God

I think he is As much as i hate to say this, I wouldn't want to worship a god who is bigoted and narrow minded. The god i know isn't like this, though.

 

King David of the Old Testament was gay, or at least bisexual. God freakin' loved that guy in the Bible and didn't seem to take issue with his behaviour. It's said his lover was someone named Jonathan. Remember the verses written 'against' homosexuality were written by the ancient Jews, not God himself. The ancient Jews made those rules because of their own ignorance and self-hatred, as a way to guilt and shame people into behaving the way they wanted them to behave and now Judaism has tried to save face by making itself look gay friendly as opposed to Christianity (a religion based heavily on the foundations of Judaism) and run home with their tails between their legs crying "we're not homophobic!" Even though they literally wrote the book on hating gays.

 

in my opinion I believe there is a creator and a "god" I just don't believe how the bible visions him/her to be, correct me If I'm wrong but the bible has been passed on for so many centuries you never know if anyone changed anything right? o.o I just I believe in god but not in the bible or religion..

 

for me no one can prove to me that God is against Homosexuality, unless he spoke to God himself and descended him to tell us that he really against Homo-relationships, and beside love is for everyone, so don't be a selfish. we may be gay, but we are still human, EQUALLY CREATED BY HIM.

 

There are also some parts of the Bible (I believe in Paul's letter to the Romans) where homosexuality is described as a sin, something unnatural.
The reason for this is that in Biblical times, sexual orientation was not understood as it is today. Since it didn't cause reproduction and they didn't understand genetics or anything like that, they assumed homosexual attraction was the result of having an excess of lust essentially.
So they equated homosexuality to lust because that's how they understood it, that was the only logical way they though it could be explained, which is why they regarded it as a sin, because lust is sinful.

Also, bottom line: God loves you. God loves love.
Sins are things that harm people, a list of rules and teachings that if followed to a tee, you won't harm yourself and you won't harm others.

Homosexuality, just as heterosexuality, does not cause harm except to those who choose to take offense to it. Lust, adultery, greed, those are things that can harm people. That is true for anyone, gay or straight. But homosexuality does not harm people. Love is love. You are you. Be proud. God loves you and God wants you to love yourself too. And you should. Nobody is wired wrong.
<3

 

I don't want to be rude or pushy, but I can't stress enough that you should distance yourself from any abrahemic religion. They are literally a cancer to mankind and they do nothing but spread hate and ignorance. There's nothing wrong with you being who you are! Any religion that tells you you're a "bad person" for something you have no control over is full of shit. You deserve better than to believe that drivel.

 

This doesn't really have to do with any of the above poster's responses, this is more like a collection of my own thoughts/experiences.

Even if the Bible considers homosexuality to be a sin, it doesn't really effect me. My sexuality isn't going to magically change just because a religious book says that being gay is wrong. My sexuality wasn't my choice, and even if it was, what's the big deal? What's wrong with thinking that girls are cute? Whatever the Bible says doesn't really impact my life but I think it's terrible for a religious community to condemn homosexuality, especially when they have great influence.

My best friend is a devout Christian and she is one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. She very much believes that the message of Christianity is love an acceptance. Not all Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin, obviously, it's all in interpretation.

 

Reading this, I get this feeling that my beliefs are being attacked. I condemn homosexuality, but I've also decided that I'm gay. Anyone who believes in God should tell you that homosexuality is a sin, as would I.

Many people look at Christians and condemn us for our beliefs, lumping us in with some of the worst hate groups of history. But if it's such a cancer of the mind, as EpicConfusion so kindly stated, why do you hate us when we don't hate you. The Christian faith, along with many others, are against homosexuality cause we believe Man and Woman for created for each other. How can you say that's wrong? If the first two people on Earth were gay, where would we be right now?

