Topic : 06/06 "I'm Gay, OK?"

AMEN! You said it and that's TRUTH!   

To be a "Christian" means that you are a follower of Christ and if you are continuously living in sin, that is ignoring what He said. People cannot pretend that the Holy Bible says what they "want" it to say so that they can justify sin...it is right there and can never be changed.  But whoever does read it, earnestly seeking God's truth, will be.  

I'm not going to add to the ongoing bible study lesson here.  

I believe in God (there is only one God).  

I'm a lesbian. I don't believe it is a sin, nor do I believe I will burn in hell for being one. Gay is not a lifestyle. People don't choose to be gay.  

What's is sad is all the hatred. I don't understand how people whom believe in God can preach so much hatred.  

      I just wanted to send a quick thanks, from a fellow believer, for taking the time and effort to explain all this with a calm, rational demeanor.   I know  "the world" grows tired of hearing all of the above being screamed at them by judgmental Christians.   

      I will pray for the message to get through to those that are seeking and pray that you will able to continue your efforts! 

      Thank You! 

I am a Canadian mother of a 25 year old gay man.  He came out to himself and to us three years ago.  It makes absolutely no difference to us at all.  He is still exactly the same person he was before and still holds all the same values and morals he did before.   

He didn't choose to be gay, he was wired that way.   

The big difference in my life since he came out, is my feeling to religion.  Perhaps there is a God, I can't be sure of that, but when I see how judgemental, intolerant and self-righteous many (not all) of his children are I see no place for me in that sector.   

When people say gay people go to hell, I seriously have decided that I could never desire to spend eternity with these so called Christians.   

I love my gay son as much today as I did before I knew he was gay.  He is still the same person.  It breaks my heart when people yell "faggot" when he crosses the street.   

My husband, his brother and future sister-in-law all stand with him.   

I have one left handed son and one gay son.  So what? 

When I was in high school in the late 70s, I knew of no one who admitted they were gay (gay = male  & /or female) or bisexual. Actually there were only maybe 2 of 1000 students who were even rumored to be possibley gay.  

I am not trying to offend anyone however I am confused and am trying to understand. I believe each person should have the right to be who they are... more power to him/her! 

I do question what seems to me to be an increase of bisexuality and homosexuality today. Were there really that many people before & they just did not come out or has it just happened that more are born with the genetics or is it the power of suggestion from t.v., etc.  

I also wonder if it is true that a person knows at an age earlier than 15/16 that they are bisexual? And how can this be possible because how do you know that you are attracted sexually to both sexes at that young of an age?  Obviously I am straight and a female in my 40s and I am attracted to women for whom I'd like to have friendships not sexual though. Is it perhaps because sex happens at an earlier age these days and the youngsters find out earlier.  I really wonder what most people think about this or if any studies show the truths.  

I am amazed at the number of high school and middle school girls who say they are bisexual and/ or lesbians. I know because I work in a school environment and their sexual preferences are  not held back.   

I really intend to not hurt anyone but to educate myself and not be confused.  Thank you and peace to all! 

For those of you who seem to have veered off topic... here is a great bit to consider: 

Homosexual folks are pretty consistent in populations world-wide. No matter what country you look at, which belief system people belong to, population size, and whatever other factors you can think of... it's always around 10% of the population that is homosexual. It is normal. Whether you like it or not, it's a natural thing to happen. It's not only a strictly human phenomenon either. Did you know that at certain temperatures you can make groups of male flies form long mating chains? Did you know that there are species of fish and other organisms that can alter their sex to accomodate their community? Ever seen a hermaphroditic banana slug mate with another of its kind, then watch them each chew off the other's penile projection so the other can't mate again? Nature is full of fun quirks, and homosexuality is one of them.  

So what if we don't know what causes it. We'll figure it out someday. Most scientists are split between whether it's caused by environmental pressures or genetic changes. Nature vs. nurture. Homosexuality is a fact of life, and for anyone to deny that is just completely silly.   

Even more silly is for someone to think that their beliefs should come before personal freedom, equality, and respect for our fellows. Marriage should be something that anyone can participate in. It's a union between two people who love each other. I know that's beside the point, but it is very important.  

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I just thought I should reiterate that because it is pertinent to this topic. I welcome any intelligent feedback. Please don't repeat any more religious bushwah as that only incites pious people. We can all talk about this in a secular way. I would be interested if someone would take the initiative and post some peer-reviewed data on this subject, or if you all would take a few minutes to just browse through the plethora of well-written articles on homosexuality. There really is a lot of good stuff out there. Educate yourself, then come and wow us with your newfound knowledge. 

So many of you are talking about Christianity this or that, which only goes to show that each and every message board on the internet has its own personality and inhabitants - i.e. in this case, Christians have flocked to the Dr Phil board. Dr. Phil's message board users don't necessarily reflect Dr. Phil's viewership demographics as a whole. 

Anyway, when it comes to everything in life, such as religion, politics, or even petty issues, I believe in trying to find out what the actual facts are. Suffice to say that for that reason alone, no religion has gotten my attention as all of them feel they have the answers and they all have holy books and people who believe them *just because*, without any logical reason to do so. How do you know your religion is correct? How do you know your "holy book" is actually holy, and not something people wrote to control others or tell them how to live their lives? 

Yes, I am telling you that I am an agnostic - a "we don't know the answers" person. 

That said, I carry that philosophy over to everything, including homosexuality. 

We need to know what the facts are, not what ANY side (including gay people themselves) wants to present. 

Here are some questions to think about: 

* Many gay people talk about having felt "different" from their peers going back to when they were little kids. Why is that? Does this mean anything in the long run? 

* What is "homosexuality"? I think we need to define the term. Is it the actions? Or is it feeling attracted to the same sex? 

* What could cause someone to be attracted to the same sex? If something causes homosexuality, then how often has it occured throughout history, and has that changed at all due to culture? 

* Many "ex-gays" struggle with their same-sex attraction. Why do you think that is? Do you feel their homosexuality has been "cured" or not? Why or why not? 

* At what point did you choose to be heterosexual? I am heterosexual, and have known that I was since I was eight (when I first became interested in the other gender), but for the life of me can't remember ever having to choose it. How about you? 

The best way to deal with ignorance is with knowledge. And the best way to gain knowledge is to seek it out and not let your beliefs shut out facts that prove your beliefs wrong. I know from experience as a former political partisan (I am NOT telling you what side, but suffice to say I didn't run to the opposite side either, but now look try to look at entire issues). 

To the person who said that Dr. Phil should speak "as a Christian" rather than clinically, let me point out to you, that clinial studies look at FACTS. I bet that as a psychologist, Dr. Phil will speak from whatever the facts point to, and right he should, as if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to cure anything. 

Since recorded history began telling stories about deities and supernatural entities, man has continued to destroy man in the name of his or her's god starting with the kings of egypt, to moses, joshua, david, alexander, constantine, gingus khan, peter, mohamed, henry the 8, all the popes of history, martin luther the german, kkk, adolph hitler, osama bin laden to name a few.  religion killed god, not man! gay's and lesbians were destroyed by non human hands at sodom and gamorah. my wife daughter went lesbian. i choose not to associate  with her and her life style not because of religion, but because i don't approve of same sex sexual relations. my policy in this matter is live and live.  if god wants to intervene so be it. no person has the right to claim in the name of religion that the god of that religion gave orders to kill, mame, or destroy another  human being.