For anybody interested in this subject and in particular on being gay within the jewish orthodox community I can highly recommend the documentaries "trembling before G-d"

Very interesting and really showing the different views within the community/religion!

I speak as someone who would very much like to reclaim Christianity for the liberals. I'm pretty sure Jesus was a liberal. Who did he criticize the most? Anybody who thought themselves "holier than thou" pretty much. Even then, however, I don't recall his ever saying to anybody, "You're gonna burn in hell." He was more concerned that we help the poor and treat each other with mercy and compassion. Sound like any right-wing fundies that you know? Didn't think so.

Now I may be seeing the world through rose-colored glasses because I happen to be an Episcopalian (and have been one all my life), and the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) officially recognizes that homosexuals are born that way and are, therefore, accepted by God. Some of you may know that a few years ago, the ECUSA confirmed an openly gay bishop. The controversy over this continues today, and a small minority in the church are threatening to break away and return to the orthodoxy of the worldwide Anglican Communion (of which ECUSA is the United States' branch), so ECUSA's stance has not been universally embraced. Anglican Churches in Africa, for example, have officially disassociated with us and refused any economic aid coming from ECUSA. Rowanda even sent "missionaries" to the US to set us back on the right track. (Now, here, the liberal in me enjoys the irony--poetic justice, perhaps--of Africa's sending missionaries to the US, though I find their message deplorable.) Still, ECUSA, along with the Anglican Church in Canada and Scotland (and maybe a few other places that I'm not aware of) are taking a stand against the rest of the world on this issue. ECUSA isn't trying to impose its view on the rest of the world, it's just asking to be allowed to follow its convictions without sanction.

So basically, my sexuality is not in conflict with my religion the way it is for many. Yes, I am aware of what St. Paul said about it, but he wasn't Jesus, didn't even know Jesus personally, and as my girlfriend pointed out, he was such a zealot that he castrated himself and he seemed to have huge problems with women, so... However, for anyone out there who takes St. Paul more seriously, I will refer you to Peter Gomes' book "The Good Book." He does a good job of putting Paul's words in context with regard to homosexuality (and Peter Gomes is gay and an Episcopal priest--um, he's also a Republican, but try not to hold that against him).

I'm not as well versed in other religions, but my understanding (however limited) is that most religions seem to have a group or sect that is accepting of homosexuality. I've seen it in most other Protestant Christian religions. Catholicism has a progressive wing, as does Judaism. I'm assuming the same is true of Muslims; I've heard a few moderate Islamics speak on the subject. I'd guess that Buddhists would be so busy trying to let go of all desire that they wouldn't really care about such minute concerns. I have no idea about Hindus (Anyone want to chime in?), and I know there are a few religions that I'm missing. (Please feel free to fill in the blanks.)

My point is, I think, that you should be able to follow any religious tradition on some level and still be accepted and embraced for who you are. Of course, I recognize that the world is far from a perfect place and that people use religion to address their own fears, often at the expense of others, but I think that at heart, religion attempts to guide us in a way of living that seeks to improve our lives and give them meaning. Does it gets subverted? Yes. Does that mean that we should give it up altogether? No. Does that mean I think everyone HAS to have a religion? No. There are plenty of people who live fulfilling, productive, and moral lives without it.

I'm a senior in high school, and one day I was talking to a "friend" another friend of mine asked me what my religion was, and I told her I was a Christian and my "friend" told me I wasn't.

Are you kidding me? Who can tell you if you are a Christian or not?
Just because I am gay that doesn't mean that I'm not one. I follow everything Chrstians follow except that I am gay. and I don't think that God is one to abandon one of his children.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

I believe in him. Shouldn't I be included?

What's the colour of love? - Runt

we'll be watching this thread to gauge whether a separate category is needed for this topic. one issue with moving threads is that 1) if they're pre-changeover it may not work, 2) if the thread talked abt religion as an indirect effect, i.e., under the larger context of whatever it was talking abt (my guess is likely something political) then it might make more sense keeping it there.

if a seperate category is indeed created what potential threads do you plan on having?

"hi i'm your daughter, i can regrow my kidneys " - claire bennet, heroes

theres a question i always wondered !! it's about guilt!

when someone have faith in a religion ,there are rules.

so of course if you didnt respect the rules by doing something that goes against your principles , you feel kinda guilty about it . it's normal !

but what surprises me , is the guilt you can feel for something you didnt " do " or " asked for" , I wonder how people who feel guilty about their gayness see things:

do they think they're actually responsible for being gay and choosed it ? do they think they're perverts ? cursed ? fighting with something against nature they have to get rid off ?

they have no control on it, but seem so guilty... so i d really want people in this situation to  tell me how they feel please !

