Faith & Sexual Identity

In my faith, God doesn't hate homosexuality. He loves us as much as any other people and applauds us for being true to ourselves and improving his kingdom in our own ways. Plus, it's love. What could be more pure and godly?

I'm not affiliated with any church, so I'm free to pick and choose beliefs that I feel are ideal for good life. But even the big, established organizations I've been to don't preach prejudice of any kind.

 

Actually this could be its own thread....don't know if I can be helpful, but...I have just figured out that I was a lesbian, and have just gone back to church for spiritual grounding. I grew up United Church of Christ, became Presbyterian USA in my teens, and was very "religious'. After trying to become an ordained minister, and graduating from seminary I became a little jaded, and stopped going to church. Began learning and identifying as Wiccan/Pagan. I have now chosen a church that is closest to my new spirituality, and is also open to LGBT. It is Unitarian Universalist, so more spiritual, than "religious". I would say that I am still trying to reconcile my faiths/beliefs with my sexuality.( I still don't accept being gay) What you end up doing is to create your own theology (study of God).
What is your faith/spirituality? I am open to talking/discussing and helping if I can...you can also PM me if you like....

 

I am Catholic but I haven't found a church yet where I feel at home. I have found online groups such as Dignity and Integrity that speak to me. While the organized Catholic Church does not acknowledge my relationship as legitimate, I don't acknowledge that the pope is anything other than a man. He's certainly not infallible and I'm not an evil sinner.

I could find another Christian church that might welcome me but I am catholic and do not want to leave what I consider my church just because some people have a misinterpretation of my religion. Ultimately, you have to find a place whether physical or within you where you feel accepted. I do think my own struggles with some aspects of personal acceptance carries over into my spirituality. Right now I feel spiritually hungry and I cannot see to find where to satisfy that hunger.

Best of luck in your search for acceptance.

 

I was able to keep my faith and accept my sexuality. I recommend that you do some research yourself.

• Really start reading your holy book and look into how it was compiled and translated. Do you believe that it is infallible? Do you believe that your holy book is exactly how the original authors intended it to be or was something distorted along the way? Do you believe the the book should be taken literally or figuratively?
• Look at arguments from both sides of the argument and see what makes sense to you.
• Look at what social scientists know about homosexuality and look at who you believe God to be. If you believe that God is benevolent, can He punish people for being homosexual or acting on homosexual desires?
• Look at history. Many holy books have been used to justify behavior that we now consider immoral. Is that important to you?
• Learn about the authors of the holy book (their culture and what not). Did the authors of your holy book even know what homosexuality was? Does that matter to you?

Long story short, this is a very personal journey. I recommend doing a lot of research

---------- Post added 12th Mar 2013 at 04:17 PM ----------

My ex gf was Catholic. She was able to find an accepting Catholic church. I hope that gives you some hope. From what I understand, they can be difficult to find but they're out there. Good luck in your search

 

try looking at this video
The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality
it helped me a bit, but you still need to figure out how to accept yourself even if others don't.

 

I grew up in a church with my step-father as the pastor and I still ended up with something close to no faith with no outside help.

I would like to believe in something, but it can't fall apart after questions that are going to happen because of simple curiosity.

 

I have faith in the connections I make with others, time healing wounds, and my capacity for unconditional love.

Other than that, I just like to take things day by day. :eusa_shif

 

I lost faith when I realized how stupid, prejudiced, inconsistent, self-serving, and generally immoral it has become. Reason and morality are the only things I shall ever call God. And both dictate that sexuality is next to irrelevant.

 

Hey man, I completely understand where you're coming from. I was raised in a very religious evangelical household (Southern Baptist), and religion has always been a huge part of my life.

That being said, I could not reconcile the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity with my own homosexuality. So I left the sect. I'm still in the closet to my former faith community. I would be shunned entirely if they knew.

These days I'm leaning more towards unitarian universalism, as I feel it incorporates the most ethical and moral aspects of not just Christianity, but ALL major religions, without saddling them with man's faults and judgment. To me it is the most humanist of the Christian faiths (and it doesn't even really identify Christian, more nondenominational). It also deviates from Southern Baptism in a huge way in that it does not acknowledge the Holy Trinity. Since I never believed Christ and God were the same person, that works fine for me.

