Category: LGBT Discussion
Well, this feels like quite a long-shot, since no one has posted in this board for over a year, but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I came out to myself as lesbian about two years ago, and I have been coming out to more people ever since then. I am a Christian, and unsurprisingly, have been struggling to reconcile the two identities. But, stubborn can sometimes count as a good character trait, and so I'm using it to refuse to give up either identity, not that I think I could. I'd like to meet other LGBT Christians, and other LGBT people in general :D
I am not LGBTQ, but I am a Christian. For what it's worth, it's great to see this post, and I really hope you can find the support you're seeking. It's hard, as a Christian to reconcile what the "standard" view towards homosexuality is with my own personal beliefs on the subject which essentially are, love is love. My own particular Christian sect is somewhat more flexable in some aspects, but even we have the between man and woman stance. It creates a real dissonant chord for me, and I'm not even of that persuasion!
I'm neither Christian nor LGBTQ, but I wish you the best of luck. Having to reconcile two potentially contrary ways of being cannot be easy. As someone who doesn't know you and whose opinion you obviously won't care about much one way or the other, I suppose my words may strike you as a little hollow. But one of the many reasons I can't follow any organized religion - particularly the Abrahamic ones, but others as well - is because there's judgment built in. I'm firmly of the belief that people can love, be with and ultimately marry or just live with whoever they wish, so long as everyone's consenting and no one's getting hurt. Who the heck are any of us to tell anyone else who we can partner with, after all? So I'm sorry you're going through this, and I hope you can find someone eventually. Because even if finding someone is not the cornerstone of existence, it sure is nice.
Im bisexual, and I don't read the bible or go to church, but I do believe in angels and I have been praying a lot more in the last few months for reasons I will not go into on here. Anyway, Im usually around if you want to chat.
Thank you Remy. I agree, even when I thought I was straight I couldn't make popular Christian views on being gay mesh with what I actually felt was right. Thank you for your support and kindness.
Thank you Gregg. Your words do not feel at all hollow to me. I understand where you are coming from. The judgement and hatred that is wound up in Christianity and in so many other religions is overwhelming. I want to keep believing that Christ is love, but it is getting more and more difficult to faithfully accept God's plan amidst the violence and condemnation I read in the Bible. Nor do I see this difficulty as a bad thing, I do not want to be any part of violence and hatred, I just still haven't given up the hope that loves definition really is God. Thank you so much for your kindness and your well wishes. And you are right, finding someone may not be the cornerstone, but it sometimes feels as though it is.
It's great to meet you Daenerys Targaryen. I would love to chat sometime and to here more about your beliefs. I hope you find comfort and answers in your prayers.
Not LGBTQ or really religious but there is a lot of Lgbtq christians out there.
Not sure about this site but try reaching out to your local LGBTQ organization.
I'm sure they can put you in touch with a few people. Also, don't hesitate to
make friends with non christian LGBTQ members as well. You never know what
doors you are closing by sticking to this one sub group.
Don't give up either title. It's completely ok to be both and in my opinion, as
long as you are happy, that is all that matters.
Peace and good luck!
i am lesbian, and suppose to be christian as well, when i put it like that , it is
obviously as others says that our religion and sexuality have problems existing
aside each other .
if you wanna talk I'm sure you know how to send Pms, chat on the site, and all
that .
Religion and sex or any kind even when you are "straight" have a difficult time existing together.
It is sad to note that a person whom believes in God is viewed any differently from anyone else that believes in God due to their sexuality choices.
God is love. It is the main reason I'm no longer a Christian, nor call myself one.
You keep that faith.
Smile.
Christ loves unconditionally. People do not. Christ knows our hearrts and minds, and has suffered all things for us. Thus he is able to mediate and intercede on our behalf with god. People are imperfect with pre-conceived judgements and l limitations who rely on either their own discoveries or the interpretations of others to try to understand just what God wants and expects. Too bad every Christian outlook has so many differences.
