I wrote an article for a magazine regarding hOMOSEXUALITY, GOD and RELIGION would you care to comment?

Question

I write a column for a magazine in the UK and will be submitting this piece soon for publication.
I would be very grateful for thoughts, comments and positive criticisms before I submit this as the absolute final draft as it is an interesting - if contentious - issue.

i welcome all thoughts and feelings regarding homosexuality and religion and may change certain parts of my article on the basis of what I read in these answers ...

Here is the link to the piece:
http://meanderingtrevor.blogspot.com/2007/04/religion-for-gays.html

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

This is an article? That is intended to appear in print? It looks like the disjointed, scribbled daydreams of a bored schoolchild with delusions of profundity. I hope you're kidding.

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Yikes. You weren't kidding. I suppose this is what we pay editors for.

Answer 2

You would better serve the public if you could help them understand that homosexuality is a chosen act. It may have been through innocence as a child, and the child may not even remember making the choice or being influenced this way, to become attracted to the same gender. Children forget.

There has never been any proven biological links. Though many people should learn about gender nonconformity. This may be biological, or it could be learned characteristics that create a child to have this. Not all children that have gender nonconformity will become gay, and not all children that were influenced to become gay of had any gender nonconformity.
Most children with a gender nonconformity are thought to be gay, and that is an influence itself.

Many of the studies do not even give gender nonconformity any creadence in their studies.

I do believe religious views send the wrong message to the homosexual, for it can be a forgivable sin.

Answer 3

I had no problem getting to your "article." Although... I'd take the time to run your article through spell check on Word BEFORE posting/submitting. Misspelled words: organized (you used an "s" where the "z" should have been) re-ingnited (should be hyphenated as I've done) realized (you used an "s" again, where a "z" should have been) realization (again with the "s" vs. "z" issue) judgmental (has no first "e" after the "g") non-judgmental (is hypenated) quotes around the word "abomination" should be full quotation marks, not single. your comma usage needs work, the phrase "condemming of homosexuality, which I..." (you placed the comma after the word "which" but it sould be BEFORE as I've done in this example) another instance of using a first "e" in "judgmental" where there is none. There is no need for a comma before the word "and" even in a list type sentance. It's simply an abuse of comma. The phrase "I believe Christians in general miss the forest for the trees and "I" am disgusted by how..." (You really should use the pronoun "I" as I've shown, the word "am" is all alone and makes the sentance hard to read. Also, there are some statements which are your opinion but you present as fact in the way you have writen them. I'd rethink these statements. I understand what you are saying in your article, but because of the grammatical and spelling errors, it's very hard to read. It also makes you, the author, come across as ignorant, even though I don't believe you are so.

Answer 4

It is nice to learn the evolution of one's atheism. Many atheists on YA have a superior attitude as if they have always been atheists, which, I highly doubt this is the case. Good luck getting that published.

When you condemn organized religion for its persecution of gays you fail to mention the rash of homosexuality and pedophilia that exists among the priesthood in the Catholic church. The evil fire tongued Chrisitan fundamentalists often end up in the news for being caught with 15 year old boy prostitutes as well. You could touch on the ironical phenomenon of hypocrisy that exists within many organized religious structures, even if it's just to say that this is one of the things that turned you off to God and religion in the first place.

Answer 5

Having worked for many years in the newspaper field myself, I must ask one question. Then, I will follow with the comments. THE QUESTION: Are you REALLY a journalist (one who is getting paid on a weekly/monthly basis), or do you just dabble at it every now and then (submit articles of interest voluntarily, as a hobby, with no pay involved)?
SUGGESTIONS:
A. I found this somewhat difficult to read.
You need to go back over it and insert
the punctuation in its proper place.
B. IF you are getting paid for your work,
you might want to hire the teenager
whom you quoted to do a little ghost
writing for you.
C. If you just submit random articles for
publication, then go ahead and turn it
in as is--the newspaper will edit as
necessary.

Answer 6

Not bad.

Im not agnostic, as you are, Im a confident atheist, so my take on religion is a bit different. If it was my article, I would make the case that morality is about compassion, and that pointless rules about sexual behavior are just part of the false morality that Christianity and other modern religions teach.

