Where's the love... Don't be offended

124

Replies

  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    I'm going to be honest, I didn't read all of it... I kind of get a little ADD like when there is a bunch of text and I honestly can't focus... but I think I get the gist of what you were saying and I believe that I agree with you...

    My personal belief is this... that yes, homosexuality is a sin... simply because God stated it as such in the old laws.... HOWEVER, that does not mean that I get to hate, judge, shun, otherwise not show love to a person who says they are gay... Why? Because I too am a sinner... I too have sin in my life... I am a glutton... I wouldn't be here if I weren't... I am slothful more often than not... again, I wouldn't be here if I weren't... The example that Christ showed was to NOT cast stones at those that sin, even if we are without sin... Just like I don't accept my own sins (again, if I did I wouldn't be here) I don't accept the sins of others as well... HOWEVER, I do tolerate them just like others tolerate mine... None of us is perfect, none of us is righteous... so what gives us the right to act in such a way. It is between God and the individual on the repentance of sin and since I am no where in that equation, I have no idea how far away or close to God someone is to make any sort of judgement on their life... and even if I were, I would have to be totally cleansed of my own sin before I could make any judgement on anyone else's.. for any reason.... and to be honest, that's probably not going to happen until after I have died and been judged by God.


    BTW: I loathe and dispise Westboro Baptist Church.... and am extremely glad that the SBC has choosen to not recognize them in the Convention.

    I am not disrespecting you or your religion, don't get me wrong.

    But the whole 'God condemning homosexuality thing' is a bit confusing to me. It's from a section of the bible that also condemns working on Sabbath and playing with the skin of a pig, yet nobody makes a fuss about those rules.

    This picture sums it up for me, really;

    facebook-smackdown.jpg

    Homosexuality is not only condemned in the Old Testament, it is also condemned in the New, outside of the book of Laws that few Christians follow. FYI.

    http://www.westarinstitute.org/Periodicals/4R_Articles/homosexuality.html

    I can pull up more links if you like.

    My point is... we all sin... we all have sin in our lives... and it's wrong for me (or anyone else) as a human being (and especially as a Christian) to judge and condemn others because of their sin. But we can get into the minute semantics all day long if you would like.
  • SkyMusic
    SkyMusic Posts: 43
    I'm bisexual.

    This is something it's taken my ages to come to terms with, and I was in denial for years. Raised Catholic Christian, I was terrified of what not being straight would mean. I went to an all girls Christian high school, and I was so afraid of myself. I fell in love with a girl in my sophomore year and she, being a lesbian, helped me accept that I was born this way. Once I accepted the fact that I was bi, I truly felt like myself. I started to become who I wanted to be.

    I completely respect that the Bible might say I'm a sinner. That's fine. But you know what? Religion has no place in our government; if you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay person. It's really not that hard. But do not infringe upon my rights and judge me for something that I didn't choose to be. And honestly it doesn't matter if you're lesbian, bi, gay, straight, trans, etc. Don't label yourself; love who you want to love. Do what you want to do, do who you want to do.

    I live in liberal California now and there's still always going to be people that think I'm gross and unnatural. But I don't care. There are so many awful things taking place in the world - wars, crimes, judgments, murders, inequality, etc. Too much love isn't hurting anyone. I think religious people that feel homosexuals are awful gross sinners would be better off applying their passions elsewhere.
  • Behl9
    Behl9 Posts: 95 Member
    great, great post! thank you for sharing :smile:
  • _Bob_
    _Bob_ Posts: 1,487 Member
    These posts are against the forum rules and will probably be deleted.
    Frankly, I've read this before and it's boring.
    Each to their own.

    Hmmm, I glanced at the rules and didn't see a problem with it. no worries
  • darkmouzy
    darkmouzy Posts: 227 Member
    Great post love this!
  • Behl9
    Behl9 Posts: 95 Member
    Too much love isn't hurting anyone.



    ^^Absolutely!!
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,271 Member
    I'm going to be honest, I didn't read all of it... I kind of get a little ADD like when there is a bunch of text and I honestly can't focus... but I think I get the gist of what you were saying and I believe that I agree with you...

