Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

There's a lot to unpack here but the short of it is I think you're grossly mistaken. First, to your last point, how is someone more gay or just a little gay? It's like being a little pregnant. Just because someone acts more flamboyant than someone else doesn't mean he is more attracted to men than the other guy.

To your how does someone become gay, this feeds into a misconception that has been used to dismiss natural feelings and identity of someone and demean women at the same time. Developmental means they were raised in a way that made them more likely to be gay or they were coddled by their mothers growing up. As for societal, you need to look no further than suicide rates among LGBTQ+ kids to see that isn't something they chose because people around them made it look cool. Society says you need to be a manly man. If anything, there are gay men who are fighting to show they are a real man and hiding their feelings. Heck, we have pray-the-gay-away and other psudoscientific treatments that are proven not to work. It's not a choice.

If you meant developmental as in they were predisposed to be gay because of hormones, doesn't that just prove they were born that way?

 

in the thoughts category, this is a very good thread, by the way.

 

If:

A. X is viewed as a sin

then

B. God - at least as it relates to Christianity- did not create it. It is a byproduct of the fall in Genesis.

May I submit there’s less profit in the discussion than it seems for non-Christians? As a Christian I can say this: We’ve done a poor job of singling out homosexuality and ignoring, say pornography or “Christian” men having multiple partners. The Hillsong pastor, for example.

I think that’s the real issue here. Christians fixating on that. They shouldn’t have. Sexual ethics in our faith is much broader than that.

 

I think we can all think what we think and we'll probably never know anything, and definitely not everything, for certain.

I do believe there are personal, developmental and societal factors and circumstances that can impact people's sexual orientation, and I do think there are possible degrees of homosexuality, or heterosexuality, for that matter. I believe there is the potential for acts of both by anyone, with a combination of preferences, predispositions and opportunities going a long way toward determining someone's identified orientation/lifestyle. It's similar to the concept of alcoholics' children being potentially more susceptible, themselves, to alcoholism, or the idea that, say, some women are more, or less, feminine than others.

I don't think either of those things can be argued, so why is it so impossible for, say, a heterosexual person to have ever had a homosexual thought, or desire, or even an opportunity -- in which they've even engaged, perhaps? It happens. And so does the opposite, I'm sure.

I don't pretend to know or understand this stuff in a definitive way, and I don't discount the possibility of being wrong, or way off base. But I'm pretty certain things are not necessarily so black and white as to always just be either/or, either.

Like others, I have some anecdotal evidence of cases that are pretty close to home that have influenced my thoughts on the matter. But I won't post details about them because they're personal, the people involved are young, and their futures are still in flux and to be determined.

I'm unwilling to ascribe anything to them that they, perhaps, haven't consciously realized, discussed -- or decided/permitted -- for themselves yet. Particularly when I might be wrong, or others may be, too.

 

Actually, these things can be argued. Just because you lack knowledge and understanding of the topic doesn't mean there aren't people who do have some understanding of sexuality.

You just compared homosexuality to alcoholism, which I'm sure a homosexual person would find offensive. That's the problem here. Your biases, which I'm sure are based in your religion, keep creeping into your thinking.

 

All things being equal, why does the bible have any thoughts on homosexuality at all?

 

"Jesus was gay" would be a great Broadway show. Or has it been done?

 

Many Christians and churches focus way to much on sex. in general, and sometimes largely ignore acts and thoughts that are condemned in the Bible. Rampant greed, the focus on one’s self over the benefit of society as a whole, lack of empathy and forgiveness, etc., are often barely given lip service when Christians and their organizations react or campaign for policy in the public sphere. Christ didn’t have all that much to say about gays, but open one of those old Bibles in which the words of Jesus are highlighted and you’ll find a whole lot of red ink imploring his followers to be kind and charitable.

We also don’t seem to understand that Christianity isn’t set in stone. It evolves. Slavery is an example of an issue that, during some eras, caused some churches to split in disagreement. Now, owning slaves and prejudice against race are almost universally rejected by Christian organizations. With time, gays might likely be considered in a much different light.

 

Gay Jesus (2015) - IMDb

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/netflix-backlash-gay-jesus-christmas-special

‘Gay Jesus’ Netflix Parody Sparks Censorship Battle in Brazil

 

That's the good stuff.

In all seriousness, was he/could he have been gay? Did Jesus get married? Have kids?

A wandering 33-year-old bachelor?

 

My understanding is that Jesus loved everyone.

 

Got me down the YouTube rabbit hole. Russell Brand would be a good choice for Gay Jesus.