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12-29-2014, 03:27 PM

[MENTION=22158]XMaverick[/MENTION]

Great post. Yeah I grew up as a Christian and practiced it through university/school and it stopped me coming out of the closet for ages. And when I did come out sex was always tied in with guilt as well. Took me ages to get over the guilt thing.

Glad we both got through eventually ;-)

12-29-2014, 03:29 PM

Hiya man welcome to GaySpeak

12-29-2014, 03:33 PM

XMaverick Wrote:I had this long response typed out in response to you, but apparently I don't have enough posts to send you a PM. So, i'll put my experience here for all to see, not that I mind. : -P

Well, I should first mention that I was raised Christian and had strong Christian influences throughout my life. Ever since I was very young, i've always been very keen to the fact that I was attracted to others; especially to other boys. But as you could imagine, my beliefs had me fight against this tooth and nail.

Long story short, I spent my late teen years praying for something to change. I'm sure many of you have heard of praying the gay away. Anyway, that didn't work. After learning of the experiences of a gay friend of mine, I came to the conclusion I was going about this all wrong.

And so, I immersed myself in a ton of study. After I came through it, I was more confident in myself and I accepted the fact I was gay. Accepting this had more benefits than one would think. Many Christians would say to me that I sought to justify my "immoral lifestyle."

That wasn't it at all. I didn't justify anything; it was my faith that justified my sexuality.

This was the gist of it, but I could add many more details to my experience. This was supposed to be a minor introductory topic, but it seems i've added far more about myself than I thought I would lol.

I should add that I was going to wait until I had ten posts to respond to my fellow poster Zero, but I didn't want to post any nonsense just to hurry and get to ten. I also wanted to respond to Zero as soon as possible, and so, I just posted it here.

If there are any Christian gays here that still have this guilt pertaining to their sexuality, I would love to help in having you overcome any self condemnation. It can be very tough growing up around people that use their own biases as the basis for their vehemence toward something that just cant be changed.

Anyway, I don't want to ramble on. As I said before, thanks for having me, GS. : -)

I commend my friend Justin Lee's organization the Gay Christian Network to find additional folks dealing with these feelings and a theological counter to them. I "escaped" Roman Catholicism (was actually thrown out) when I was in college and landed in a more progressive denomination more than a decade later. I was too angry to feel guilty, but I understand where you're coming from.

12-29-2014, 04:08 PM

ck86 Wrote:[MENTION=22158]XMaverick[/MENTION]

Great post. Yeah I grew up as a Christian and practiced it through university/school and it stopped me coming out of the closet for ages. And when I did come out sex was always tied in with guilt as well. Took me ages to get over the guilt thing.

Glad we both got through eventually ;-)

Thanks for your comment, CK. You're handsome, by the way; if you don't mind me saying. : -P

12-29-2014, 04:09 PM

ShiftyNJ Wrote:Hiya man welcome to GaySpeak

Thank you for your input as well, Shifty. It is more than admirable that there are those who come from similar backgrounds and desire to help others. I should check the place out.

12-29-2014, 05:08 PM

XMaverick Wrote:Thanks for your comment, CK. You're handsome, by the way; if you don't mind me saying. : -P

Haha I don't mind, thanks for the compliment Smile

Maverick · 12-29-2014, 07:35 PM

Welcome xMaverick, a lot of great people here at GS so if you have questions, ask away. I totally understand your struggles with being a Christian and trying to "pray away" the gay feelings, glad you've worked through that and have accepted yourself. That is a huge part of the journey...

12-29-2014, 07:41 PM

Maverick Wrote:Welcome xMaverick, a lot of great people here at GS so if you have questions, ask away. I totally understand your struggles with being a Christian and trying to "pray away" the gay feelings, glad you've worked through that and have accepted yourself. That is a huge part of the journey...

That it was, thanks. :-)

I see you call yourself Maverick as well, haha, interesting. I guess there are two now.

12-29-2014, 09:44 PM

Welcome

LJay · 12-29-2014, 11:13 PM

Welcome here. This is a thoughtful crowd and you will find lots of guys to act as sounding boards.

I do want to remind us all that Christianity is not a monolith. There are many paths within it and not all of them are set on condemning. It is easy to base your opinions on buzzwords and headlines. That is not always wise. The church and the people in it have much to consider about the influence they yield. Not all of it is good. Not at all.