Remy,
I am not, absolutely not, trying to start a religious argument here, but what you just said struck a chord in me a little bit. I may have said something like this in the dim and distant past on this site, but I don't think so.
Christ loves unconditionally while people do not. I really do like that part of things.
The thing I'm not sure I'm okay with is the idea that God does not love unconditionally, either. He is much like people that way. Christ has to intercede and mediate on our behalf. I am glad that your church, and many others, are at least much more open to things like this than perhaps they used to be, because frankly I can't understand a god who sets out arbitrary rules and then decides to punish us miserably sometimes for not following them. Not even parents do this, not good ones anyway. If a parent sets out a rule, there's an extremely good reason. Don't touch the stove because you could burn yourself or start a fire. Don't play with the phone and call 911, because you might get a fine and might stop a dispatcher from dealing with a real problem. Don't hit your brother because hurting people isn't nice. Remember to say please and thank you, because people will be more apt to deal with you if you're more polite. And so on, and so on.
This hits on the fundamental reason I can't believe in this sort of thing. I can't stomach that angle of it. God makes up rules, and we're supposed to just accept them and do our best to live by them even if they don't make sense. The prohibition against homosexuality, for instance. Well obviously if everyone did it, we'd have a species-wide problem...but that's, uh, not happening, it's not even close to happening. My parents might not have liked it if they laid down a rule I challenged, or even straight-up went against, but I knew I wasn't going to end up in an eternity of torment if I upset them. Yelled at, maybe. Grounded, maybe. And sometimes I even had it coming. But even when I did, the rule just about awlays made some kind of sense. Some of the rules in most big religions simply don't. Does this God, who is supposed to be all great and powerful, really care what we wear, who we marry, how we pray and all the rest? Does he really? And if so, why does he care? Why doesn't the fact that we're fundamentally good people not count for everything, instead of only counting for a little? Why does there even -have to be a Jesus? It's almost as if - aand please pardon me for being sharp here, because you may not like this - God itself is some unthinking, unfeeling, alien creature who, in a flash of divine inspiration, realized he had at least one terrific failing, and set Jesus up as the buffer between himself and all the people he created. I just can't do it.
And the reason I bring this up at all? I promise it's not just to have a dig at Christianity. As atheists go, I'm of the live-and-let-live variety. No, it's because I think the topic creator is partway to a realization like this, struggling with some of these self-same concepts. And I wish I could somehow help people, but there's only so much one person can do. By "help people", I don't mean get them away from religion, either. I more mean to help them reconcile their sexual orientation against a system which is supposed to demonize it, and shouldn't.
If religion was generally just a set of good rules to live by, a bunch of morality and fables and stuff with a god at its center, I'd truly have no problem with it. I still might not subscribe, but I'd look at like any of half a hundred other things I don't follow. not for me, but virtually harmless. Sadly, I speak up here, and elsewhere at times, because harm -is being done. The very existence of this topic proves that. And I wish that we, as a society, could somehow get past this.
