Ignorance never ceases to amaze me.?

Question

I read these questions on here about God & how gays & lesbians are damned to hell for their DECISION to be who they are. Some say they need to repent & they will be reformed into someone better... someone straight. I am floored by that ignorance & that hatred.

I guess my position is that not too long ago white men & women were looked down upon if they dated black men or women. Some even dared to say that it was a sin for them to love one another... to be attracted to one another. Could these individuals help their attraction... their love? It seems not. If you see someone around or even if you're married... was it your decision to fall in love? Was it your decision to become attracted? Did one day you say, "I think today is the day I'm going to fall in love with so-and-so." No. It just happens.

So why is it different for gays & lesbians? Why do the simple laws of attraction not apply to them? Because they are not human?

I just don't understand.

I guess all in all... it saddens me that people feel the way I do. It is an honest pain that resides in my heart whenever I hear of the hardships that some couples have to go through just to be together.

With life as tough as it can be sometimes... why is it wrong for someone to find happiness and love even if it isn't traditional? If your god is a god of compassion and heart, is it too far fetched to believe that he understands the pain that these men and women have to go through daily? If his purpose for mankind is to love and be loved, to be happy and to spread that happiness... how can LOVE between two men or two women be wrong?

I know I wouldn't want to live my life if I knew it would be unfulfilled and lonely simply because of the things that people have pulled from the bible to condemn me. I'd rather live as a sinner and find that greater love than be untrue and unhappy within myself.

Love to those who believe in the bible and love to those who don't.

<3

Answer 1

Speaking as a Christian, but only for myself, I agree with you. I see way too many people who blindly follow a path that a mere man (their pastor, whoever) has set. I believe we are all sinners, one sin no greater than and no less than another.

Jesus told us four important things that matter in the end. One...to love God: Two...to love our neighbor (which means EVERYONE, NO EXCEPTIONS)...not to judge others, and to treat others as we want to be treated.

It is not my job to judge anyone's lifestyle...my job is to love them...that is all. Bashing, slamming and telling people they are going to hell is NOT LOVING THEM. LEFTY

Answer 2

I have read the bible many times, and I used to be an extreme christian in every since of the word. Since then, I have become agnostic, but I still remember all that I was taught in my days of bible study. And I can tell you why it is so different for gays/lesbian people.

We are all human, that is not the issue. The issue is that christian people read the bible and interpret it to say that love and marriage should be shared between a man and a woman.

I think the reason why they interpret it this way, is because the idea of 2 same sex humans, makes them uncomfortable. It isnt "normal" to them. They do not know what it feels like to wake up and love another person, that just happens to be the same sex as they are. People fear what they do not know. Plus we have to admit that it isnt exactly traditional. Men havent been trying to marry men for centuries upon centuries... Men have been trying to marry women. And so traditionally speaking... that is the way it is suppose to be.

My end point... is that It is only different for gays and lesbians if you let it be. I treat them like any other couple in a room. Because my mind is big enough to understand that we evolve as people. We are not all the same. I am open minded. Dont let others take your right to be who you are.

Answer 3

I can feel your sadness about this issue. God does love you, that I am sure of. My heart aches for gay and lesbian people because they seem to have no control of their attraction to the same sex and yet to be condemned by religion is a terrible burden. Many just leave the faith. To be honest with you as a Christian I feel torn. Many things are sin and we all commit them. It seems that some sins seem worse to people than others. I feel that those who fornicate are in the same boat as the homosexual. So they should not put you down, according to the Bible that is a sin also. One that probably most of the adult population has committed. All I can say to the folks who are gay is stick with Jesus and let Him be your guide through life. Too many just give up all faith. God Bless. I remember feeling horrible and hell bound when I was divorced. Jesus died to forgive us of our sins, I'm trusting in that.

