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Ray G
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Ray commented on the article |While you may feel that you are hated by many churches, and by many people in the church, please know that you are not hated by all churches, and not by all people in churches. We're not all alike. I and the Christian church I attend openly welcome and respect all gay people as they are, unconditionally.
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Ray commented on the article |
Correct, in that the truth does not change. But I believe our human understanding of what the Bible means is always changing, and it has to. We have a relatively limited scope of understanding, bounded by the knowledge we have and the prejudices we bring to interpreting the world around us. As we become more educated, as we age, as we meet new people and face new challenges, as we (hopefully) overcome our short-comings, we have to re-learn what the Bible tells us.
Yes, I am gay, and yes I am a sinner, but I am not a sinner because I am gay. Yes, Christianity is about love. It is about loving people where they are, and what they are, not about condemning people because they are outside our limited frame of understanding.
Too many people here (perhaps myself included) are just spitting out what they believe, trying to quote the Bible to back themselves up, but are not truly listening and trying to understand what other people are saying; and questioning ourselves, and if what we believe is actually valid. The original article on which this all is based is about trying to interpret what the Bible is actually trying to say on this subject. We have to sometimes admit that we are wrong, that others' intepretations may have validity. Otherwise we might as well lock ourselves in the closet and stop trying to communicate altogether.
I'm going to sign off this page, as I'm tired of reading from people who blindly refuse to believe anything other than what they've clung onto for years, for fear of learning that the Bible may have something new to teach them.
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Ray commented on the article |
If you don't care to hear, then why take the time to read an article on religion, and respond with comments? Seems like you're going out of your way to hear about something you don't want to hear about.
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Ray commented on the article |
I am a gay man and belong to a wonderfully welcoming and accepting Methodist church. We do much to make our neighborhood and city (Wash DC) a better place to live for everyone. While other churches may have their issues, you can't say this about all churches. There is still much good that we contribute. Skeptics out there need to see that there are differences, that we're not all the same.
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Ray commented on the article |
Not true -- we do have something in US Constitution calling for freedom of religion, and prohibiting the government from supporting any religion. We also have something calling for freedom of speech, which protects the right of church-goers to voice their concerns wherever they want.
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Ray commented on the article |
and to add to my previous post - I'm all for equal rights in gay issues, and attend a gay-friendly church. But I also support the right of those who have different opinions -- I just hope one day we can sensible, oipen discussions and stop hitting each other with the Bible.
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Ray commented on the article |
For those who are not religious, this is fine if you don't need it outside churches & synagogues. I respect that. But for those of us who are, part of being religious is living out its principles in day-to-day life, wherever we are and through whatever we do. If we keep it only within the churches we attend, and not living it in our lives, then we're not really religious.
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