Honestly Shepherd, I agree with lots of this. it's why I myself struggle with the dycotamy of having faith that there is overall truth to Christ and God being existing beings who love us, and ... well, stuff like you just said, and this topic. I really really don't want to start a religious debate or highjack the board away from those who wish to lend their much needed support. I realize I misspoke about God's love however. In my faith, it is understood that God does in fact love us unconditionally. I don't exactly know why mediation is necessary except to say that Christ, because he has suffered all things for us is in a position whereby he is able to pay the price for our sins. We need to be perfect to dwell with God again as we once did before mortality, but we simply can't be perfect. There isn't a single person, no matter how good who hasn't done something bad in their lives at one time or another. In my Christian church salvation comes from two principles: first, faith in the lord Jesus Christ, and second, a willingness to strive to keep his commandments, and to repent when we inevitably fall short and try again to be better. That we are working towards being better is what matters. Unfortunately saying all that is just a summary, there's so much that goes into what we believe that it's hard to dilute it down to its essence and still make it believable. It is an endless tempering, a perfecting that is our eternal goal. It's just like having a child. Children know nothing at first, and you give your child certain rules to follow for their well-being, because if you didn't they'd run amuk and destroy everything. You know perfectly well they will disobey sometimes, and even as you employ means to diciplin them, you still love them unconditionally regardless of their disobedience. Of course there will be natural consequences to their disobedience. Gradually they get better, rules change, get more complex, and they grow older and older. So it is with God. He gives us commandments to follow. Commandments like you get in old testament times are foreign to us now and seem harsh, where as now a lot of that is done away with. God doesn't change, and neither do his fundimental guidelines for us, even if some of the specifics may. God has and always will love everybody, gay, straight, man and woman. I realize I implied otherwise in my last comment. It's important to understand that so much is open to interpretation by us, the children. We have the guidelines, but we often like to mold them to fit our own ideals. That's why some churches openly embrace the LGBT community and others would be happy enough burning them at the stake (so to speak). That's why fundamental goodness and love is so important. Treating one another with kindness and understanding will always be the Christian way in my eyes. It doesn't matter what we think about the way someone lives, as long as it isn't actively harming anyone. In the case of the LGBT community, they're just trying to find love just like everyone else. I hate that I even said "they" here. Except for natural procreative power, I see no reason why people can't be happy with whatever gender they find contentment with. I think I will always be at odds with the idea of condemnation for this, even when my own judgement comes.
i can answer about the gender thin , if people are inter sexual, for example it
can be hard, so already there again you have problems.
Sure, and what about people like Sandy. Who do they belong to?
That isn't a question I need answered, it is just food for thought.
I strongly agree with you Remy. God gave us one basic rule.
One saying is Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
That isn't exactly right, because we as people can't love everyone no matter how we try.
A better way I like is how the Jews say it.
Don't do anything to anyone else you'd not want done to you.
Peace.
I'm gay but I don't consider myself to be a Christian. I believe in God, or at least in a higher power. But I believe in things like reincarnation and spirit guides. Whether it's God or my spirit guide talking, it's still supernatural in nature, right?
I'm an atheist, but my daughter's bisexual. And at the time she came out, she was going to a liberal Christian college. She told me about a book "God and the Gay Christian" by Matthew Vines.
This guy's Christian, totally sold to the faith you have, but is a gay man, and explains how the modern gay loving relationships are not what was being referred to in what you call your bible.
There's also a gay Christian alliance.
To be clear, there are a growing number of LGBT people who are Christians, e.g. who believe atheists like me are wrong. Here in Portland, there's even a transgender preacher, a Pentecostal named Sister Paula Nielsen.
The conflict is only there between the extreme literalists and the LGBT. My daughter says there's a lot about metaphors and some other stuff I don't remember now, that both the fundamentalists, and we atheists, get wrong. At least according to the liberal Christaisn.
Anyway, "God and the Gay Christian" by Matthew Vines is a pretty solid read according to many, though my days of reading religious textxz are quite a bit in the past these days. After reading that book, around that time, she says she had an experience where she realized that God made her bi.
I know what I'm saying is anecdote, but you can certainly check out the book. the guy Matthew Vines has YouTube vids and is well-studied and respected by all except the most literalist.
That's interesting. I may need to check that book out. Frankly I'm so tired of the whole controversy. I understand the issues are important, and they absolutely should be talked about. But to me, you're a girl who likes girls or vice versa? Why even label it. You're in a relationship. Who cares if it's hetro or homo. Only person you might need to explain yourself to one day is God, and I'm not entirely convinced of even that much. We humans have a problem, we humans need to suck it up.
Important to whom?
Smile.
Important to society. Until society accepts what is instead of railing against what they want it to be. The LGBT community isn't going to go away. Nor should they. The fact there "is" an LGBT community is proof enough that there is a division between "us" and "them" As long as there is discrimination these issues need to be talked about. Because if there wasn't discrimination, there wouldn't be issues.