On the verge of having a rant against religion

My grandma is religious and she goes church every sunday, shes completely fine with me being gay. and she told a few of her church friends who were cool with it, then there is one old woman (not many people like her, shes always miserable and moody and has a bad opinion of everything) who was like "he will be going to hell, and you all supporting him will be going to hell too, i hope he rots..." ect... and it really upset my grandmother and these other 6 old ladies (religious too, friends with my grandma) all just turned on her saying how this is the modern way of thinking, everybody gets to live their life how they choose, the bible isn't meant literally, you take the bits out on what you want to follow ect... And my grandma was so happy that she wasn't the only open minded religious person in the church. A few other people that she didn't know joined in to defend her/me.

The next day i think my grandma made an impression because when i went to visit her, she had 4 of her neighbour church friends come round and see me and told me how brave my grandma was and i thanked all of them for helping her. It was lovely and one of them even said "If only i was younger and you were straight, you'd be just my type!" which was hilarious!

 

That's a nice story Greeley, proves not all religious people are bigots.
But most are... :-/

 

In a rare inversion of the saying: Don't hate the game; hate the player. Religion in and of itself is not bad. But people fall victim to errant thought processes that make them apply their belief in a loving God with completely wicked actions. "I hope he rots" is not something Jesus would say about somebody.*

Eliminating religion would probably solve a lot of problems, but not human shittiness, and it would most likely cause its fair share as well.

*Nor do I think being gay is even immoral, but that is a more personal decision you can't easily impose on people who are convinced otherwise.

 

In reality God and Religion are two separate things. God created the world and man created religion. If you read the original text of the bible it never condemns homosexuality and has been misused by ministers and priests and religious leaders for centuries. These tactics only cause people to be brainwashed into being a hateful and spiteful person which is the opposite of who Jesus was. In order to get to heaven all you have to do is believe in him and once you believe in him you won't be judged by your sins but by your faith in him. Religion is destructive and only pushes people away from it as a whole and is not the true word of God.

 

Having spent the last year coming to terms with my own beliefs and finding a path that works for me, I can say that my own group has been very accepting of me and mine. I have found that some groups breed hate and bitterness. And the unfortunate thing is that they don't realize that the teachings they read and worship tell them otherwise.

I found what helped me deal with the Christians in my life was to simply let them vent and not take it to heart. My path is a bit more earth based, so it tends to get the more bible folk up in arms. Thing is, I found that if I helped them in their path, my own path was enriched by their lives as well. You can learn from any example, be it good or bad.

So take each experience at face value. Learn from it. Learn the good and the bad and apply it to your own life. Walk your own path and find your own way. Try resisting being on the sheep and follow your heart and mind and do what is right....

 

Can only speak for myself Mangotree, but within the Church I attend are some of the kindest and most tolerant people I have ever encountered. It's a kindness and tolerance towards all people, that crosses all divides. A positive attitude of respect, co-operation and inclusivity forms a central part of our agreed mission and is fundamentally part of what the Church stands for as a Christian community.

A least three civil partnerships have been blessed in a ceremony that (aside from the legalities) resembled a full marriage service and the Vicar made it clear to me, that he personally would marry any gay couple if the law permitted him to do so. He knows many other Clergy who would gladly do the same and has committed himself to change from within. He appointed me as Church Treasurer, knowing me to be openly gay and invited a Lesbian member of the congregation (whose partnership he blessed) to be Church Warden and assiting Deacon.

There is a lot to rant about and it shames me that people who share my faith tradition are so hostile to LGBT people. To me, their understanding is warped and distorted, but I'm settled in the belief that they will have to answer to God for their prejudice. God can deal with them, because I can't be bothered with their ignorance.

I just hope you and others can recognise that this reaction is not typical and maybe my experience will serve as encouragement.

 

My family is Mormon--definitely not the most LGBT accepting of communities. But I honestly think their faith has made my parents kinder, more charitable people. And it's given them an amazing support community. When my mother first underwent chemotherapy it was so draining that just taking care of normal family stuff would be a strain. I think in those sort of circumstances it's fairly common in a religious community for people to bring over a covered dish--Mormons do that too, but they're organized. There was a sign up sheet--a different family brought in a full dinner every night for three months, people sent their kids over to mow the lawn--that community just took care of them when they needed it. One Sunday while all this was going on my father mentioned in conversation with someone in church that they were having car trouble, a member of the congregation who owned a car dealership broke into the conversation explaining that he had broken their car. Obviously this was not the case and my father said so--the man explained that he had prayed that there would be a way for him to help my family during their time of need. And he was half serious in asserting that their car trouble was an answer to his prayer--and now obviously he needed to fix it for them, seeing as how he "broke" it and all. They're amazing people.