It doesn't make any sense to disregard the Old Testament's teachings because you're Christian, and it's unfair to criticize Christians because we speak openly against homosexuality: we follow the teachings of the Bible, Old and New. Now, it does mention homosexuality in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) Paul speaks to the church in Corinthians and clearly states the fact that there sinners of all kinds within the church, some of which were homosexuals, who were changed by the power of God. If that's not enough I don't know what it. The only difference from the Old Testament is that there is a way to leave the sin.

Looking at homosexuality as exactly what it is, a sexuality, there's nothing that can describe it but sexual attraction to one of the same sex. The majority of people I've met, gay or straight, have innate, constant sexual attraction. If most teenage boys think about sex every two minutes, you can't tell me that they are not lustfully minded. I would never call homosexuality wrong if it didn't involve sex, but it does and as God says, it's and abomination.

Homosexuality has existed for ages, so I don't know about the modern life bull crap. The laws of life aren't going to change just cause we've come to more widely accept homosexuality. The fact is, God is against it, we're sinning against nature in it. He created man and woman for each other, and any "gay" Christian should see it as such.

 

I disagree with you. There are many Christians that feel homosexuality isn't a sin. There are many LGBT friendly churches out there.

 

I understand that, but the Bible clearly teaches against homosexuality which is why I've never understood how any church that actually follows the Bible could be ok with it. I'm not against homosexuals, as I said, I am gay myself, but the fact of the matter is there are many instances in which the Bible teaches against it.

Often, people say that Jesus was okay with homosexuality because he never spoke out against it. Jesus lived in a time where the laws of Moses were still very much respected and to the best of my knowledge, there wasn't a time when he spoke out against those laws which truly were the laws of God. Those same laws tell us that homosexuality is a sin. If we are truly followers of Christ, who abided by the laws of the Old Testament, then we must see homosexuality as a sin.

As I said before, the laws never changed, Jesus being on earth merely provided us with a way out. Because he died, our sins are forgiven, Jesus was not on earth to tell us the difference between right and wrong, we already knew that.

 

All right, gonna throw in my two bits.

When I was about OP's age, I asked my pastor the same thing.

"Why is homosexuality a sin?"

And this man, bless his soul, told me that it wasn't. He told me, "If god thought it was a sin, or thought it was unnatural, he would have either destroyed all of it, or never created it in the first place. To me, it's a way to test us Christians and see if we actually love everyone, as He commanded." He was an awesome pastor. I'm no longer Christian, but I have nothing but respect for this man and his teachings. He is a kind, caring person, and one of the truest Christians I've ever met.

So. If we take Pastor Paul's words to heart, homosexuality is not a sin.

 

Practice your signature, OP! It goes for yourself as well. (*hug*) Love yourself and be kind and helpful to others, and God will love you. For indeed, if God is someone worth putting faith in, he would not condemn homosexuality. Condemning homosexuality is condemning love itself.

And @conflictedmetro, yes, I am attacking your beliefs, because they are simply vile. Evil. Hatred toward minority groups is never justifiable, regardless of the amount of moralistic mumbo jumbo supporting it.

 

With respect, you are making a number of false assertions about The Bible and you are overlooking the history and context in which the few contentious passages were written. If we deliberately, or unwittingly ignore history and context when we refer to, or quote from scripture, we end up in the same boat as the fundamentalists who have no appreciation whatsoever for biblical literacy, because they read it all like the latest novel on Amazon's best seller list. Don't fall into the same trap as them. If you intend to reference The Bible, you need to fully understand and appreciate all of these details, otherwise you may end up looking foolish.

Let's be clear, "homosexuality" is not mentioned at all in The Bible. How could it be? The word homosexuality is modern (circa 1850) and therefore completely unknown to the authors of the 66 books of The Bible. If you see the word homosexual in The Bible, it's a modern addition.. and that fact alone should raise a few questions.

Placing too great an emphasis on the precise meaning of any passage from The Bible is both naive and stupid. The Bible as we know it today is the result of translation upon translation upon translation and edit upon edit. It's only the advent of mechanical printing that brought any degree of order and uniformity to scripture. Prior to that we only had handwritten manuscripts from the scribes and priests to refer to (all of which looked and read very differently). This isn't mere speculation, but a matter of fact.