    My personal belief is this... that yes, homosexuality is a sin... simply because God stated it as such in the old laws.... HOWEVER, that does not mean that I get to hate, judge, shun, otherwise not show love to a person who says they are gay... Why? Because I too am a sinner... I too have sin in my life... I am a glutton... I wouldn't be here if I weren't... I am slothful more often than not... again, I wouldn't be here if I weren't... The example that Christ showed was to NOT cast stones at those that sin, even if we are without sin... Just like I don't accept my own sins (again, if I did I wouldn't be here) I don't accept the sins of others as well... HOWEVER, I do tolerate them just like others tolerate mine... None of us is perfect, none of us is righteous... so what gives us the right to act in such a way. It is between God and the individual on the repentance of sin and since I am no where in that equation, I have no idea how far away or close to God someone is to make any sort of judgement on their life... and even if I were, I would have to be totally cleansed of my own sin before I could make any judgement on anyone else's.. for any reason.... and to be honest, that's probably not going to happen until after I have died and been judged by God.


    BTW: I loathe and dispise Westboro Baptist Church.... and am extremely glad that the SBC has choosen to not recognize them in the Convention.

    I am not disrespecting you or your religion, don't get me wrong.

    But the whole 'God condemning homosexuality thing' is a bit confusing to me. It's from a section of the bible that also condemns working on Sabbath and playing with the skin of a pig, yet nobody makes a fuss about those rules.

    This picture sums it up for me, really;

    facebook-smackdown.jpg

    Homosexuality is not only condemned in the Old Testament, it is also condemned in the New, outside of the book of Laws that few Christians follow. FYI.

    http://www.westarinstitute.org/Periodicals/4R_Articles/homosexuality.html

    I can pull up more links if you like.
    Here you go
    http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5301

    But like I said before Love and treat them like a brother
  • JanetLM73
    JanetLM73 Posts: 1,226 Member
    Love it!

    I was raised Catholic, I don't believe that religion belongs in the bedroom no matter what! Love is Love.

    Oh, and the Church wouldn't marry my husband and I because we had a 3 year old son, totally different topic, but again....religion doesn't belong in the bedroom!

    Thanks for posting it. And my daughter is named after my Aunt who is married to a very lovely lady :heart:
  • CarolineAndrus
    CarolineAndrus Posts: 8 Member
    So true. Why can't we all try our darnedest to live by The Golden Rule. Do unto others as we would have done unto ourselves.

    Well done.
  • misti17
    misti17 Posts: 106
    this is absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for posting this. I truly do try to live this way, obviously I mess up and I'm sure there are times I am hateful, but I have always beleived that its noones place to judge, only one man can judge and that is God. And yes, God wanted us to love EVERYONE, even our enemies. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever read. I have copied and posted it to a word doc to share with others, and I will put my arm around someone and show them love. I will try to do this more often. Thank you for this post.
  • amymrls
    amymrls Posts: 1,673 Member
    Thank you
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    For me, a Jew by birth and atheist by belief, the best part of threads like this is the opportunity to hear from Christians who ARE compassionate and kind and who DO strive to be actually "Christ-like". Usually the other kind are so much more vocal. So cheers and love to you guys!
  • Fairy_Farts
    Fairy_Farts Posts: 166 Member
    Loved it! Thanks for posting this, Bob.

    It's very insightful, inspiring, and touching.
  • JellyJaks
    JellyJaks Posts: 589 Member
    Thanks for posting. It had me in tears but if more people believed like this, the world would be a much better place.
  • MoreThanMommie
    MoreThanMommie Posts: 597 Member
    This whole piece brought me to tears
    it makes sense to me....I hope it makes just as much sense to others :flowerforyou:

    ^This. Except I bawled like a baby. :sad:

    Thank you for posting this. It's a amazing post.
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
    Jesus said: "He who is without sin may cast the first stone."

    Jesus also said: 'If you love me, keep my commandments."
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Here you go
    http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5301

    But like I said before Love and treat them like a brother

    The war of links! May the one with more saved information win. ;)
  • jplord
    jplord Posts: 510 Member
    Great post. You thought it through before hitting send. A loving gesture in and of itself!

    Same-sex love can be a stable committed relationship. Sttraight couples can make an ungodly mess out of multiple lives.

