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 Unaccepting Christians 
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Why is it that the typical Christian believes that homosexuals, bisexuals, and ect. are all doomed? Wasn't it Jesus who said to love EVERYBODY and ANYONE can be redeemed through HIM? Dr. King (a big time Christian) believed that homosexuals should have the same oppurtunities as everyone else. So why is it that so many who claim to be Christian believe otherwise?

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Anna Kate Shook
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Thu Mar 02, 2006 10:28 am
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I've been having an ongoing discussion of stuff like this with some of my friends. We started out trying to figure out why religions are the cause of most of the world's problems, and what we've found is this. People simply use religion as an excuse. Most "professing Christians" simply attend church cause that is what Mom and Dad did and never really give any thought to what is being said. People, for the most part, have always and will always (there are exceptions to the rule, however) be out for themselves. If being a Christian means they do not have to be beneath someone else and can proclaim themselves better than others, then by golly, they'll be Christian. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Vlad the Impaler (Transylvania's Dracula king) went to the Eastern Orthodox church every service, and participated in Mass. Interesting huh?

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-Adam Warren

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Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:57 pm
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I agree with both of you. It really bothers me when I hear so called "christians" put down people because of their sexual orientation. Some of these people show up in church on sunday & judge others when what they have been doing all week is not very christian. This is some not all people. And, I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I feel like everyone deserves the same rights, including homosexuals.

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Samantha McCrary


Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:30 pm
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"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." ~Adolf Hitler

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-Rodney Woods

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Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:23 am
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Anyone can justify their actions or beliefs, making others believe it is another story.

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Scott Shannon


Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:53 pm
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I am very sorry that many of you have had negative experiences with people claiming Christianity. I went to church when I was young, but it wasn't until much later in life that I discovered the truth about Christ for myself, and became a Christian. God does not want us to condemn others, but instead to love one another. 1 John 3: 16 says "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." We are called to love God, obey His commands, and the number one command is to love. Christians view homosexuality just like other sexual acts out of marriage. Man and woman were created to become one in a sacred union. Therefore, we believe that any form of sex is meant to be between one man and one woman in marriage. The Bible teaches us to separate people from their actions, no matter what they may be. In other words, you can love someone without agreeing with their choices. No one can truly claim Jesus Christ as their Savior and not love all people. This does not mean that Christians are perfect or percieve themselves to be better than anyone else. My goal in life is to love God, and love all people because of that love.

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Kelly Allen


Mon Mar 06, 2006 11:50 pm
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That's the thing though. People are given a bad view of Christianity. I am a Christian myself, but I must realize that many of my fellow "Christians" are only in the religion to get the free ride to Heaven and often don't live the life. It's tough to say that about my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but you must have seen it in your church. If not, then tell where your church is and I'll start going there.

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-Adam Warren

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Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:05 am
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Somebody once told me that "Salvation is more than a get out of Hell free card." Its about a transformation of your entire life. When you get right down too it, its not about what church you go to, but its about a relationship with God & how we live our lives to glorify that relationship. The church is supposed to serve as a place of humble fellowship & worship. It breaks my heart that Christianity is often portrayed in a bad light because of misplaced attitudes of condemnation. I am fortunate to go to a church where the truth is preached and the main goal is to serve God. The ultimate test is to not simply agree with everything preached, but to study the Bible and make sure that the message is consistent with God's Word. Actively seek out the truth, and it will be revealed.

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Kelly Allen


Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:23 pm
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i'm just instigating but, the "typical Christian" believes that homosexuality is a sin and an "abomination" because it says so in the Bible. The Bible is the doctrine of the Christian belief therefore they are just going on the word. I believe all people can have salvation through Christ regardless of sexual orientation. and knowone is perfect, saved or not. our lives can be changed but sin is just part of the human condition, sorry.