Answer 4

It is true that people will project their homophobia onto their spirituality the same way they used to project racism onto it. There were many clergy that said that airplanes were of the devil because man was not meant to fly. Most clergy fly these days. To put it into Biblical perspective it is fornication the very same way my heterosexual lust is. I do not try to get in the pants of every girl I see and I try very hard to take my thoughts captive. If I was a homosexual it would be the same thing but I would not be trying to get into every guys pants I saw. The Bible list homosexuality as an abomination and it also list a prideful look as an abomination so if we get rid of all the homosexuals then we also need to get rid of all the arrogant people. I'm not sure how much of the earths population would be left.

That's my two cents.
May the Lord richly bless you.

Answer 5

You are committing the logical fallacy of mixing unrelated subjects, but I will attempt to give an answer.

I suppose that for starters, you don't have to date everyone that you are "attracted" to, and often you don't.

Saying that attraction isn't a choice is NOT the same as saying that we do not choose with whom we sleep with. We are not animals who are blindly enslaved to our impulses; we can think & reason, and we can choose to ignore the impulses which produce antisocial behavior (and we often do). So it is not ignorant to say that we all ultimately decide whom we are, for we are defined by our actions, not by our brief momentary sexual impulses.

As for people of different races marrying each other, I cannot think of a single biological reason why it would be harmful. By contrast, people of the same sex cannot reproduce, so I cannot find a single biological reason why people think that it naturally occurs, or that people cannot help it; homosexuality seems to be a result of socialization, not a result of poor genes. Besides, the idea of anal sex seems to be unhygienic.

From a religious standpoint, I cannot find a single biblical passage that says that mixed racial marriages is a sin, but there are biblical passages that suggest that God prohibits sex between people of the same gender.

You seem to be comparing apples to oranges.

Answer 6

For those gays that believe they were born gay, there's something else to consider. Perhaps most specifically applying to Christian gays, is that once you have heard the Gospel, NOW you have a choice to live according to its guidelines, of reject them.

That's the bottom-line choice. Heaven and hell are described in the Bible. If one thinks they are part of God's plan, then they need to make a choice about how they live.

Genetics is one thing.
Self-control is another. The scriptures call it "temperance," one of the spiritual gifts.

The exercise of spiritual gifts is encouraged.

Answer 7

I agree, ignorance wrapped in fanatical religion = hate.

Whenever I hear someone tell me that I'm going to hell because of my "abomination", I remind them of this....

Other abominations in the Bible:

John 8:7, Christ himself says, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone." So before we pick a starting hurler, we have to sort out anyone who has committed one or more of the other abominations, and who, if sincere, will take their rightful place inside the circle with sinners.

What other abominations does the Bible specify?
Of course, adultery (Lev 18:20),
sex with animals (Lev 18:23),
remarrying one's wife after she's had another husband in between (Deut 24:4),
or approaching any woman and humming "Strangers in the Night" during the time of her "uncleanness" (Lev 18:19).
Cross-dressing is out (Deut 22:5),
and that includes Halloween costumes, slacks on women, bib overalls on little girls, or a wife wearing her husband's favorite Oxford buttondown.

Other abominations include
tarot readings, glancing at your horoscope, trimming one's beard, and getting a tattoo, even if it says, "Mom" (Lev 19:26-28).
Haughty eyes (Prov 6:17) and telling lies (Prov 6:17, 12:22)
Being untruthful also includes false weights and measures (Prov 11:1), or any other dishonesty in business. "Everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God" (Prov 11:16).

Rare steaks off the grill (Lev 17:10),
Lobster Newburg (Lev 11:10),
a rack of ribs at the Bar-B-Que (Lev 11:7).

Charging or paying interest are abominations. Bankers and anyone with a mortgage, car loan or credit card debt will be unavailable to throw the first stone, regardless of the interest rate (Psalm 15:1-5, Jeremiah 15:10).

Graven images (Deut 7:25). Thus the Happy Buddha on my dresser and my postcards of the Great Buddha at Kamakura would excuse me from taking the lead in rock throwing, if I hadn't already fallen by the wayside.

A favorite: wearing blended fabrics. Deuteronomy 22:11 forbids wearing a material made of wool and linen.

