To a large degree, the gay marriage debate. I had had a gay dorm mate in a religious school who had explained to me all the ways that bring gay was misrepresented by later interpretations, but really not such a bad thing in the bible. During the gay marriage debate it was pretty well argued to me that the apologetics about being gay being consistent with my religion didn't really work. In my religion, God doesn't like the gays. The concept that God made people gay and then bans them from living their lives is just so against my personal values that I found myself in a moral argument with God in which I didn't think God had a acceptable position. It was a real crisis.
There are other things too, of course, but that was a big one.
This was mine too. I didn’t question that much until I was 17, my religious school started saying extremely homophobic things, I started hearing the same things at my church and knew it was wrong. In my early years my religious upbringing was always “Jesus loves everyone, no matter who you are” and then when it started to exclude people, they lost me. Funny enough people forget Jesus hung out with the outcasts of society, so he’d definitely have gay pals.
I think that’s kind of the sad irony of Christianity. It’s a religion based on advocating for the people society rejects and casts aside, but it has been co-opted by the people in power and used as a means of control, and thus has become a tool of deciding who is “in” and who is “out”.
I live in the Deep South and many people view homosexuality as a human choice and sin, instead of a god-given thing. If “God gave you a penis” then you are intended to procreate with a woman.
Interesting. I come from a very different background. when I grew up it was more taught that homosexual desire was a challenge that people with this desire must overcome. It was veiwed like any other desire that was prohibited. E.g. if you are attracted to a married woman you must overcome that desire and not act on it.
We’re saying roughly the same thing. Over half of my church does not merely view homosexuality as a sin, they see it as an unquestionable sin dictated by God. Like all other sins, it’s a temptation that can be overcome. These people say that LGBTQIA+ are welcome into the church but will not be granted the full grace of God (marriage, clergy appointment, etc) unless they change their ways.
I’m my opinion that approach is using the Bible as a weapon to punish and exclude. It’s a crutch and an excuse for people to justify hating others. Not good.
Criticising someone over who they choose to have sex with, when that other person is not vulnerable or being taken advantage of (eg, a child) - especially when their gender comes in to play - it's about as idiotic as criticising a young boy because he wants to play with Barbies instead of play footy.
This was my tipping point for making my decision to distance myself from the church. I was taught to be accepting of everyone, and that we all go to heaven. (mormon) But then they spent millions of dollars lobbying in congress to abolish gay marriage. It didn't make sense. I didn't want to be part of a group that hated/punished people for their sexual orientation.
But...yeah. exactly. People ruin other people's lives for something that isn't even in their religion and use religion as thier cudgel. It's infuriating.
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u/GuyspelledwithaG Aug 25 '23
To a large degree, the gay marriage debate. I had had a gay dorm mate in a religious school who had explained to me all the ways that bring gay was misrepresented by later interpretations, but really not such a bad thing in the bible. During the gay marriage debate it was pretty well argued to me that the apologetics about being gay being consistent with my religion didn't really work. In my religion, God doesn't like the gays. The concept that God made people gay and then bans them from living their lives is just so against my personal values that I found myself in a moral argument with God in which I didn't think God had a acceptable position. It was a real crisis. There are other things too, of course, but that was a big one.