    Respect, civility, tolerance, and a sincere smile is a good start.

    Thanks Bob.
  • trinitylyons01
    trinitylyons01 Posts: 126 Member
    Bob, this was a great post. I have never understood why people can't agree to disagree and just learn to love PEOPLE regardless of their choices! A "lifestyle" is a person's private and personal choice. I do not believe in some things but I do believe everyone has a right to choose how they live and they should not be persecuted because of it. That goes for being gay, fat, a smoker, drug addict, ex-con, pretty, ugly etc.

    I could go on and on but the truth is you definitely nailed it in this post. The people in our world need to learn how to love. Period! I sincerely hope people will read this and realize the importance of what you have stated.

    Finally, as a Christian who tries to have Christ in my life and not just have religion, I will pray that Jacob will have people in his life who love him and are there for him. It breaks my heart that he is hurting so deeply. I will actually pray this pray for every type of person that was mentioned in this post as well as all the rest of us. No one is better than anyone else. But by the grace of God we could all be just like the ex-con, homeless guy/gal, drug addict etc.

    Thank you for re-posting this! I hope the message gets across!
  • threasarenee
    threasarenee Posts: 78 Member
    Thank you for sharing this message. I am a Christian, but I am accepting of those ppl whom have different faiths and lifestyles than me. I TRY not to judge others, though I must admit sometimes I do. I am a sinner...we all are. I have no problems what so ever with ppl that are gay, lesbian, bi, or that are jewish, muslim, catholic, ect. The ppl I usually end up judging are the murderers, the drug dealers, the homophobes, the racists, ect. I TRY not too, because as stated we are to love all others and judge no one. To original poster...thank you for writing this. I am glad that you were able to manage getting it written. I am sure it was very difficult.
  • trinitylyons01
    trinitylyons01 Posts: 126 Member
    Jesus said: "He who is without sin may cast the first stone."

    Jesus also said: 'If you love me, keep my commandments."

    Once again, the problem here is that people who break commandments, as this person is putting it, don't answer to you or me. They answer to God. Why do we take it upon ourselves to judge them when, as Christians, we believe that is God's job? People lie all the time, they dishonor their parents, take God's name in vain and break numerous other commandments but no one seems to really make a big deal about those. It's only the "BIG" sins that make us feel the need to speak out.

    In any event, the point here is that Christ shows love to all. If you look in the bible it was actually the religious fanatics (pharisees and saducees) that drew His criticism. He loved the "sinners" and spent time with them showing love and acceptance - not for their BEHAVIOR but because they are people.

    I am not God and I'm not trying to judge people as if I were. I can plainly say to someone, 'I don't agree with the gay lifestyle" and at the same time I can sit down and eat dinner with a gay man or woman and separate what they do from who they are. They are people just like me. Furthermore, for the Christians who think they need to point out every person's sins remember that Christ won souls with love not hate and He said, "He who is without sin let him cast the first stone".

    I honestly cannot understand why this point is so hard to grasp!
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    Here you go
    http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5301

    But like I said before Love and treat them like a brother

    The war of links! May the one with more saved information win. ;)

    LMAO, love this response! I do always say that one can find anything on Google to support their information.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    I'm going to be honest, I didn't read all of it... I kind of get a little ADD like when there is a bunch of text and I honestly can't focus... but I think I get the gist of what you were saying and I believe that I agree with you...

    My personal belief is this... that yes, homosexuality is a sin... simply because God stated it as such in the old laws.... HOWEVER, that does not mean that I get to hate, judge, shun, otherwise not show love to a person who says they are gay... Why? Because I too am a sinner... I too have sin in my life... I am a glutton... I wouldn't be here if I weren't... I am slothful more often than not... again, I wouldn't be here if I weren't... The example that Christ showed was to NOT cast stones at those that sin, even if we are without sin... Just like I don't accept my own sins (again, if I did I wouldn't be here) I don't accept the sins of others as well... HOWEVER, I do tolerate them just like others tolerate mine... None of us is perfect, none of us is righteous... so what gives us the right to act in such a way. It is between God and the individual on the repentance of sin and since I am no where in that equation, I have no idea how far away or close to God someone is to make any sort of judgement on their life... and even if I were, I would have to be totally cleansed of my own sin before I could make any judgement on anyone else's.. for any reason.... and to be honest, that's probably not going to happen until after I have died and been judged by God.


