tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post7430934581880526473..comments2024-03-05T23:31:44.106-08:00Comments on Gay Family Values: Like David and GoliathGFVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02950236433262366445noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-20805471304510262962013-04-15T00:37:56.087-07:002013-04-15T00:37:56.087-07:00The Rt Revd Gene Robinson says that it is easier t...The Rt Revd Gene Robinson says that it is easier to come out as a gay among Christians than it is to come out as a Christian among gays. <br /><br />Thank you for having come out as Christians in our midst! So have the Gentiles, slaves, women and others long before the LGBT.Georgehttp://www.geocolas.be/Georgesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-71926372040831839292013-04-10T12:53:39.717-07:002013-04-10T12:53:39.717-07:00You are not a christian. Christianity is a lifesty...You are not a christian. Christianity is a lifestyle not a title.Alison Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01402184571127756078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-44678201420974717792013-04-03T10:58:07.933-07:002013-04-03T10:58:07.933-07:00An interesting tid bit, the Stanford prison study ...An interesting tid bit, the Stanford prison study had to be called off within 2 weeks because it very quickly stepped passed ethical allowance and some students involved had some last longer lasting issues as a result. The devolution that occurs can be rather quick.steeldragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13726804816418609288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-85904639352737406952013-04-03T00:15:35.459-07:002013-04-03T00:15:35.459-07:00" When a person who feels a connection with G..." When a person who feels a connection with God is told they are unacceptable and don't belong, it leaves a hole and is just plain wrong."<br /><br />Dear Whitmansspider,<br /><br />Yes, and the result of that kind of religious rejection can lead to suicide. There is nothing more damaging than a person feeling rejected by God. This is for all those who never had a voice and to all those who had to suffer in silence for being LGBT.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-59551849046523737482013-04-02T17:30:48.991-07:002013-04-02T17:30:48.991-07:00What boggles my mind is in the New Testament, the ...What boggles my mind is in the New Testament, the "bad guys" in the story of Jesus are the Pharisees--the people who had rigid laws about what was okay and what was not, who decided who was "in" and who was pure. Jesus, on the other hand, was opening the door wide and affirming the intrinsic value in everyone. When the religious right use terms like "abomination" and make outrageous claims about gay people, I simply can't understand how they don't see the connection--lists of rules, acceptable/unacceptable, and the hubris to think that their judgment is on par with God. <br /><br />I'm actually a very religious person. To address Jennifer's point: Not all American churches are crazy! What Anonymous said is dead on. The only call I've felt for evangelism (I'm a straight ally) is to help alienated LGBT people know that whatever message they received from their church, there IS a place for them at the table and that orientation has no bearing on the situation. When a person who feels connection with God is told they are unacceptable and don't belong, it leaves a hole and is just plain wrong.<br />Whitmansspidernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-78509320248161635442013-04-01T11:51:30.856-07:002013-04-01T11:51:30.856-07:00Thank you , dear boy.
I am so grateful you addres...Thank you , dear boy.<br /><br />I am so grateful you addressed this topic. You have demonstrated such courage on this blog.<br /><br />I have seen first hand how destructive family and religious rejection can be to LGBT youth and adults. I believe the combination cab be lethal is the highest cause of suicide in LGBT people. This combination almost destroyed me.<br /><br />Regardless, I now believe that God is all about unconditional Love. This unconditional love includes equally gay and straight people. I fought my way back to establishing a relationship with God regardless of being gay.<br /><br />Two major support systems for a person are the family and God. Imagine feeling condemed by both for something you did not choose and for something as beautiful as loving another person.<br /><br />My prayer is for the LGBT community to know they are loved by God. The term "abomination" in the Bible simply mean't that it was against the culture at the time just like eating shell fish is against the jewish culture in the Bible.<br /><br />We are on the right side of history and love is ever with us.<br /><br />Bryan, thank you for this. Continue to keep God first place in your heart. I feel it in you. He will continue to guide you and protect you as you use this website as a force for good.<br /><br />Truth, Wisdom, Love and Sincerity, to ALL mankind.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-53800392810249628882013-04-01T00:22:00.172-07:002013-04-01T00:22:00.172-07:00Every day I thank my parents for raising me comple...Every day I thank my parents for raising me completely without religion.TomTallishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02910974784601787734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-3031135730175545472013-03-31T18:59:42.295-07:002013-03-31T18:59:42.295-07:00Awesome post!! God bless u!!Awesome post!! God bless u!!Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12017065592822268797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-51032122275301657582013-03-31T18:57:50.868-07:002013-03-31T18:57:50.868-07:00I forgot to mention in my post I know a gay couple...I forgot to mention in my post I know a gay couple that live in a town about 3 hours from me and they adopted a baby boy a few months ago. They attend the Salvation Army with him on a regular basis in fact one of the guys his dad is a Salvation Army Pastor and did the baby Christening/baptism. So I dont know what is wrong with the so-called religious right wingers in the US but here in Canada we accept people in our churches for who they are at least thats the case for the churches I know of. So yes it is very possible to have faith in God and be gay. I know of a family that are living proof of that :)Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12017065592822268797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-45842274182204540042013-03-31T08:59:53.898-07:002013-03-31T08:59:53.898-07:00I really enjoyed reading this post and think that ...I really enjoyed reading this post and think that you put things quite well. I know for my self I am spiritual and consider my self a Christian even though I do not attended a church (there is just to much baggage for me to get past to do that again, even though it is something I do miss at times)<br /><br />My self before I finally had to accept my self as gay I fought it tooth and nail, I prayed I begged god I did everything I could not to be gay ans i did not work I still had the same feelings and attractions. It left me feeling like I had failed god and that I had lost his love and was damned to hell and that I could not change that<br />It took what I thought was walking away from my faith completely in order for good to allow my self to accept that I was gay and that there was nothing I could to to change that, that it was how god created me, and that it was no mistake. It was also that period that strengthened my faith and allowed me to see that god had never stopped loving me at all, and that he had been by my side the entire time guiding me down my path. After that there is no doubt that god has been at my side no matter what even during my darkest times, lighting my path and even carrying me along it at times.<br /><br />So whale many outside and even inside the gay community say that you cant be gay and have faith, I know for myself that that is not true and that you can have faith ans a robust relationship with good. On that have a blessed EasteraNorthWestViewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03598507140332496283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-73585960741068320742013-03-30T21:19:19.890-07:002013-03-30T21:19:19.890-07:00Wow...I am blown away and humbled by all of you Ch...Wow...I am blown away and humbled by all of you Chris, Jennifer, and Greg. I actually teared up reading your comments. And Ryan...I had not thought of it in such a way but don't think I honestly could have put it better.../Jedi Mind Meld :)<br />BryanGFVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02950236433262366445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-74163026996050295152013-03-30T19:58:43.745-07:002013-03-30T19:58:43.745-07:00Thanks Bryan. You inspired me to write a little bi...Thanks Bryan. You inspired me to write a little bit of my 2 cents.<br /><br />Bryan focused on WHY religion targeted gay people. But Sometimes I am baffled by HOW can human beings treat each other in such a harmful way solely in the name of “faith”. I tried to find the answer by looking into the scientific studies of social and moral psychology.<br /><br />Adolf Eichmann was a German Nazi and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust. On Eichmann's trial, several psychiatrists concluded that Eichmann was NOT a manifest psychopath, but a normal person with a normal childhood and a socially and professionally successful young adulthood. It turns out even the most ordinary of people can commit horrendous crimes if placed in certain situations and given certain incentives.<br /><br />How can that be I wondered? I could never imagine I could have done such a thing.<br /><br />Couple books later, I came across some interesting experiments. First, the Asch Experiment. This Experiment showed us that we need to live in a shared, consensual world. We are disturbed when others challenge the consensus (blind followers). Second, the Milgram Experiment. This Experiment showed that normal people would do horrendous things as long as an authority shields us from accountability (the Pope?). Third, the Stanford Prison Study. This Study demonstrated the impressionability and obedience of people when provided with a legitimizing ideology and social and institutional support.<br /><br />To sum up the 3 experiments: when we people have no skin in the game, we usually turn to our default social behavior – conform to the norm (or some biblical ideology), no matter how inhuman it is.<br /><br />I doubt that Rob Portman would ever reverse his stance on same-sex marriage if he doesn’t have a gay son. Saxby Chambliss said that “I'm not gay. So I'm not going to marry one.” (This quote always makes me snicker for some reason.)