Well, my mom is Evangelical and I was raised up in that fundamentalist type mold of Christianity (and yes she is even a creationist...I am a guided evolution by God person myself). Dealing with accepting I was gay in the beginning drove me into deep denial because I was brought up to believe homosexuality was an "abomination" "sinful" 'immoral", etc. So I thought if I ever did come out and be myself someday I would go to Hell (remember this was when I was younger). So I've come to the point know where I don't believe that my being gay is a choice/decision. I've also come to the conclusion that I do NOT want to believe in a God that would make me a certain way (gay), and then make that way i was born a sin, and go to Hell. The bible teaches God and Christ as loving and merciful, and that he knew who we are before we were born and has a "plan" for us...so I focus more on this aspect. I guess its made me re-examine by belief, I can't shape it all to that fit-all fundamentalist mold. I am a 100% theist, and always will be. I will always believe in something greater - a God - a supreme deity. But now I am at the very basic stance of "Christ died on the cross for my sins, so I could be forgiven and go to Heaven"...everything else has just gone "poof". Its also f'ed up with my morals a bit...always being taught "no sex before marriage!", and then now I'm gay, and marriage is defined as heterosexual in the Bible? Where the hell does that leave me? lol. I guess I have been focusing more on a quote that l like "Morals should come from experience, not dictation". Anyways this is the "sanctuary", and I guess your all Gay Christians who post in here...and was wondering how you delt with being raised in the belief, accepting your gay, and how your belief goes on... Peace.
Hi. Well we aren't all gay Christians who post in here, the Sancuary is more of a "safe place" for Christians as oppoesed to the regular board. I don't have any peoplsonal experience such as yours, but I can't begin to imagine how difficult it must be. I'm sure there might be someone floating around who can help more than I can. I wish you the best of luck with your internal struggle for personal acceptence. God be with you.
hmm it seems that in todays times, everyone creates their own God for themselve anyways. it's kinda like instead of having to take a stand on something and make tough choices, they just assume that there is no way God could ever be something that disagrees with who they are, and make a new personal God all for themselves. im really starting to wonder if fundies are the real bad guys in theism that being said, no one can tell you if you are right or wrong. i did laugh when he said only gay christians post in the santuary! that was funny.
Yeah. Where did he get that idea? Anyhow, I think Canucker is on the right track in focusing on his faith in Jesus. Can't go wrong there! Trying to perfect ourselves and then turning to Jesus puts the cart before the horse. I agree with Hyori that I can't begin to know what Canucker is going through, but I admire his faith. I also agree with neodude1212 that we need to be careful to tailor our beliefs and values to God's will, and not vice versa. Getting some feedback and support from gay-accepting Christian groups isn't a bad idea (But watch out for the dudes who are too helpful!). Many Episcopalians seem pretty liberal in this regard, since one of their bishops is gay, and there are some other denominations that welcome gays. Do some checking first, though. There are a lot of biblical passages that seem to condemn homosexuality, but liberals argue they're referring to gay promiscuity, prostitution, rape, domination, pedophilia, etc., rather than genuinely loving relations. (I'm not endorsing this view, only mentioning it). Catholics also consider the difference between homosexual orientation (the product of genes and/or early conditioning) and homosexual behavior (more amenable to "choice", however difficult). Canucker,follow your conscience and use your best judgment in reading scripture. You can be sure that God loves you and will guide you through all this. Keep your heart and mind open for His guidance. You're only fifteen, so your life is mostly ahead of you. I hope we can also give you support. Thanks for asking. Keep the faith! You're in my prayers.
Yeah. Where did he get that idea? Anyhow, I think Canucker is on the right track in focusing on his faith in Jesus. Can't go wrong there! Trying to perfect ourselves and then turning to Jesus puts the cart before the horse. I agree with Hyori that I can't begin to know what Canucker is going through, but I admire his faith and empathize with his struggle. I also agree with neodude1212 that we need to be careful to tailor our beliefs and values to God's will, and not vice versa. Getting some feedback and support from gay-accepting Christian groups isn't a bad idea (But watch out for the dudes who are too helpful!). Many Episcopalians seem pretty liberal in this regard, since one of their bishops is gay, and there are some other denominations that welcome gays. Do some checking first, though. There are a lot of biblical passages that seem to condemn homosexuality, but liberals argue they're referring to gay promiscuity, prostitution, rape, domination, pedophilia, etc., rather than genuinely loving relations. (I'm not endorsing this view, only mentioning it). Catholics also consider the difference between homosexual orientation (the product of genes and/or early conditioning) and homosexual behavior (more amenable to "choice", however difficult). Canucker,follow your conscience and use your best judgment in reading scripture. You can be sure that God loves you and will guide you through all this. Keep your heart and mind open for His guidance. You're only fifteen, so your life is mostly ahead of you. I hope we can also give you support. Thanks for asking. Keep the faith! You're in my prayers.