    BTW: I loathe and dispise Westboro Baptist Church.... and am extremely glad that the SBC has choosen to not recognize them in the Convention.

    I am not disrespecting you or your religion, don't get me wrong.

    But the whole 'God condemning homosexuality thing' is a bit confusing to me. It's from a section of the bible that also condemns working on Sabbath and playing with the skin of a pig, yet nobody makes a fuss about those rules.

    This picture sums it up for me, really;

    facebook-smackdown.jpg

    Homosexuality is not only condemned in the Old Testament, it is also condemned in the New, outside of the book of Laws that few Christians follow. FYI.

    http://www.westarinstitute.org/Periodicals/4R_Articles/homosexuality.html

    I can pull up more links if you like.

    My point is... we all sin... we all have sin in our lives... and it's wrong for me (or anyone else) as a human being (and especially as a Christian) to judge and condemn others because of their sin. But we can get into the minute semantics all day long if you would like.

    Oh, although I am atheist, I see where you're coming from! I wasn't singling you out, or anything. I'm not advocating getting into semantics, it's just my point is; if we're going to pick and choose what things are sinful enough to warrent affecting people's lives, we should at least point to all of them. Because, at the end of the day, in my mind at least, homosexuality is as sinful as women not covering their head.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    I'm going to be honest, I didn't read all of it... I kind of get a little ADD like when there is a bunch of text and I honestly can't focus... but I think I get the gist of what you were saying and I believe that I agree with you...

    My personal belief is this... that yes, homosexuality is a sin... simply because God stated it as such in the old laws.... HOWEVER, that does not mean that I get to hate, judge, shun, otherwise not show love to a person who says they are gay... Why? Because I too am a sinner... I too have sin in my life... I am a glutton... I wouldn't be here if I weren't... I am slothful more often than not... again, I wouldn't be here if I weren't... The example that Christ showed was to NOT cast stones at those that sin, even if we are without sin... Just like I don't accept my own sins (again, if I did I wouldn't be here) I don't accept the sins of others as well... HOWEVER, I do tolerate them just like others tolerate mine... None of us is perfect, none of us is righteous... so what gives us the right to act in such a way. It is between God and the individual on the repentance of sin and since I am no where in that equation, I have no idea how far away or close to God someone is to make any sort of judgement on their life... and even if I were, I would have to be totally cleansed of my own sin before I could make any judgement on anyone else's.. for any reason.... and to be honest, that's probably not going to happen until after I have died and been judged by God.


    BTW: I loathe and dispise Westboro Baptist Church.... and am extremely glad that the SBC has choosen to not recognize them in the Convention.

    I am not disrespecting you or your religion, don't get me wrong.

    But the whole 'God condemning homosexuality thing' is a bit confusing to me. It's from a section of the bible that also condemns working on Sabbath and playing with the skin of a pig, yet nobody makes a fuss about those rules.

    This picture sums it up for me, really;

    facebook-smackdown.jpg

    Homosexuality is not only condemned in the Old Testament, it is also condemned in the New, outside of the book of Laws that few Christians follow. FYI.

    http://www.westarinstitute.org/Periodicals/4R_Articles/homosexuality.html

    I can pull up more links if you like.
    Here you go
    http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5301

    But like I said before Love and treat them like a brother

    There are several points I would like to bring attention to in the article;

    E.G 1; 1) Many laws exist to keep you from doing what comes naturally. - laws are subjective. Many things are illegal, but not morally wrong to everyone. For example - it is illegal to get married when you're already married. One could argue that this is not morally wrong if all parties consent, yet it is illegal. Same goes for several other things.

    2) Paul is addressing this on a moral level, not a physiological level. - I can't say anything about this Paul guy, but again, morality is subjective. What is immoral about love?

    E.G 2; a) "Natural" is not determined by what you want sexually, but by how you function sexually.

