Religion and Homosexuality

[Cayris]

A friend of mine just came out of the closet. I've known for a while, but he sort of just mentioned it to his Mother. They're religious. The kind that doesn't accept homosexuality. Not only are they, but so is he. Obviously, he believes that homosexuality wouldn't be prosecutable by God, but he does firmly believe in God and saving yourself for marriage, etc. He told me that his Mother cried when she found out. That she said she would "pray for him to find a good woman." I am not religious. Nor do I support his mother in this ridiculous fucking assumption.

What can I say to support him without overstepping my bounds on his religion or his mother?

[JohnnyBlaze]

It is to be expected. I don't think no straight mother or father would want their son to grow up to be homosexual ya know?

I think the best way to go about this is to let him know that it doesn't matter what anyone else say, because at the end of the day only God will be the one to judge him. I would just tell him to pray about the situation, and hope for the best.

It can be extremely difficult to be gay, but religious at the same time, because i guess it's so conflicting. It's a very tough subject indeed, and really, only time will tell (judgement day.) Till then no one will know.

[Counselor]

I've given up on being "respectful" of intolerant religious zealots. I would tell that mother to her face that I think it's disgusting she would show her love for her own son by not supporting his feelings and invalidating him.

*spits*

[OrphanPip]

If religion is important to him, he should probably give serious consideration to joining a gay affirming congregation of the Anglican or United churches.

[Rainbowmum]

You can tell him the truth , at no time did Jesus say anything about gays.
That's Jesus the guy that said "Love each other as I have loved you " not his apostles Jesus.

At no time did he say "All sins will be forgiven,except for Homosexuals, pagans, prostitutes ....."

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Google is your friend and his.

There are many sites out there that explain the whole 'Gay is Ok' and tests the passages commonly used to persecute the gays.

I strongly suggest that he searches and reads. If you want to you can find a few sites and get him started - however the work of finding the information is more valuable than just the information itself.

I will give you the link to gay affirming churches: http://www.gaychurch.org/find_a_church/f...church.htm

Find one or a dozen in your local area and see if you can get him involved in one of those. If he surrounds himself with Christians who do not take issue with the gay, he may be able to retain his spirituality and find peace of mind as well.

His folks are going to go through the 5 stages of grief (denial, bargaining, anger, depression and eventually acceptance). OK, they may never accept... however most parents do come to terms with it and accept it to one level.

They have the added bargaining chip of Christianity. So they have more fuel to throw on the fire of depression, denial, bargaining, anger....

If he looks up the passages in gay affirming manner, he may be able to present his case based on the bible to his folks and win their 'belief' that God is merciful and that what the church has been preaching for 2000 years is not altogether true.

Also, his venture in finding a gay affirming church may also provide him with support of clergy and other gay Christians who can help him deal with the spirituality/religious side of this matter. And they can, through demonstration, most likely show the folks that yes, A God Fearing Christian Homosexual is possible and we do exist.

[JohnnyBlaze]

You can tell him the truth , at no time did Jesus say anything about gays.
That's Jesus the guy that said "Love each other as I have loved you " not his apostles Jesus.

At no time did he say "All sins will be forgiven,except for Homosexuals, pagans, prostitutes ....."

it actually says in the bible not to sleep with another man.

But people who are religious are constantly trying to figure out if the bible should be translated in the literal sense or not. There are many other verses that says not to do other things, but yet religious people don't pay attention to that. It's hypocritical if you ask me.

The other day my friends and I ended up getting in a very heated debate about this topic. In the eyes if a hardcore Christian, they will never how this could be accepted, even though all it is, is LOVE. The same type of love that heterosexuals experience as well.

[Mike]

A friend of mine just came out of the closet. I've known for a while, but he sort of just mentioned it to his Mother. They're religious. The kind that doesn't accept homosexuality. Not only are they, but so is he. Obviously, he believes that homosexuality wouldn't be prosecutable by God, but he does firmly believe in God and saving yourself for marriage, etc. He told me that his Mother cried when she found out. That she said she would "pray for him to find a good woman." I am not religious. Nor do I support his mother in this ridiculous fucking assumption.

What can I say to support him without overstepping my bounds on his religion or his mother?

You don't have to say anything about religion. Just be there for him and support him. You can also tell him he should watch the movie "Prayers for Bobby", which deals exactly with the kind of awful situation he is facing.

This movie takes place in the 80's. A boy of a devoutly religious family tells his parents he's gay. Today his mother is a staunch advocate of gay rights, but it took some of the most horrible things, for her to get to this point.

Highly recommended!

Google it: Prayers for Bobby torrent
(You should download "utorrent" before googling it).
Contact me, if you're having trouble downloading it.

[zeon]

Hello,
You can tell him that in life we are no different to any other kind of person and if god didnt want him to be this way he wouldnt have made him this way... He is perfect the way he is and if people cannot accept or understand it that is their problem and with regards to children he can always go down the adoption route to giving a child a loving home regardless of parenting i am sure there are loads of gay parents in your part of the world with adopted children. His mother will soon turn off the crocodile tears and realise her son is still her son he hasnt mutated or grown 20 eyes and foaming at the mouth... Depending upon what religion he is why not encourage him to contact support services for that perticular religion or join upto gayspeak to see there are loads of religious p[eople in life who are gay and can still practice relgion x

[hank]

God loves his people, no matter who they are.