How are relationships between LGBT people and religious people?

I think you need to reconsider what you said here Joe. Whilst it may be true that some Muslims don't wish to integrate, your comments are painting with that broad brush that I referred to in my previous post. It's certainly not true that all (or even most) Muslims reject integration

Many terrible things are done in the name of religion, but many good things are done in the name of religion too. The torture and execution of gay people (or anyone else) in the name of religion is indefensible, but let's not colour our view of all religious people just because the crackpot element take things to extremes.

 

i do think there’s something here to think about: did these people make you feel uncomfortable and force you back in the closet, or did the assumptions you had of them contribute to this a lot, too? i wasn’t there and didn’t experience it (i did actually have an experience that was almost entirely he opposite, when i took a language class which was filled with refugees, most of them from the middle east and north africa - most of them muslim), but i’ve found that often the biases we have against people can pose a bigger threat to ourselves than people themselves often are, and going by what you write here i am not assuming you went in with a very open mind (no offense intended! many of us don’t!). these people are not the same as countries with poor human rights records. even IF they’re from there, they’re not the government of those countries - and as such we don’t know if they support the interpretations of islam these countries’ laws are related to.

 

It seems hatred of Christianity is the preferred practice these days. Don’t really care, but it seems fairly obvious

 

yo dude, it is true. i am a christian (please don't hate me) and surprisingly school is really hard because of the amount of times people try to prove my religion isn't correct. I know it's physically not possible to walk on water or about the whole god made the sun on the fourth day thing, wish people would stop telling me 50 times. also its not even people i know people from different year groups even. but it gets worse being a pan-sexual trans guy in a christian household. There are gay Christians i don't think people realise hat enough. but especially Catholics don't tend to agree with the LGBTQ+ community. not all of course.

 

I just wanted to say that, over time, even people who grow up in a non-religious household and are not religious can grow to appreciate the importance of faith. As much as I disagree with people using their faith as an excuse for discrimination, I also fully acknowledge the importance of a sense of community. Religion has been central to that for a very long time in human history. Never feel bad for having a faith and a community. Just be careful to think for yourself, come to your own conclusions, and treat other people with respect. Hopefully people in your social sphere eventually grasp this.

 

I’m actually Roman Catholic myself. Although maybe I shouldn’t mention it

 

I am also Roman Catholic.

 

It’s not a perfect fit but few things are

 

I just mean that few things are perfect in life. You have to make exceptions

 

It depends on the mindset of both parties, really. Ex-theist atheist here. You could say after everything I've seen and experienced that I don't feel too comfortable around religion in general. (civil rights standards of theocracies, catholic church's child abuse, treatment of women and LGBT in Islamic nations, KKK, terrorist/zealot organizations, Westboro Baptist, the "lovely advice" in the Bible itself, etc... I could be here all day) However if another person could show me I can trust them despite it... that their mind isn't too "inside the box" to say, and they're willing to think for themselves and do the right thing... then we shouldn't be having any problems.

I might feel strongly about what I've experienced, but at the same time I actually rather dislike arguing and I'll gladly refrain when I don't feel like I'm being forcefully silenced. They'd also need to refrain from trying to convert me as my family does, but I think that's just their problem rather than the majority. I understand not everywhere is the Bible Belt, and that I've received a pretty bad impression from my area. As well as boundaries, I'd want to make it clear I'm not coming to church, as well as the fact that I won't force you to come to any sort of science convention I take part in. I don't know if I'm being too cautious or picky, but I've had a fair bit of friends who have pulled it off just fine.

So yes. I could even date someone who is still religious and make it work. They'd just need to not let it control them. I want to date a person, not a puppet. I want her to speak her mind to me, and not let it be clouded by traditions or "gender roles" forced on her as a child. I'd need to put forth effort as well, as I know at times I have this sense that "I care about this person, I want them to know the truth". But to throw an analogy out, Morpheus made the pill a choice rather than a requirement.

 

Christian mysticism is quite beautiful, but I don’t think most Christians quite understand their own religion (or where their religion comes from, ie ancient beliefs such as shamanistic healing practices, which has the EXACT same creation myth). I’ve had wonderful talks with physicists and scholars (all religious) about the monist undertakings Christianity, or at least Jesus’ teachings were doing. To echo a great post, it’s important to think of Christianity (and other religions or beliefs) in terms of denominations or subsects and remember there are hundreds of beliefs all over the world. Not just the dominant ones.

 

There are different opinions within Catholicism. The weakness of Catholicism is that it appoints one man to set the direction of the entire world church and if it's his whim that the church should be conservative and vehemently opposed to LGBT people, so it will be (at least officially). This is what happened during the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. In practice, many Catholics, including members of the clergy, hold views that are, or have been out of step with the Vatican.

 

I'm actually a Universal Sufi (which is Islamic) and an Animist. I've had more Christians threaten me for being trans and queer than Muslims, so I think it varies depending on where you are.

 

I agree with Kodo. I've met christian people who are homophobic and I've met some who were totally cool and accepting, more so actually on the cool and accepting level. Living in the southern US I reside in a huge Christian area and have always been surrounded by it, in fact many family members are/were into the whole church thing. I was kind of forced into it with no option as a very young child, but as I aged and verbalized my opinion more I stopped going. I myself am not into religion, I think it's a bit bogus. But I will say that I feel the homophobic Christians make it look very bad for all Christians, same with other religions. And it's very true when I say I've encountered more who were accepting than not, and I've actually encountered a few Christians who were slightly homophobic, but came out of it once they got to know me. I think on some level that a lot of people experience homophobia due to what they've been taught and lack of education on the matter or lack of actually knowing/encountering an LGBT person. It also doesn't exist in only one religion, it exists in all religions and outside of religion as well, homophobia in my opinion is a phobia which has been taught. It's been taught not only from religion, but from many people over time in books, in media, in journalism, in classrooms, etc.

In conclusion I would say don't judge an entire group of people based upon negative judgement of others in the group. Everyone is unique and everyone has different opinions, one person doesn't speak for twenty, unless of course you're Donald Trump and everyone's afraid to speak up, and those are usually called cults, completely different story, haha. Joking.

 

I don’t mind people being religious. I just don’t like it when they talk about gays negatively. I also don’t like it when they say they wish gays wouldn’t shove it in there face which is how I feel about their religion.