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Teresa Holden


Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:41 pm
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I took a Bible course at a school in TN my freshman year and the man teaching was a respected Bible scholar who knew both Greek and Hebrew and was able to teach us a truer meaning of the Bible. He told us that the passage that says that a rich man trying to get into heaven is like trying to put a camel through the eye of needle was probably misinterpreted. The word for camel is very similar to the word for a coarse thread. Taken in that meaning, the passage means that a rich man can make it to heaven with some effort. He also explained to us that the passage about homosexuality wasn't referring to a relationship of the same gender but a relationship of an imbalanced power....namely, an older man and a young boy. So if you take that passage as a message against a dominating relationship, it takes on a whole different meaning. I know many people may not agree with me and take offense to this but I have to say, did God himself right the Bible? No. Men did and manipulated it to their own wishes. I believe Christians should take the Bible's message of love and forgiveness as a whole and not nitpick about individual passages.

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Laurie Tate


Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:08 pm
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As always, the interpretation of the text is able to be turned in favor of either side of the argument


Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:49 am
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See that's the problem, everyone has a different interpretation and no one knows the real truth. I'm the kind of person who needs solid proof, and I think if Christians are the kind people they are made out to be they would be more accepting. But that's another argument in itself...

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Nicole Stack

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Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:02 pm
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I think Kelly said it best, but there are a few things that I want to add.

Christianity was not meant to be a method for global or societal unity. The doctrine of Jesus Christ immediately excludes large populations of people, and that's a hard pill to swallow for everyone. Not that those excluded people are forbidden from being saved, but rather because they are turned off to the strict guidelines.

Christians are then put in a difficult situation because society hates them for having beliefs that condemn more than half the world, but they are scared of ignoring what they have heard. Because of that, Christians basically have three choices. One, they can hold to the words in the Bible and live by them. Two, they can compromise the words and mold them into something that's just a little easier to live with. Or Three, they can completely reject the doctrine.

Another difficult part of being a Christian is the issue of "judging". Nowhere in the Bible does it plainly say, "DO NOT JUDGE." There are passages that say, "Judge not, lest you be judged" and "When you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will not escape the judgment of God." Because the Bible was written to Christians, it is meant that Christians should only judge themselves and those in their church, never the world. If I saw a friend of mine, that I know is a believer, doing something that he shouldn't, I'll kindly talk to him about it, as I would hope he would do for me.

I think the big miscommunication comes when Christians take that judgment and turn it on those that are outside the church community. They say the number one reason for Atheists is Christians.

With that said, I have gay friends. I've got lots of friends who do things I wouldn't be caught dead doing, and they know that. But they are still my friends because I don't hold that over their head. There is a great deal of tact involved with letting people know what you believe without doing so in a manner that directly compares it to what they believe. Do I think what they are doing is wrong, yes. Do I think they will go to hell for it, yes. But if every Christian were to turn up his or her nose at the sin of the world, then there would be no one to spread the word. Maybe my friends will change, maybe they won't. But I will be there regardless, showing the love that I am obligated, and eager, to show.


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He also explained to us that the passage about homosexuality wasn't referring to a relationship of the same gender but a relationship of an imbalanced power....namely, an older man and a young boy


Let me quote directly from Romans 1:26-28

"For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

I fail to understand how that could be interpreted any other way.

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Danny Jugan

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Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:22 am
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someone touched on this in our last class meeting, "hate the sin, love the sinner" to me this is almost just as bad as hating the sinner.

you are not what you do, clearly but what you do, does however help mold and form who you are. it doesnt define you. so if you hate something that someone else does, you are in part hating a part of them. when you hate something that someone else does it is very natural to think that what you do in place of what they do is better than what they do and that leads to an underlying feeling that you are better than they are.

example. you have a friend who smokes/drinks lalala, you dont smoke/drink lalala...you dont like smoking/drinking lalala, you hate it, you wont do it. you want them to quit smoking/drinking...why do you want them to quit? because you think it's wrong, and bad and a SIN? you hate how they smoke and drink and for most people who do not participate in those activities, they dont like to be around the people who do, when they are doing them.

christians constantly talk about "saving" their friends, reaching out to people, being the "light of the world".

are all people who do not follow the mainstream lifestyle of christianity in need of help?

the Bible can be taken in a million different ways depending on context, depending on what enlightenment you are seeking at the time...if i am debating on whether or not drinking alcohol is a sin i can look for it and find answers for both arguments. just as there is no one way to learn, no one way to sing, no one way to dance, no one way to live, there is also no one way to interpret the Bible...and people who feel as though theyve got it all figured out and know exactly what Christ meant by whatever He said and what God was trying to imply...they need the "saving" more than anybody in the world.