History and context can tell us a lot, but nobody can be truly certain of the authenticity of any passage from scripture and that's why we should question the wild ramblings of some pastors and preachers who use the pulpit to attack and hate LGBT people. They are speaking from a position of prejudice and bigotry and not out of compassionate concern. Cherry picking from scripture, they abuse the trust that is placed in them to ruin lives and we should be intelligent enough to see through all of that and know that they have no greater insight into the mind or intentions of God than anyone else.

 

The Bible DOES consider homosexuality an abomination, that's a fact. However, it all depends on how you interpret it. If you want to take it in context, you can look at it as a reflection on Jewish law back in the day. LOTS of things in the Bible were abominations in ancient times, such as eating shellfish or wearing fabrics. Clearly, modern society doesn't follow Jewish law much anymore making these rules obselete in modern society.

You are free to interpet it how you want. If Jesus truly came on this earth to save us, then it shouldn't really matter if homosexuality is a sin or not since we all sin. No sin is great than the other. Just my two cents I think you do make good points, I just disagree with some of them.

I also want to assure you that i'm not attacking your belief system. You have every right to believe whatever you want, even though i may disagree with it we all should have religious freedom as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

 

I'm struggling with this too. It's very depressing, I can't seem to figure out a answer (I only get more questions in my head).

 

I have to admit I still struggle with this to this day. I had a religious upbringing and grew up believing it was a sin.

 

Picture it this way: think of how big the universe is. Inconceivably huge, right? Big enough that however big you think it is, it's bigger. Why would God, with infinite power to create a nigh infinite existence of trillions of stars and planets, worry about what gender gets our juices going out here on podunk Earth?

Some time early on I quit believing in the petty, vengeful God of the bible (and that we need forgiveness just for being). My God is far greater, and far kinder to his creations.

 

Over the centuries, indeed, over the millennia, our understanding of who, or what or where God is has changed significantly. It's only in more recent times that some Christian denominations, like Southern Baptists, have chosen to abandon logic and common sense in these matters.

It's easy to see how our ideas about God have changed by picking up the Bible. If you read the early books of the Old Testament God is depicted as "one of us", part of our tribe. God favours his chosen people and kills the enemies of his tribe, specifically the Egyptians. He sends plagues upon them and drowns them in the Red Sea. Later he turns His anger upon people in different ways by destroying cities and killing whole generations of people in the most horrible ways imaginable. God is wrathful and vengeful in the early books of the Old Testament. Fast forward to the New Testament though and we have a very different picture of God. The same God is now loving, benevolent and merciful, willing to forgive Jew and Gentile alike. It's not all sweetness and light, but it's a marked contrast to the ideas about God that come out of the Old Testament. We don't know for certain how accurate it all is, but it is clear that the authors of the books of the New Testament (as we know it today) wanted to leave us with a warmer and easier understanding of God.

Sadly, some denominations have decided to enter a time warp and take up the tribal instincts that prevail in the Old Testament all over again. From their lecterns and pulpits the leaders of these conservative churches tell us that God hates this and God hates that and on the day of judgement we will be condemned to hell and damnation by Him. It's totally absurd stuff that contradicts the flow of scripture and Christian understanding over a number of centuries, but it gets into the minds of the faithful and inhibits their spiritual and human growth. Don't be taken in by it.

If you are a Christian, be inspired by the teachings of Christ, set out in the gospels. Jesus attempts to simplify our understanding of God and make Him accessible to all, not just the favoured minority. The fact that this message has endured over two thousand years should tell us something about how we should approach and define our understanding of God.

 

Your negativity really doesn't belong here. If you feel this way, why are you on a forum dedicated to accepting people you believe to be wrong?

Also, it says you're 17. When I was your age I thought similar to you. Trust me on this: Expand your views and opinions beyond religious text. It would be a great help to you.

 

Didn't mean to post twice. See the next page.