Pulled straight from the Wiki:

Unitarians believe that mainline Christianity does not adhere to strict monotheism, but that they do by maintaining that Jesus was a great man and a prophet of God, perhaps even a supernatural being, but not God himself. They believe Jesus did not claim to be God, and that his teachings did not suggest the existence of a triune God. Unitarians believe in the moral authority, but not necessarily the divinity of Jesus.

Some other unitarian beliefs:

- The life and teachings of Jesus Christ constitute the exemplar model for living one's own life.
- Reason, rational thought, science, and philosophy coexist with faith in God.
- Humans have the ability to exercise free will in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with the assistance of religion.
- Human nature in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved (see original Sin), but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
- No religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit or theological truth.
- Though the authors of the Bible were inspired by God, they were humans and therefore subject to human error.
- Traditional doctrines that (they believe) malign God's character or veil the true nature and mission of Jesus Christ, such as the doctrines of predestination, eternal damnation, and the vicarious sacrifice or satisfaction theory of the Atonement are rejected.[53]

It's worth noting that unitarianism is also one of the few Christian-based faiths where GLBT members are not only respected as equal members of the congregation, but allowed to marry. I went to one once and there was actually a basket of rainbow ribbons and buttons that you could wear to signify that you were either a member of the GLBT community or one of its allies.

I thought that was pretty fucking cool.

 

I'm probably going to receive a lot of flack for this comment, but I'm going to post it anyway. I'm not trying to hate, and it's awesome you are still searching for faith and God! But when you get down to it, you kinda have to pick one or the other. Assuming you believe in the bible's infallibility, (pretty much a must for most Christians/religious people) then there is little one can do to reconcile their sexuality! The bible, if you truly do believe in it is not accepting of homosexuality. No I'm not hateful, and I'm merely speaking as a son of a pastor who is struggling with this very issue. Anyway, if you however decide as many do that you can pick parts of the bible to follow, that is honestly not Christianity. And the question I would ask to Anyone who believes the bible is not right 100% of the time but still considers themselves a Christian, on which page does your faith start? I my self have looked into other "sects" of christianity, that pick and choose and honestly they are not Christianity. According to Christianity there is in fact only one way to god. As soon as you drift away from that you are in a different faith. So if you want to justify faith there is a reason it is hard! Because you honestly can't! Also for the whole people have the "mistranslated" argument look up the Dead Sea scrolls. And even if the Dead Sea scrolls are not enough to convince you that the bible is the same as it once was, once again you are doubting the infallibility of the bible and once again I must ask, on what page does your faith start? I know many use the whole "it's love, god loves love! So he loves the sin!" God does infact (if you believe in him) love each and every human, however he does not love sin! And what would you say to a pedo who used the same argument? Our society has been picking and choosing what to listen to and it's hurting the church. Once again I'm not trying to be hateful, intolerant, or rude! I'm just trying to help you understand why it is hard to find a church that would accept you! If anyone has any questions or comments or advice I'd love to hear it! anyway good luck in you quest for faith and sexuality!

 

Truth be told, it's by going to church, listening to other people who have gone to church, going to school, studying outside of school, and playing Knights of the Old Republic.

That wide range of influences gave me a base idea for what God is and how He would expect humans to behave after being given free will. At first, I was dragged to church and found it a bore. Coupled with the people who have gone to church(/temple/mosque/etc.) it really left a bad taste in my mouth for religion. I almost identified as atheist at times, but what kept me from denying God altogether was my informal study of space. You can only look at the Hubble Deep Field, knowing that each speck in that picture is a galaxy, for so long before knowing that something greater than our understanding put it all there. And that's not even brushing the idea that space and even time may have physical limits, or even other dimensions that 3+1 creatures like ourselves could not even begin to fathom.

That brings me to why I included KotOR in my list of significance. They have a lot of real philosophy in them. Actions are simplified into "light" and "dark" for gameplay's sake, but it really shines a light on what is virtuous vs. sinful, with particular focus on why. The second game hammers the point home by the character called Kreia. She is your mentor, and acknowledges that while you may wish to do good, it does not always turn out how it should, and she instructs the player to be observant above all else. Essentially, answers to what is good or evil come to those who seek them out.

 

I am still very involved in church (I'm catholic btw) and most people know by now. But if people say anything to me I go all "Judge lest ye be judged" and "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"...

Had a few jokes with some of the more "seemingly religious" people... Best one I heard was when I was told that I wouldn't have to worry because I only need to follow 9 commandments... All because I'll never covet thy neighbours wife haha