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rebecca brown

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Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:50 pm
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Quote:
you are not what you do, clearly but what you do, does however help mold and form who you are. it doesnt define you. so if you hate something that someone else does, you are in part hating a part of them. when you hate something that someone else does it is very natural to think that what you do in place of what they do is better than what they do and that leads to an underlying feeling that you are better than they are.


Agree to disagree :wink:.

I don't think it's fair to throw everyone into a lump and say that if there's something about someone else that they might not like, that they hate part of the person. Do you really think I would hang around my friends that did things I'm not crazy about if I hated them for it, and how much more would they not want to be around me if they saw that hatred? I'm not trying to change my friends, that's absurd. Anyone with 1/2 oz. of common sense knows that when you directly oppose a belief or habit that someone has, and try to point out how your way is better, the person will bauk and continue doing what they want, often times more so than before.

I'm sure there are people out there that believe it's their charge to change everyone, and that they think Christ meant, "Share the Word" as going up to drinking college students and telling them they're going to hell. But I would humbly request that there be a destinction made between those people and the loving Christians I have seen live their lives.

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Danny Jugan

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Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:53 am
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so what you have agreed to disagree with me is (from what i understand) this: that what people do isnt part of who they are.

because if it were, (which i strongly believe that is it) then hating what someone does would in fact naturally lead you to hate a specific part of that person.

i started this thought because i heard the phrase, "hate the sin love the sinner" not because i was trying to bash christians around the world. this idea of looking past the sin into the sinner and loving them for who they are has been a major part of my life in dealing with christians. labeling what someone does as "sin", automatically gives it a negative connotation because what you have chosen to believe to be true isnt what someone else has chosen to believe to be true. homosexuality is a sin, drinking alcohol excessively is a sin, smoking pot, blah blah blah the list goes on (and trust me- it does) we should begin to discover that what is a "sin" to you may not be for someone else...

i do not think i have done any sort of lumping...i do however think that labeling a specific behavior/activity as a "sin" is indeed categorizing/stereotyping/generalizing according to the standards that have been set within one persons life.

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rebecca brown

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Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:26 pm
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If we can all define what a sin is to us, then is it cool for some people to go around killing people? Maybe they don't see it as a sin, and who are we to tell someone else what is wrong? I think that it is vital we understand what God states as sin, so that we know how we should live our lives. As for stereotyping sin according to one' own life, that might be true of many people, but we should categorize sin based on God's definition. I apologize for the negative experiences that anyone may have encountered with Christians, but we should all understand Christians are simply followers of Christ. To understand the beliefs and attitudes of Christianity we should look at Jesus Himself, not His followers.

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Burl Greene


Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:26 pm
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Quote:
I think that it is vital we understand what God states as sin, so that we know how we should live our lives.

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rebecca brown

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Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:28 pm
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This, to me, is one of the most interesting topics we have discuessed so far. Not only is this huge in society, but it is an on going argument within friends and social groups. I am Roman Catholic and would like to consider myself devout, but I - just as everyone is human and have sin. My mom and I discussed this exact topic a few weeks ago and i thought I would share with you some thoughts she recieved from a friend. Bare with me.

What if gays and lesbians were not actually attracted to the other sex. What if they truly were simply being called to the vocation of being single. And our society has so twisted the idea that we MUST be in a relationship, and have a companion, when truly - the only companion in life we need is the one with Christ. And when I was talking to my mom I told her, "but I would love to think that there is someone for everyone" her response, THERE IS, his name is Jesus. So whate if our humanistic society has so pushed the ides of worldly relationships that it has bypassed the idea of the one true and devine relationsip, which in turn will lead us to exactly where we need to be.

I thought that it was an interesting point - take it how you want! :D

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Jill Parsons


Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:46 pm
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i have to agree with burl. what we may think is right, someone else may think it is wrong. because we may or may not have religious beliefs, we have to remember that there is a huge difference in opinion of sin between christians. there are so many arguments people can make about the bible regarding sin and forgiveness. do we really know what is meant by these words? in order to understand, i believe we should go to the source and not kill the messenger.

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Lauren Shook


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Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:28 pm
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