Leviticus 19:19 says it's an abomination to wear any blended material, period. Hence a woman in a man's buttondown can be doubly abominable if it's a no-iron, easy care blend of cotton and polyester.

When confronted with such information, there are people who will tell you that the blended fabrics abomination is really just a symbolic warning that Jews should not mix with other cultures, and that the dietary laws were set aside for Gentiles at the Council of Jerusalem, and that these "other abominations" were about self-preservation, hygiene and just for Orthodox Jews anyway.

When something they do is shown to be an abomination, many abominators become instant anthropologists, Biblical scholars and historians as well.

So why the condemning of homosexuals? Are such men and women unaware of their own abominations detailed in the same scriptures? Or are they simply counting on their audience being unaware?

People of integrity, once informed of their own abominable behavior, will step into the circle and accept for themselves whatever punishment they were going to hand out to others.

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) That's the verse I recall whenever someone uses the Bible to justify their own pet bias or bigotry.


PS... I see several responses in here showing some of the same scriptures as above, saying "here's what the bible says, take it or leave it." ....I think they're missing the point completely. It all goes back to interpretation. Telling someone that they are doomed to hell because their "lifestyle" is an abomination (based on scriptures previously quoted) must be balanced with other scriptures.

According to scripture, I can own a slave if I treat them well...., so does that mean that the US is sinning for no longer allowing slavery?

As stated above, it wasn't too long ago that mainline churches forbade the marrying of Blacks and Whites (their interpretion of scripture.) Some churches state that women should always wear hats (their interpretation of scripture.) ....

So, based on that same logic, if it's an "abomination" to be homosexual, then, by the same logic and same words in scripture, I'm going to hell because today I have on a Cotton-poly dress shirt? The Bible doesn't seperate the abominations, so who are we to choose which we enforce and which we don't???....

As I stated before, Ignorance wrapped in fanatical religion = hate.

Answer 8

I do not hate homosexual people. I do not like their sin, but it is not mine to judge. I don't even like my own sins. If I am asked, I will state the truth that it is against God, but I will also admit that I am a sinner.

Interracial relationships are not a sin. That is man being prejudice, which Noah prophesied would happen back in Genesis, when he spoke the curse of his grandchild Canaan (who was black). No where in there did God say that it would be sinful for blacks and whites to have a relationship. How could He when the pigmentation is within all of us?

If you are married and you find someone else and fall in love with them, that is also sinful.

To understand what is sin and not sin, you have to read past the 10 Commandments in the Bible. It is full of all kinds of sinful behavior against which God warns us not to fall.

To answer this question from you "why is it wrong for someone to find happiness and love even if it isn't traditional"

Because happiness is temporary, and sometimes in searching for happiness we cause ourselves more pain.

Instead of happiness, try searching for joy, which can only be brought about through God. That is permanent. You will know that through all of your trials and tribulations, you have the joy to know that you are saved.

Answer 9

I am a Christian and believe that some are made that way, and some Chose to be that way.

They are not damned to hell for what the are, and I am not going to judge anyone, that is for God alone to do.

We are all accountable to God for our ACTIONS only, we Chose how we act. Homosexuals are in need of our prayers and support, they have been chosen to bear a greater burden than the rest of us.

Peace and God Bless!

Answer 10

If gays and bisexuals were just platonic am sure it wouldnt be a problem. But theyre not.

This causes a lot of concern.

Because two perfectly fertile males cannot make babies together.

Thus, when they even call each other spouses, people dont really understand. They cannot form a physical bond, which involves being one in a natural way.

Their physical bonds are formed on unnatural ways. They use their bodies in the WRONG way. and you know exactly what am talking about.

Other than that, the love factor isnt the problem.

Its the actual calling of each other: mates thats the problem.

Ofcourse since they do not know how to call an opposite sex person a mate, this poses a serious problem.

But its not a normal thing to be honest. Its just against nature. And the example of a couple of animals who do have bisexual relationships isnt gonna top if off as normal on my book.