If a case can be made, not based on religion but on logic and reason, that homosexuality is morally wrong, let the religious people make that case, and leave their religion out of it. If no case can be made using logic and reason that homosexuality is wrong, why would anyone choose to believe that a document which says it is morally wrong was written by a god?

Answer 7

I know you have had bad experiences with traditional religion. You do not have to believe in the picture of God painted by these religions or anyone else. You should find the picture of God that works for you. You need to be the master of your own belief system. God is a good and very moral God, and wants every one to also be good and moral, and show this by contributing positively to the world. If you do that you will be close to God, whether you believe in any image of God or not. To help be more focused, meditation, mind-body exercises, and a good diet can help.

Answer 8

I can understand how you feel about religion, but I want you to know that Jesus didn't come down to earth to set up religion, but a kingdom. The Lord is the ultimate authority and His Word is protected by Him, just as I am protected by Him. The Bible was handwritten long before a printing press so this portion of your article needs to show more intellect.

Until I started reading the Word of God for myself, I too was getting very discouraged with religion in the churches of America. God has absolutes and the churches are wishy washy. God says obey the Sabbath and keep it holy. The churches worship on Sunday. The Roman Catholic Church made this decision and it was wrong. I was raised Baptist and now I am no denomination and cannot find a God fearing church that teaches only Scripture.

Return to the Lord before He turns you over to a depraved mind. We can continually reject Jesus until He says He will turn us over to our depraved mind. Do not wait until it is too late. Homosexuality is not worth losing eternity with God. Nothing is worth losing eternity with God because the alternative is horror. Jesus declared only one way to heaven when He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Me." From Genesis to Revelation, it is all about Jesus the Christ and the Cross where He shed His sinless blood for you and me. Consider the Word of God and seriously search the authenticity of Scripture. The Dead Sea Scrolls found in the 40's or 50's proved that the Scripture had not been altered. The Bible (KJV) is the inspired Word of the Living God.

It was men of religion that did the horrors in the name of God and God had nothing to do with their evil hearts. Religion without evil men can do nothing evil in the name of religion.
The first thing Jesus did when He showed up in the Temple of God was discipline the temple folks. God says the "judgment of God begins in the house of God." The devil is in our churches and we've allowed him to come in. Homosexuality is no greater a sin than fornication or adultery and our churches are full of this all. Do not do as religion says do, but do as Jesus did. Follow Jesus, not man.

Answer 9

You know the best thing that you can put in that article is the Truth, a Journalist is supposed to tell the truth, You need to tell how if people truly have God in thier lives then they won't give a second thought to homosexuality, homosexuality stems from lust, and lust stems from sin, God would not have put that in the Bible if it was okay, In the beginning God created man and created woman so that man would not be alone, that is the way it is and the way it should be. When people go changing things around they are going against Gods plan, and Gods plan eventually leads to The HOly Kingdom and if you aint following the plan, How will you get to go to the final destination our home. I pray you publish the right thing, and not just excuse homosexuality is a preference or that it is okay, I know you don't want to offend readers but it is your duty and responsibility to tell the Truth. And believe me that will be looked upon before you go to judgement you have a wonderful oppourtunity, use it wisely.

Answer 10

Understandable point of view. Only a fool keeps hitting their head against a brick wall.

I can't help but wonder whether becoming agnostic at 15 was more a protective cloak than an educated conclusion. It would be pre-emptive to throw out the 'longlife' milk because the 'fresh' milk is sour.

It is true that man's interpretation of the scriptures can only be summarised by two motives; need or greed, depending on the circumstance at the time of interpretation.

Answer 11

first of all with regard to NDE's they are not proof for religion, in fact they have nothing to do with good, just the brain and some deoxeygenated blood, during cardiac arrest during which the SN and AV nodes do not fire correctly. so shut up about NDE's molly, science not religion the bible is the number one best seller, and did you know that 95% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

as to the article i thought it was very well written, well thought out, made a lot of convincing arguments and certianally thought provoking. my only criticizim is that you seem to be jumping from american statisitcs to european ones, when it is intended for the UK