I'd be hesitant to say that "many" Anglicans support homosexuality. It has caused a large split in the Anglican community. It even split up the only Anglican church in y small city which lead to the formation of an Orthodox mission. I agree with both of you though, that we have to be careful not to create god for ourselves. I forget who it was, but it was a "historic Jesus" scholar in the 19th C (I think), who said that if the theorists of the time were right, Jesus was a Lutheran Theologian. He claimed Jesus was a crazed apocalyptic prophet. It is similar to the hippies claiming Jesus was a hippie, when I assuredly think the contrary. But that is another tread.
The fundies are just as guilty as the reat of 'making God in their own image'. Mainly, they're people who are conditioned by the mistaken ideas of the dark past of humanity and are unable to move on.
i got to spin the wheel of truth about this... spinning a word for god existence.... aa~ xnm ot god is : wild space , strong magical time , loving it . ya , a laughing baby could say it that way too . truth is innocently wild . shall you be as a child ? it's been highly recommended .
The Popes just kiddnig. In all seriousness, I don't think anyone can claim to be able to understand, know, explain or anything like that about the "true god". God knows God. I may get some flack for saying this, but if we look at some of what is said in the gospels, Jesus says to come to god like children. Children: innocent, unburdened by heavy thoghts, believing without question (that is where the problem lies I think). I think that we should approach God innocently, naively, and in awe of his magesty a la Otto. We should think about what we see, experience, and do not see, and do not experience--formulate a tentative theory for ourselves, but never put a period at the end of our description of God...
then hippies are the second coming , so let's just relax into what we gotta do . we gotta make peace in the nuclear age - crucially - crushed - relaxed about it tho cuz seems there's nothing pointedly particular to be done exactly so about the whole situation . walking off easy into the wildwoods ain't any sort of terrible idea . sick people come along too and get some healing , and god speaks there , and the faery folk shine a light , and the animals sing with us in the altogetherness .
Dood Fundies really think the Earth was created 10000 years ago. COME ONE man gimme a break. The whole bible is allegories and parables, work of poetic art, and story trying to best explain how complex the life experience is. Where the seen world has to some how merge with a world that is unseen. I have been taking my spiritual development seriously for about 2 years... I was born and raised catholic as most teenagers that all took a back burner. I had an incident happen where i had slight bursh with death... and then i started to think there was somethign more then meets the eye. I returned to catholicism and started putting into practice only to find myself faced with some major philosphical concerns that for me needed addressing. One example out of many. The catholic church teaches unlimited love for all, yet still teaches a JUST WAR clause. In my desperate thirst to resolve and reconclie these imbalances and anomolies in the philosophy I have set out on a quest for the truth that has taken my breath away. The one thing I have learned is to be extremly open minded and ecclectic in all of this. Aim for true love and compassion in all that you do in all places at all times. ask for it, live it, do it and be it. Want that more then you want air, and value it more then u value your own life, and no matter, gay, white, black, catholic, protestant, poor, rich, canadian, chinese, ,,, doesn't matter... I gurantee you can't go wrong.
I know I dont know you, but I love you so much! I love your courage and your heart, and your head is in the right place.... You hit the nail right on the head when you said that you dont believe in a God who would make you a certain way, that you would be gay (which I also believe is not a choice...for one, there would be waaay more lesbians, let me tell you!!) and be damned...we are ALL born with sin, and in the eyes of God, all sins are equally bad. (perhaps pride and blasphemy are worse) Regardless, we are made in His image....homosexuality is no more of an abomination than being evious (IMO) Courage and Light to you my friend! No matter what happens, whatever scrutiny you may face, just remember that there are those that love you for YOU and that God loves you all the same
