christianity and catholic

to tell you the truth i gonna leave the religion for a while when i move out. i dont feel like i belong there and if i showed my trueself id be shunned, or people would try to change me... i get sad and depressed every time i go to mass, makes me want to cry. during mass they say god blessed us... i havent seen it. i only see pain and missery

 

I am Catholic and my dad is actually has a doctrine in our faith. He said some Catholics are against it, but that is their choice. He said the Catholic Church's "official" view is that they are not against gay people or if a person chooses to be in a gay relationship, but they ARE against gay marriage.

 

Christianity is one religion, however, there are 3 types of Christians. Roman Catholics (1 billion), Protestants (800 million) and Orthodox (200 million). We all believe in the same God but worship in different ways and disagree on things that aren't exactly spelled out in the Bible.

Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians are against gay marriage. They believe homosexuality exists and cannot be changed but they believe homosexual sex is a sin, and thus allowing marriage would be condoning a sin.

However, Catholics in Western Countries Canada, US, Europe, Australia etc are very largely supportive of gay marriage even if their Church is not. At the same time, the current Pope, Benedict XVI, has been very much against it.

Protestant Churches are very divided over this. 'Mainline' Church, such as Episcopalians/Anglicans, Metropolitan/United, United Church of Christ, Quakers, Lutherans etc. have in the last decade or so become pro-gay marriage. Actually the National Cathedral in Washington DC announced yesterday they will begin Gay Marriages this year. However, there are many Protestant churches against gay marriage as well.

As for the Bible; Christians disagree on what it says on gay marriage. Jesus said nothing about homosexuality at all. So He sort of left it up to us. Conservative Christians would tell you that the Bible is clearly against homosexual acts, while Liberal Christians and University Scholars would tell you that the original text (Bible in Hebrew/Ancient Greek) does not say homosexuality is wrong.

Like I said in the last ten years a rash of Churches have moved to accept homosexuality and gay marriage and there will be many more to follow, I am sure. The Catholic Church and many others will probably take a long time to accept this. But, in the end it really depends what -you- believe. The Biblical Jesus is quite clear that what he demands of us is that we have a relationship with Him -- this can be done outside of the church yes, but is easier within a community of Christians.

Good Luck and don't let anyone tell you what to believe or judge you for your beliefs, figure it out for yourself.

---------- Post added 10th Jan 2013 at 08:01 AM ----------

Here are three BIG points that other LGBT Christians reiterated to me when I was searching. Each has helped me to reconcile my faith with my sexuality.

1. Regarding the “importance” of The Bible itself. The Bible itself says "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16) But like many other things in Christianity this is translated to mean different things to different people. Some believe that this quote means that we should literally accept everything written (fundamentalist Christians) and some believe that the book is “useful” for teaching and training about God & life (mainstream Christians).

2. There –IS- wide spread disagreement on all of the passages regarding "homosexuality" in the Bible, mainly due to the fact that there is no one word for "homosexuality" in the Greek language, thus it is translated differently. Conservatives Biblical theologians, suggest that all 6 instances of homosexuality in the Bible condemn it in all forms. While, Liberal theologians, suggest that the 6 instances don't refer to "consensual" homosexual relations, but rather, rape, bestiality, masturbation etc.

Example 1: Leviticus 20:13
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.”
- The Hebrew word "to'ebah" is generally translated as "abomination." Many leading scholars interpret these passages as referring only to male Jews who engaged in same-sex behavior in Pagan temples. The term would better be translated as "ritually improper" or "involving foreign religious cult practice." Elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures, the same word is used to ban wearing of clothing made up from two materials (like cotton-polyester in today's world), or having a tattoo, eating shrimp, eating pork, seeding lawns with a mixture of grass types, etc. It is also important to note that none of the passages invoking "T'ebah" are valid for Christians or non-Jews today, according to St. Paul's Gospel in the New Testament.

Example 2: Romans 1:26-27
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”
- St. Paul directed this book to Christians in Rome -- a city known for its sexual debauchery. Earlier verses in Romans 1 describe how some former Christians, presumably all heterosexuals, had reverted to Paganism.
- They once more worshiped idols, and engaged in ritual sex orgies. In the original Greek, the phrase translated "vile affections" does not refer to passion or lust. it appears to refer to the "frenzied state of mind that many ancient mystery cults induced in worshipers by means of wine, drugs and music."
- The "women did change" (or "exchanged" or "abandoned") their normal sexual activity, which had been with a man or men. They engaged in sexual activities with members of the same sex, in violation of their heterosexual orientation.
- In the original Greek, the phrase "para physin" is often translated as "against nature" or "unnatural" or "immoral." It actually means "Deviating from the ordinary order either in a good or a bad sense, as something that goes beyond the ordinary realm of experience."

Example 3: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- The Greek "makakoi" does not mean actually mean effeminate. It can refer to a range of behaviours: people with loose morals, cowards, lazy men, etc.
- The exact meaning of "arsenokoitai" has been lost. In one ancient manuscript, the Hebrew "quadesh" (temple prostitute) is translated into Greek as "arsenokoitai." Others suggest that it refers to gigolos; still others suggest it means masturbators or men who sexually abuse boys.

3. The Bible is a set of Covenants (Old Testament [Jewish], New Testament [Christian]) or 'Laws God set for His people', and while this is a common misconception – ALL Christians believe that God has changed these laws as people progressed through time.

A couple of quick examples:

Example 1. In the Old Testament (Covenant), God told the people to sacrifice animals to Him, in the New Testament (Covenant), God tells the people that His son Jesus is the ultimate and final living sacrifice for all, and animal sacrifices should stop.

Example 2. In the Old Testament, the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy set forth many laws which seem unsustainable and harsh (One example, is the Jewish dietary laws, no shellfish, pork, no wearing mixed fabrics and stoning for various crimes etc). However, in the New Testament, Jesus revokes many of these 'Jewish' laws when he begins to, for the first time, welcome non-Jewish/Gentile followers.

As we read the Gospels, we see that Jesus endorsed many of the old laws, but he did not follow others, nor did He require His disciples to do so. In later New Testament books, Paul and the other apostles affirm many of these laws to be good but indicate that Christians need not observe others.

I hope this helps =)