Religion and Homosexuality

Perfect!

I've long ago abandoned Dr. Laura as a credible source for anything, despite our affinity for the same religion.

 

:roflmao:

:eusa_naug But seriously, all of this is made obsolete by Jesus in the NT. Wake up everyone and stop quoting the law. At least have enough integrity to examine what Jesus was actually saying. Not the various catechisms and traditions. Not the codification of your comfort level. We don't need a system of morals, some of us desire something entirely different from a relationship with God.

And if the church is not for you, that is OK, you can have fun laughing at us who are stuck in this space. At least we will provide some value to life.

 

Sure they do, they turn to a source of authority to try and play an "ultimate truth" trump card. I really do hate modernist theology. Such a wasted era of good minds and potential.

 

Very ironic that the most vocal and damning "christians" (small "c" deliberate) so completely ignore so much of the the portion of the Bible that actually STARTED with the ministry of Christ....

 

Funny, but ultimately boils down to the fact that they hate first and then use the bible to justify it. Were they leading a biblical life first, they'd either follow ALL of Leviticus (and thus be stuck in that barbaric kind of mindset) or love their neighbors. Picking and choosing is adjusting the evidence to fit the theory, to put it in scientific terms. And that is a big no-no.

 

Those who hate will be anti-gay anyway, but religion makes some good people anti-gay too. When I see how religion makes people harm themselves and others, I feel like the world would be better without it. Still, some religions are now pretty harmless. It’s the extreme ones that are dangerous.

 

I always considered God my friend, but better... Understanding knowledgable always having my back. Catholicism was a to get to know him better. I never considered all the rules bc I never felt most applied to me. Now that I have discovered this other side of myself I will admit.. I'm worried. Is God still on my side? Can I ever make up for the pain I've inflicted? Can I be forgiven?

 

Lovetoski- Being gay is NOT something to be forgiven...You are being honest w/yourself and God. That is a gift. I think God is giving you a big hug.

 

Bassmaster-- Thanks.

 

Rose27 is right - being gay isn't something to be forgiven. It just...is. Religions have their reasons, historical, traditional, political, for many of their teachings. As a Catholic, I'm familiar with the church's teachings about love and sex, and frankly, I find there are too many holes in them for me to accept what they say on that subject. Years ago my mother and I had a conversation about that (which, I realized many years after she was gone, was an effort to allow me to come out to her, which I didn't realize at the time). Her explanation--that it was all right to love someone of the same sex, but that the physical part was wrong because it didn't fit in with the creation of a family--never really rang true to me. It would exclude not only gay couples, but elderly straight couples, or young straight couples who can't have children. I thought at the time, this just doesn't sound logical, and eventually concluded that this wasn't something God came up with at all.

I'll admit to having some concerns about forgiveness. After all, I had unresolved feelings towards guys and got married nonetheless. Was I really just using my wife to create a family? Was our marriage a sham and a lie? And I can only conclude that on some levels, it probably was, although I really didn't understand it at the time. But think of the stories in the Bible of people who really did do things, deliberately and knowingly, that hurt other people, then reconsidered and realized they had wronged them. Jesus always, always preached that they were forgiven--if anything, it gives God great joy when they realize what they've done and make amends. I didn't set out to hurt my wife, and I'm going out of my way to make this difficult situation as easy for her as I can. That's all I can do, and the God that I believe in knows that I'm being honest in my heart about it, and am doing all I can to handle this like a good and ethical person. That's all God asks. Forgive yourself, Lovetoski. God's already forgiven you. I believe that with all my heart.

 

As a "fallen-away" catholic, I too am familiar with the church's teachings and find far too many conflicts and hypocrisies to believe pretty much ANYTHING they say. Do you know how many Popes have had lovers? How many have had Gay lovers? How many were pedophiles? So, the whole pedophile priest thing I can see the church writing off as bad seeds, but the church says the Pope is infallible. If a Pope can sexually abuse a young boy and he is infallible in doing so, how can they tell ANYONE what they feel or do sexually is wrong?

Bassmaster, I loved that letter, thank you for sharing it. I have to admit that I was only slightly disappointed when I saw the creds of the author. I was thoroughly suspecting it would be a Jesuit Priest!

 

Hey I'm Catholic too!

I posted this somewhere else but....I think this might be helpful so I'll post it here too

---------- Post added 18th Oct 2013 at 01:24 AM ----------

I agree whole whole-heatedly. It's great to see other like-minded individuals!

 

The church is so messed up. I know it. It makes me mad because most of the issues I see flying around EC are about church practice and not God. They aren't about the bible, as RSwordsman and others have pointed out, the issues we are facing are about control and people who are building their arguments on a bunch of piecemeal bullish*t.

If you really want to get closer to God, subjectively, then start by asking who you are pushing out of your life? Who is the person you hate? Who is the person you don't want to have over for dinner? If you want to know how to show love, church, ask why you won't invite folks from EC over for dinner? Then, we can talk confession and absolution.

 

I think I first saw this on the internet about 10 years ago.

 

I used to listen to Dr. Laura strictly for laughs. It was so funny when a caller would say one of her trigger words that set off a rant. If homosexuality was such an important topic wouldn't Christ have said something about it in the gospels? Yet it isn't in there. There's not one red letter on the topic.