Comme disait Jeanne D'Arc : " tu verras de quel bois je me chauffe " ;)

I have no guilt about my sexuality since I left the Catholic Church and decided that all religions are nonsense. I don't need an organization to tell me how to relate/worship God, anymore than I need one to tell me how to relate to my lover, mother, sister, etc.

It amazes me how these religions get hung up on sexuality. Since God is a non-material being, and always has been, I can't see him being all that concerned about the physical aspects of sexuality. The last time He concerned himself about my sexuality and yours, was when I and you concerned ourselves with the sexuality of the lady bug (beetle).

that so many so-called Christians (and other religions) have a problem with gay people and would easily throw the Bible and all kinds of scriptures into it. I'm sure those are the same people that are adulterous, who steal, lie etc but cannot adopt the same principles to their lifestyles. You cannot complain about one part of a religion and be cool with the next. Thats called double-standards and it's not hot.

Gray

'No-one else can speak the words on your lips...'

on my island people pretend to be very into religion ! they pretend to have lot of principles and stuff! but most people men on the island are married but have several hidden families , 4 other kids  with 4 differents women , no one complains about it!!!

it even happened that a girl and a boy started dated without knowwing they were actually brother and sister ! one of my brother that i met only two years ago was in the same school than our sister and they didnt even know each other!

but here people hear this kind of thing daily !they dont think its that against the rules! they accept it , maybe the " jesus wants us to make kids " part is interpreted in a large way , i dunno

o yea and i forgot , they re also very racist , they hate whites but they also hate black ( yea black people hate black people here! ) and call themself christians!

but when it comes to homosexuality , or even mixed couples wow jesus is gonna burn us all ! loooooooool  we're evil perverts etc !

this is so fucked up!

once in my life i would like to see someone who claim to be catholic ACT as one ! be nice, respectful , understanding etc ! thats shouldn't be that hard for someone who really believes in god! right?

Comme disait Jeanne D'Arc : " tu verras de quel bois je me chauffe " ;)

Religion has always intrigued me. I find that as I get older, I am confronted with many different ideals and values. I find that what one religion believes, another condems and so on and so forth.

Yet what I will never understand is why there is so much trouble around it all. Particularly when it comes from combining religion and sexuality. Firstly, I'm Jewish, and I do know a little about my religion, although not as much as I ought to and Kissing Jessica Stien didn't teach me much!

I digress... I guess the thing that bothers me is that a person who is homosexual feels constricted, feels that God will smite them for being who they are, which I've always thought was 'Created in HIS image', ergo, God did include the homosexual part of your identity. I cannot understand why this point is argued.

I also cannot understand why God, in any way shape or form, has been twisted into this horrific being that will 'dis-own' you for being who you are.

My heart goes out to the men and women who are cloested because of their religion. I don't speak to stir arguements, I simply speak to share these thoughts and the best of wishes for those who struggle against the confines.

I feel that regardless of your sexuality, religion, cultural differences, personal values and morals, we're all equal and created in the image our Creator (whomever that might be, as I'm on the fence about that as I get older). Thus, making us who we are, and what we are.

Peace

There are indeed anti-gay verses in the Bible, but none of them is attributed to Jesus. He never said anything on the subject. The 'burn in hell' rhetoric to which Queen Bea refers is basically Old Testament stuff. The Old Testament God is very much a cranky, judgemental, and vengeful being, not very loving and overall pretty distasteful.

And yes, Paul had a gutter opinion of women, and I don't pay much mind to anything he had to say. Fact is, we don't really know who wrote the Bible, and even in cases of someone like Paul who supposedly wrote parts of it, whose idea was it to give any of these people any credibility at all? Even if the Bible was divinely inspired, it was assembled by men, fallible humans who presumably had their own agenda.

It's heartbreaking to see how religion has caused so much grief to so many gay people. I have no control over being gay; it's innate, it's what I was born as, and if there is a God that made me, he made me gay. Discussion over. The Falwells of the world know this; they know it's not a choice and they know how their words and actions can cause such pain, and the self-righteous glee with which they continue to do so proves how unchristian they are.

Those of you who continue to torture yourselves because you can't square your faith with your gayness, I hope you eventually come to ask yourselves that if God has such a problem with homosexuals, why does he keep creating us? What kind of sense does that make? Apparently, we're part of the plan.