Being gay is simply being what you are. There was no choice when a 10 year old kid asked about heterosexuality. You don't choose what excites your organs, or stimulates your heart. Why do so many "Christians" choose to be cruel and hateful toward gay people? Where did these so-called Christians go off the rails of "love they neighbor," and ignore he who is without sin (if any sin were involved) can cast the first stone, when a Christian chooses to judge and criticize, "stone," the gays.
"The Bible Does Not Condemn Homosexuality. Why Does Franklin Graham Not Get This?"
The word “homosexuality” didn’t even show up in English translations of the Bible until 1946, so why do we say the Bible condemns it?
07/16/2015 11:10 am ET | Updated Jul 16, 2016
By Adam Phillips
"It’s time to bring an end to this  —  and not just because the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Marriage Equality. It’s time to bring an end to this, for those of us trying to take the Bible seriously, because the Bible seriously doesn’t talk about homosexuality as we know it.
If you’re looking for resources to go deeper [Don't you homophobic people DARE not read further just because you do not want to stop believing in your hate of homosexuals! You have no right to judge and hate without seeking the truth once in your life on this subject!], spend a few days over at Togetherinthis.net, a tremendous online resource set up by EastLake Church outside Seattle.
I also cannot recommend the following enough:
- Vicky Beeching  —  Anything she does! Follow her on Twitter.
- James Brownson  —  Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships
- Steve Chalke  —  A Matter of Integrity (watch his intro video here)
- Jeff Chu — Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America
- Candace Czubernat  —  Her blog!
- Broderick Greer  —  Twitter! Also his posts on Everyone Is Gay
- Justin Lee — Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate
- Colby Martin  —  Follow his exciting project “Unclobber!”
- Stan Mitchell  —  Check out his incredible sermon from GracePointe, TN
- Brandan Robertson  —  An incredible organizer, visit his website
- Matthew Vines — God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships
- Ken Wilson — A Letter to My Congregation (a must read for pastors!)"
"Echoing St. Paul, the truth we find ourselves in, is that some folks are called to celibacy and some are called to marriage  —  no matter if they are gay or straight or wherever on the sexuality spectrum.
Julie closes her ground breaking post with this:
My goal now is the same as it’s always been: to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the God who’s been my first love all along. When it comes to this conversation, my goal has been to help Christians create the kinds of communities that make LGBT people feel wanted  —  where we can worship God, use our gifts, serve our neighbors, and find a family to share in the joys and sorrows of living in a world where so many people are so lonely. That looks a little different to me now that I’ve seen so much fruit in affirming communities, but it’s a widening of my circle  —  not a move in a different direction.
If it turns out that I’m wrong, I trust God will be faithful to catch me. For now, though, I hope those of you who disagree will continue to welcome my friendship and serve alongside me. It’s not too late to call it quits on all the fighting. We could choose instead to focus on all we share in common and seek to mend what’s been broken in this fragile world.
It’s time for us to get back to the basics of the Bible and truly read it so that we might faithfully live it.
Do yourself a favor and head on over to Julie’s blog, and if you are the praying kind, pray for her and pray for all of us as we move out of this unnecessary, harmful and unbiblical mess so we can move forward to what truly matters.
Franklin, will you consider this?"
Probably not. Few religious leaders DARE reveal they have been wrong to judge and hate homosexuals. Religious people hardly ever wish to read enough to find out they are wrong about gays.
What loving deity wants us to criminalize loving behavior? No real deity exists in my life philosophy, as we are all human, not a God. A human wrote the Bible, the Quran, and all the other religion's guide books. What is written in these religious books can only be attributed to men deciding good and evil throughout the ages. And that is how we should see our brothers and sisters who are gay, through the prism of love and kindness.
Psuedo-Christians cherry pick passages and verses from their personal "religious" books to find ways to judge gays. I cannot speak for any of these books except the Bible. Anyone can cherry pick verses to find ways to avoid condemning homosexuality. The fact is there are passages to confirm whatever you want if you do not read them all together, or if you do not care that religion has high ideals to achieve good, and not judge others.
If cherry picking passages is what you need to justify your existence and to support being cruel and hurting people who are gay is your best way to be "Christian," you missed the point of religion.
You will be judged as you judge others.
"Where in the Bible does it say you can’t be transgender? Nowhere."
By Eliel Cruz By Eliel Cruz Acts of Faith Opinion Opinion
August 26, 2016
There are some really sick ideas based on what some people find in the bible. What does that tell you about them and about the Bible?
"Everywhere you look, Christians seem to be taking a stand against transgender people.
A funeral director in Michigan recently won a court fight by claiming his Christian beliefs would not allow him to employ a transgender person. When Target said it would allow its customers to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, protesters shouted and walked through some of the retailer’s stores holding up Bibles. When parents published a Washington Post essay about their happy transgender 5-year-old recently, a reader wrote, “As a Christian this deeply disturbs me!”"
Sicko. Sorry, can't help you with the transgender thing.
"There is not a single verse in scripture that discusses transgender identities. Yet these Christians have decided that trans identities are sinful, mostly through their lack of understanding of what being trans means."
"In the absence of any verses in scripture that actually address transgender identities, many Christians who claim to have religious objections against trans identities point to creation: God created Adam and Eve, male and female. But again, this requires a certain laziness in interpretation and is not consistent with the way that Christians interpret the rest of the Genesis account."
More to know.
"An anti-trans understanding of the Genesis story also lacks context. Gender and sex are different things. They don’t always align, and neither is binary. The biological reality of intersex individuals is a testament to that. The biological and psychological reality of transgender and intersex individuals needs to be the context in which Christians read scripture."
"This erosion of the concept of religious freedom is particularly concerning when individuals claim religious freedom to discriminate against LGBT people, while lacking even a strong theological backing. Religious freedom must defend true belief – not bias or hatred that’s found nowhere in our holy texts.
Eliel Cruz, a bisexual Christian writer, is the executive director of Faith in America."