Sometimes I think when such otherwise really good hearted people have terrible notions about LGBT people, and I'm sure many of the people who brought in meals to my parents have such notions, I view them as trapped within their own beliefs and experience or lack thereof. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this I've encountered happened at my parents' 50th wedding anniversary party. There was a large garden party reception at my parents home in Salt Lake City. Hundreds of people, most of them Mormon, attended. I was there with my partner and we got introduced around--many people I had never met and many I hadn't seen in ten, fifteen years. There wasn't any soft-pedaling of who my partner was--we had recently bought a home and my parents were rather proud of us and our relationship. Everyone was pleasant and sociable. Then we were talking with this one woman and in the middle of the conversation she broke down in tears and had to be led away. I cornered my mother and basically asked WTH? She explained--about four years prior this woman's son had come out. Her husband did not take it well and convinced her that what they needed to do was to try and cure him. Eventually their efforts drove him away--they hadn't seen him in three years at that point and expected they may never see him again. They had had two children--a daughter who was killed in a car accident in high school and a son that they might never see again. My mother confided in me that this woman basically hated her husband for his role in driving their son away, but now he was literally all she had left. My partner and I happily sitting at a garden party at my parents' home, drinking lemonade and eating cookies, chatting with the neighbors and waiting to be in the family pictures was just too powerful of a reminder that they had come to fork in the road of their life and they had taken the wrong path. I think I can honestly say that homophobia has done more to ruin this straight woman's life than it ever did to me. I often wonder if it might have been different if the events had taken place in a different order, if say that garden party had been a year before their son came out. It might not have made a difference, but I honestly think it might have. Anyway, I think many, perhaps even most, religious people are deeply decent and kind and may just need our help to express those aspects of themselves when it comes to LGBT issues.

 

Abrahamic religions are fucked up. They basically all state homosexuality is disgraceful.

So ya, you can feel free to not like those, but there are plenty that aren't against homosexuality specifically; mainly Eastern ones. Though a lot of them are against sexual desire in general.

But ya, you just have a problem with Abraham's religions, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

And so do I, so you aren't alone. I think anyone that uses their belief system as a means to discriminate is a piece of shit, but that's just me.

A lot of Christian churches, especially ones from the New World, are tolerant. It's mainly Catholicism and Orthodox that is highly against homosexuality. There are a lot of gay friendly churches in Canada and the U.S.

I don't know so much about Islam and Judaism, they both seem to be more traditional and take a stance against it, but when Christian's are against it, it seems a whole lot more hateful.

 

I'm the same way. Even though there are good religious people out there, it will never change my opinion of religion as a whole. I just can't stand it and wish it would die out already.

Christians are the ones firing the most bullets at us in North America, hence why they seem the most aggressive. Though it's a lot more dangerous to be LGBT in the Middle East and Africa, the religious right aren't systematically giving us the death penalty or putting us in jail...though plenty of individuals, religious or not, do kill us here. They're mostly trying to silence us and deny us rights for their bullshit "religious freedom."

And I seriously have to contain myself whenever someone says America is a "Christian nation." The arguments I hear from the religious right seriously make my brain cells pop.

 

I used to be afraid of mainstream religion because of a lot of things I heard said and saw done in the name of those religions...

And then I met one of the best people I've ever met, who is also the most devout Christian I have ever known. She is a wonderful person and says that she tries to be kind and good because that's how God would want her to be. (I think she's just a good person either way, but it doesn't matter really)

She reads the bible before she goes to sleep every night and buys books about having a good relationship with your partner and also God.

That kind of thing would scare me before, because I feared the judgement I could have received from her, but she would never do that. You'll hear lots of Christian people say that it's not their place to judge, that's God's job. My friend lives this truth. She listens, she thinks for herself about things and as a result she is so accepting and so open that just based on her and her family alone I have revised my own thinking about religion.

I don't think I'll join up and become a believer, but I won't judge someone based on which religion they purport to belong to anymore.

There are loud groups of hateful people being hateful under the guise of their religious beliefs and that's unfortunate, but not the whole picture. Because there are also quietly beautiful people like my friend and her family who are generous, kind, loving and accepting, they say because of their beliefs. And I think that's lovely.

So there's a small positive story for you, hang in there, OP.

 

I say fuck it feel free to say whatever you want to the religious cunts you know.
Religion is the only TRUE mental illness in this world.

 

Wow, that's some strongly misogynistic language you're throwing around there; also the last bit is pretty ableist.

 

Christianity does not state homosexuality is disgraceful. Religion says that and homosexuality was condemned in the bible after it was translated into English.

---------- Post added 21st Jul 2014 at 03:57 PM ----------

An extreme misconception and very hateful way of stating your views.

---------- Post added 21st Jul 2014 at 03:58 PM ----------

Now this is what we need more of on this forum. Thanks.

 

My brother is a Catholic priest and also my mother is very religious. They are both very accepting of my lifestyle and don't judge me for it. I think I am very lucky to have a family who puts love before any religious bias.

 

Goodness, and the angry atheists come out of the woodwork.

I had a time when l was, l believe, 13-14, where l was very much in the OP's position: angry at organized religion for the harm it imposed on my friends (even at that time a growing number of them were LGBT). Eventually, thankfully, l came to realize that it's less the religion and more the members who are at fault. At that point it's just like every large group under a label: there are good and people seeking to condemn others. Unfortunately, the latter group seems most often in positions of power, a la most of the US government, Tony Abbot and elsewhere. It's difficult to find the good ones unless they're friends, family, etc. But really, this hate l'm seeing here directly mirrors the attitude of other angry, borderline-radical people of faith. If you're going to be angry at them, and for most in the LGBT community, rightly so, at least express it intelligently and without doling out hateful speech and disrespect.

 

As someone who lives in Israel and is Jewish and was raised by Jewish people, only the very extremists are against gays.

Really, Judaism is a lot about tolerance, just like in any other religion, some people twist what the bible says so it fits their way of thinking.