I'm on a mission, not to save you, but to selfishly get gay guys in my church.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I had such a deep and profound faith in the Church in my 20's - so deep and profound I got myself a collar and almost became a St Franciscan Friar.

Fortuntaly I woke up and my faith in the Church was crushed. Which is when I got a Faith in God and I was never the same afterward.

The only reason why the Anglican Church, the Methodist Church and all of these other old, tired institutions of faith are changing their tune in this 21st century to accept homosexuals is because in 1990 (When I got my D. Min) the median age of the attending parishioners was 28. In 2010 it was on the order of 49.

Sure the laity may be more accepting on one level or another, however the Church Authorities, those who actually hold the power of the Church you are praising, actually hate your guts and only accept your brand of sin because you have money to put in the plate when it is passed.

How do I know this, because I spent well over 20 years arguing the case for God Loves Fags, pulling my years of seminary and bible study into the argument with those who staunchly held on to Doctrine which is what the real church clings to. Doctrine, if you are not aware, is man's intepretation of the Word, not the Word itself.

They, Church Authorities did not succumb to reason and The Word, they succumbed because they saw a loss in income and the Alimighty Dollah is what decides Church Doctrine in the end.

I have hundreds if not thousands of letters from members of the Church Authority from the USA to the UK that tells me exactly what it is they think about you, me and every other LGBT person on earth.

Until such time as that Authority releases its media based apology to LGBT around the world (and others it has hated over the centuries) and until such time it actually admits that its internal doctrine has little to do with the Word of God and a lot to do with controling the masses, then I am not going to be a member of that organization in any capacity.

I know its modern history very well, and Google and the Wikipedia lies. Sorry.

[southbiochem]

Sorry LOL SB... for me religion is a mind controlling doctrine and I really will not let anyone go blindly to the dark side without truly knowing in what galeria they getting themselves into.

You are talking to a scientist, Jake, you can conclude from that what my views on religion are.

I still however think that it would be better for this thread and any other similar to be ignored and just that

just let it die

[HumbleTangerine]

There are a lot of things to sort of question here but I only have one thing I'll bother to ask. Not to be obnoxious or whatever but because I'm genuinely curious.

You said "If you'd like to try Christianity again". Is Christianity something you TRY? Shouldn't it be based on the personal faith in a God as the Christian doctrine describes him? You make it sound like people should join religions that somehow seem to match their idea of something fun and meaningful to do on a Sunday rather than actually believing in the doctrine.

If you believe in the Christian God and join a Christian church that bashes your homosexuality you don't QUIT christianity. After all, you still believe in the most fundamental part of the Christian doctrine. If you leave the church because of its homophobia and re-join the same church (once the homophobia's gone away) or some other similar church that's more accepting isn't that basically saying "So yeah, I stopped being a Christian because the church was so homophobic but now that this other church is more accepting I'm ready to try out the whole believing in God thing again".

I don't see what any of this has got to do with faith.

[Jake]

You are talking to a scientist, Jake, you can conclude from that what my views on religion are.

I still however think that it would be better for this thread and any other similar to be ignored and just that

just let it die

I know SB I am also a scientist... I'm also very versed in religion as it was one of my main subject in my Anthropology Master Degree... I'm sorry but I couldn't resit... Frosty sent me that link... blame her hahahaha... if she hadn't it would have just went through without acknowledgment... but hey who the fuck cares about me anyway on this forum... i'm just enliving it... they can keep on believing I'm an idiotic clown lol.

[mbennet35]

I believe in God. Don't go to church or anything but I read the Bible and pray. Its what makes me who I am. and I am proud of that.

[Jake]

You are talking to a scientist, Jake, you can conclude from that what my views on religion are.

I still however think that it would be better for this thread and any other similar to be ignored and just that

just let it die

I will follow your advice as a fellow scientist... this was my last post in here Anyway me and god have a personal battle that will end only when I die... and I have quite some years to go on.

[Pix]

I like the Unitarians, but I don't consider them Christian. The one I went to for awhile had Christians but also Hindus, shamans, Wiccans, Buddhists, Taoists, Ignostics, and others. I visited with the pagans.

I'm of mixed feelings about telling those who have been religiously abused to go. Some who find the better Christians make peace with all their internal demons and outgrow the bigotry instilled in them while others instead need more of a clean break and all going to a "gay friendly church" does is keep them on the edge so every time there's a thunderstorm that frightens them they go back to the more stern, hateful Jesus they were raised with (I heard of one so bad that he'd burn all his CDs and stuff every time he "ran back to God" only to then go buy them again once he snapped out of it). But OTOH, the Unitarians include Christians rather than being Christian.

I consider myself lucky (as in dodging a bullet) for not having been raised Christian at all...and given that was in Texas with many years in the rural East Texas Bible Belt that's like winning the lottery! My grandmother is a cool Christian (even if she thinks it's unfortunate I'm gay), however, but then there isn't a single church around her she feels comfortable in and believes what Jesus once said to "hypocrites and Pharisees" now apply to most churches.

I think if I were to join a religion it would be Wicca. It makes the most sense to me and the people within it tend to have the best sense of humor as well as the most accepting to homosexuality. And then for gay men specifically are the radical faeries.

[Joshular]

I think it's nice that you have a good faith. Faith can save people... But it can ruin them too. I personally think organized religon is stupid.
I'm an athiest so yeah. WLCOME TO GAYSPEAK!

[partis]

Ive often thought what it would be like to have a religion, if i really believed it would probably give me comfort and sense of peace. But i know it would be a lie.

I have no interest in your lie… not that i dont believe in god cause i do.

[VileKyle]

This popcorn tastes funny