<br /><br />I have to say that Harvey Milk was a genius for initiating the breaking of this conformity to view the LGBT community as “the enemy”. When more and more people came out of the closet, we let the world see that we are just normal human beings who happen to be attracted to the same sex. We are your family, your friends, your classmates, your coworkers and your neighbors. They now have skin in the game and will eventually come to realize it is utter ridiculous to take away our basic human rights (to love, to marry, to work, and to live).<br /><br />I just hope I live to see one day Churches would treat homosexuality the same as shaving, eating lobsters, wearing cotton blends… The depfox channel would no long called “Gay Family Values”… just “Family Values”… because gay families are just as normal and boring as any other (no one would ever call their YouTube channel “Blonde Family Values” or “Blue Eyes Family Values” right?). We can finally live in a world that sexual orientation is no long an issue we need to make a big fuss about… like the color of our eyes, hair and skin… <br /><br />One can only dream, right? Jedi Mind Meld<br /><br />RyanRyan Shaunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11396127951614205845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-17623334634784292142013-03-30T19:47:09.808-07:002013-03-30T19:47:09.808-07:00Thanks so very much for this. It has encouraged me...Thanks so very much for this. It has encouraged me greatly to read these words. I have not been to Church for a about a year because my church is openly hostile to the LGBT community. It is a Pentecostal denomination and many times i have heard the pastor preach that gays need to be executed like the Old Testament Law prescribed. I heard that I was an abomination to God and was going to Hell. I lived in fear and guilt. I prayed and cried and begged God to deliver me from my same-sex attraction but He never did. I would repent of it every day and then fall right afterward and then begin the whole over again. I hated myself and lived under tremendous guilt and then finally stopped attending church. I did not feel wanted there. I felt as if i was on the outside looking in all the time. But, I kept praying and seeking the Lord. Then one day I found a book titled TORN by Justin Lee. I read this book and it spoke to me. I realized that i had to accept me as a gay man because God created me like this and He accepted me also. It brought such joy to my heart. I had peace now where I once had guilt and fear. This, I believe, God used to finally set me free. I was free not from homosexuality but free to be myself. Now I have come out of the Closet to my friends and most of my family and unlike many I have not met any resistance but rather only love and acceptance.Jesus is so good and loves us so much. I am so glad that He died for me, the chief of sinners. I am thankful that He led me to read the book, TORN, and I am also thankful that He led me to Gay Family Values. As I have told you before you guys are a great inspiration to me. You have helped me with coming out and with learning about myself as a gay man. I love you guys and please keep up the fight. Happy Resurrection Sunday!<br />Greg Leenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-11718564410559827122013-03-30T18:49:36.358-07:002013-03-30T18:49:36.358-07:00Thanks for posting this blog. As a Christian I bel...Thanks for posting this blog. As a Christian I believe and have for a long time now, that people get so caught up in the dos and don'ts of 'religion' they loose sight of the fact that being a Christian is not about a religion is a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ. The thing we often overlook as well is that no where in the bible does Jesus actually say homosexuality is a sin. That comes from Paul's writings and well if you left it to Paul no one would even marry as he for the most part figured a person was better off single. If we read John 3:16 it says that God loved the world and sent His only Son so that WHOEVER believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. No where does it say excluding gays. It is up to each of us to make the choice on believing in Jesus or not and I am not about to judge anyone else's relationship with God because we are all human we all fail and make mistakes. Sorry if this has been too preachy but basically what I am trying to say is, read through the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Start with John and you will see Jesus didnt come to condemn people, He didnt come to form a religion. His purpose was the bridge the gap to show us the way to God. And ANYONE - gay or straight is included in that. <br />Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12017065592822268797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587902609826926070.post-4008020143705583362013-03-30T18:45:39.876-07:002013-03-30T18:45:39.876-07:00The funny thing is that Christ´s biggest lesson wa...The funny thing is that Christ´s biggest lesson was love - above everything and everyone else. And how successful they turned christianism to hate and eternal disapproval. If that´s not a sin.... anyway, Happy Easter to your beautiful family, And that the God that is all about love and understanding may bless you now and always. ;)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13306829579178628286noreply@blogger.com