My religion forbids my sexuality

Gurgle

Rredwell wrote:

faith is innately human.

Over-simplification of the year award.

Maybe the innate human desire to learn leads to a huge pile of unanswerable questions (or un-understandable answers) leading to the conclusion that there must be someone or something smarter than humans whose job it is to know all the answers ?

Or maybe there is a god ?
Nah

falteringstar

Here's just a few very interesting things I've found doing a little research on Homosexuality in the bible...
See the attachment. (requires word) I think you'll all agree the church and many others have got it very wrong!

ixoy

Interesting document - cheers. I wonder what Roman Biblical scholars have to say on it?

Zillah

Rredwell wrote:

a lot of people seem to be using Torn Apart Guy's dillemma as an opportunity to vent their own anti-religious spiels.

Does that really surprise you? Religion has been discussed in a GLB forum, I can't believe that anti religious spiels are unexpected to you. Religion has for centuries taught hate and encouraged violence against homosexuals, what else would be an expected reaction?



Faith isn't inately human. Faith is being lazy, and IMHO, faith is being a coward, it's the easy way out.

Every human being at some stage asks, "Why am I here?" or something like it. I say back, I don't know. That's a very very scary thought. I don't know, and possibly never will. Faith is the ability to believe something for no other reason than you want to. It's a form of self denial and allows a person to presume to know the answer to the question of, what why who etc, am I?

Faith is a comfortable illusion, like a mathematician that ignores the remainder, or the child that imagines his mother isn't dead. It might be nicer, but it's not true. I can't lie to myself like that. I'll never find the answer like that.

Maybe I never will, but at least I'll have tried.

damien

phlematic wrote:

Religion has for centuries taught hate and encouraged violence against homosexuals

Some religions.

Faith is the ability to believe something for no other reason than you want to.

Kinda like loving someone then ? Trusting your heart with them and all ? There's no proof either way as to how they turn out.

I'll never find the answer like that.

Maybe I never will, but at least I'll have tried.

Faith is not being lazy, faith can be taking the giant leap of not trusting your senses and taking the leap. For many who think scientifically faith takes a lot of courage.

There was no actual proof for relativity for many years. The idea of it to start with didn't make sense, even to the most scientific. It took another while to be shown to be true. Einstein had faith, as did many others. Was that being lazy and having lack of courage ? What about those that invented quantum theory. Believing in something that couldn't be proven until a whole new type of mathematics needed to be invented.

fozzle

I don't think it's fair for people here to dismiss TAG's religion like that, most people on this forum have experienced or know people who've experienced predjudice because of their sexula preferances, it's no fair for us to then shove our prejudices down other's throats.

Torn Apart Guy, your faith is obviously important to you so it's important for you to find a way to deal with both it and your sexuality. I suggest you look through your bible, I'd imagine you'll find a number of teachings with which yuo don't agree, this happens in most religions if they don't make changes to allow for modern society. You shouldn't have to give up something as important to you as your beliefs, but perhaps there are Christian belief structures which don't involve homophobia which you might find match your personal beliefs better. Of course, you may not be gay at all, a lot of people go through a period of uncertainty, but from the sounds of it, you don't peresonally have a problem whith homosexuality, except in so far as you try to conform with your reliegion's teachings. Personally I think it's wonderful to have so much faith so I really think you should try joining a branch of Christianity that allows homosexuality, regardless of whether you ever end up in a same sex relationship.

Remember, in the end, only you can know what's right for you, I hope God helps you find it.
Best of luck.

Zillah

"Some religions."

Quite right, although it is Catholicism in question.


"Kinda like loving someone then ? Trusting your heart with them and all ? There's no proof either way as to how they turn out."

Nonesense. A more applicable comparison would be to be in love with the person that owns that apartment over there. You have never met this person, aren't even sure if they exist, and have presumed everything you know about them. Once a mars bar wrapper fell from the approximate direction of the window there, you presume it be a message of undying love for you also.


"The idea of it to start with didn't make sense, even to the most scientific. It took another while to be shown to be true. Einstein had faith, as did many others."

Do not confuse forming a hypothosis with the religious concept of faith.

" What about those that invented quantum theory. Believing in something that couldn't be proven until a whole new type of mathematics needed to be invented."

Faith in God and "Faith" in a scientific theory are hardly even related. Einstein believed in the theory of relativity and set out to prove it. The religious believe in God and consider that the end of the matter.

Don't insult the scientific method by linking the process of forming and proving a hypothosis with "faith". The people that invented :rolleyes: quantum theory didn't have faith in it, they formed a hypothosis and tried to prove it. If they had seen a valid scientific argument showing that their theory made no sense or was unprovable then they'd drop it. A religious person with faith would do no such thing.

I stand by my entire original post.

Yoda

I don't have any idea what any of you mean by the use of the word "faith". Regarding the word itself, I think it is a portmaneau which encourages sloppy thinking.