    1. The body was built to function a specific way. - this is a bit of a non-argument. Some Christians argue that sex is for the purpose of procreating. Also, I mean, are our bodies built for oral sex? For finger play? No, but it's another area of sexuality that we explore, and nothing is wrong about it.

    2. Men were not built to function sexually with men. - says who, though? Unless the definition of being built for function includes pro-creation, because many women are born with fertility issues and can't pro-create.

    I like this link for a interp of the bible from a different perspective; http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/gay/long.htm

    I also like this link; http://www.extremelysmart.com/insight/mistaken/CTcontradictions.php
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    Thanks for sharing this! A very moving story.
  • rileamoyer
    rileamoyer Posts: 2,412 Member
    Mitakuye Oyasin (we are all related). Thank you
  • _Bob_
    _Bob_ Posts: 1,487 Member
    I'm going to be honest, I didn't read all of it... I kind of get a little ADD like when there is a bunch of text and I honestly can't focus... but I think I get the gist of what you were saying and I believe that I agree with you...

    My personal belief is this... that yes, homosexuality is a sin... simply because God stated it as such in the old laws.... HOWEVER, that does not mean that I get to hate, judge, shun, otherwise not show love to a person who says they are gay... Why? Because I too am a sinner... I too have sin in my life... I am a glutton... I wouldn't be here if I weren't... I am slothful more often than not... again, I wouldn't be here if I weren't... The example that Christ showed was to NOT cast stones at those that sin, even if we are without sin... Just like I don't accept my own sins (again, if I did I wouldn't be here) I don't accept the sins of others as well... HOWEVER, I do tolerate them just like others tolerate mine... None of us is perfect, none of us is righteous... so what gives us the right to act in such a way. It is between God and the individual on the repentance of sin and since I am no where in that equation, I have no idea how far away or close to God someone is to make any sort of judgement on their life... and even if I were, I would have to be totally cleansed of my own sin before I could make any judgement on anyone else's.. for any reason.... and to be honest, that's probably not going to happen until after I have died and been judged by God.


    BTW: I loathe and dispise Westboro Baptist Church.... and am extremely glad that the SBC has choosen to not recognize them in the Convention.

    I am not disrespecting you or your religion, don't get me wrong.

    But the whole 'God condemning homosexuality thing' is a bit confusing to me. It's from a section of the bible that also condemns working on Sabbath and playing with the skin of a pig, yet nobody makes a fuss about those rules.

    This picture sums it up for me, really;

    facebook-smackdown.jpg

    Homosexuality is not only condemned in the Old Testament, it is also condemned in the New, outside of the book of Laws that few Christians follow. FYI.

    http://www.westarinstitute.org/Periodicals/4R_Articles/homosexuality.html

    I can pull up more links if you like.

    My point is... we all sin... we all have sin in our lives... and it's wrong for me (or anyone else) as a human being (and especially as a Christian) to judge and condemn others because of their sin. But we can get into the minute semantics all day long if you would like.

    Oh, although I am atheist, I see where you're coming from! I wasn't singling you out, or anything. I'm not advocating getting into semantics, it's just my point is; if we're going to pick and choose what things are sinful enough to warrent affecting people's lives, we should at least point to all of them. Because, at the end of the day, in my mind at least, homosexuality is as sinful as women not covering their head.

    I can look past all the other stuff but women not covering your head.... now that's just wrong :tongue:
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
    I loved this, I feel it. At my old work, there was a lady I worked with that was bi-sexual, she was the most active religious person ever! She was in church choir, she was always saying uplifting things and had a smile on her face at all times, as she did charitable things for the community. I actually miss working with her, she was a awesome woman. Speaking of drugs, my favorite co-teacher, I ever worked with, great with the kids, always had new ideas and planning great activities and just poured her heart and soul into the classroom. Well, she's the biggest pot-head I ever met, outside of work.
    Personally I have never fit into a group/cliche, I've always had friends all over the place, in every stereo-type.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    Beautiful post, _Bob_. Very eloquent and thoughtful. I wish every bigot, especially those who claim religion, would read it. Thanks for sharing this.
  • Nu__Me
    Nu__Me Posts: 13
    You know, I always wondered why all these rules were not ALL a part of the commandments if they are all equally important...talk about confusing...

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