago I struggle with faith and want to have it and was raised in a religious environment, but i question a lot of things surrounding biblical authorship and interpretation.

Be well, keep your chin up, and good luck moving in the community and making some change!

 

Keep you head up
Times are changing

Hopefully the churches views will change sooner rather than later, but they will change.

 

I know that for many LGBT people including myself, they lose their faith because of a church being critical of their sexual orientation or gender identity. You could wait for your church to become more accepting or try to change their minds, or you could also go to a different church if it bothers you too much. There are many denominations of Christianity that support gay rights, you just got to find the one that fits for you. Also in bigger cities the churches tend to be way more liberal.

I became a free thinking Agnostic, but having a faith is an awesome thing to have if it's for you, because faith can teach you to love others and yourself. Keep your head up. Times are changing fast.

 

I'm Anglican and my Church (not the one I attend, but the wider communion) is hopelessly divided on this issue - Bishops argue with Bishops, Priests with other Priests and the Western congregations are increasingly divided from the African Congregations. I'm not too concerned though as I've read the Bible myself and very carefully studied the context and history of the controversial passages (of which there are actually very few) that supposedly condemn homosexuality. Once you get to grips with the history and context, things look rather different.

Christ himself had nothing to say about homosexuality - his greatest commandment was that we love God and one another. The Gospels tell us that he had no time for hypocrites and preferred to mix with the lame, marginalised, oppressed and social outcasts. Furthermore, he clearly warned against judging one another. When something was wrong, he wouldn't stand by and remain silent, no matter what the consequences. Ultimately, it led to his crucifixion. What a guy!! This is the true essence of the Christian faith, not some demented rambling from an ultra conservative Bishop, Priest or Pastor who quotes literally from the ancient books of the Old Testament to undergird his own worldview.

You may give up on your Pastor, you may even give up on your Church, but don't give up on Christ. He needs you to be a beacon of hope for LGBT people of faith.

One of the greatest religious men of the 20th century, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: "I would rather go to hell than a heaven with a homophobic God".

Pope Francis said: "Who am I to judge" and accused the Church of spending too much time moralising about personal issues like sexuality.

Pope John Paul the First was also known to be sympathetic towards gay people and advanced the rights of gay people to adopt children. He said: "The day is not far off when we will have to answer for our attitude and behaviour towards gay people.. and to the God who created them."

I know some LGBT people are really down on Christianity and all religion, and I can't blame them when you see how the conservatives in the Church behave, but for those of us who do believe, we must never, ever give up. To do so would offend the God we love and worship, in my opinion.

 

I know that the United Church of Christ is a Christian denomination that is gay friendly. I grew up Catholic and could not imagine myself or my son (who has lesbians moms) being part of that church. I am a UU which is not specifically Christian, but believes in the equality of all people.