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Discrimination in America- LGBTQ Rights

Posted in Acceptance of Others, Bible, christian living, Jesus follower, Lifestyles, Love of God, tagged acceptance, Bible, christian living, discrimination, equality, gay community, gay rights, James Finn, Keith Giles, LGBTQ, Love of God, Susan Cottrell on August 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

by Jim Gordon

We have talked about discrimination in regards to racism and women’s rights. Today we finish up by talking about another form of discrimination. The violation of LGBTQ rights and the hateful way many are treated.

Growing up in the church, I was always taught that the bible clearly stated that homosexuality was a sin. The thing with this was that I never questioned it or did any further study into it on my own. I just accepted what the pastor said, as I did most of what I was taught.

Over time I began thinking about the love of God. The bible said that God is love. Jesus told us to love God, love one another and love our enemies.

Throughout the gospels I read of the way Jesus lived on earth. He loved people. He never condemned, never judged, never played favorites. He treated people with respect and was inclusive of all. That made me begin to question why so many of his followers today act with such hatred and malice toward those they see as different than themselves.

I began reading books and listening to other views and realized there were other interpretations of the few verses I was always told condemned those who are LGBTQ. Such books as ‘Torn’ by Justin Lee, ‘God and the Gay Christian’ by Matthew Vines, ‘Unashamed’ by Amber Cantorna, ‘Is God a Gay Basher’ by Jan Liebegott and ‘Unclobber’ by Colby Martin. I read blog post by James Finn, Susan Cottrell and others who know what they are talking about and offered other explanations and interpretations of difficult bible verses.

Keith Giles published an article I found interesting entitled The word “Homosexual” does not appear In the Bible [Pre-1946]. Thus insinuating that there was another word and meaning in regard to homosexuality up until 1946 when the term was added.

Interpretations and beliefs aside, just reading about the nature of God as presented by Jesus, I could not understand nor believe that those who were born as LGBTQ were not loved or accepted by God. And if God accepts those who are LGBTQ, the rest of us should also.

After all, we are all human beings. The labels are added by groups of people and not God, labels which cause division, exclusion and people being treated as second-class citizens.

It is hard to believe that still today, LGBTQ people are so often discriminated against just because of who they love or how they feel they were created. Now, I am against lust and open sex just because it feels good whether it be between straight or LGBTQ people. I believe in committed, loving relationships between two people either straight or gay. I believe all the different gender identities covered as LGBTQ+ are people just wanting to be happy and accepted for being who they were created to be.

To be treated with hatred, to be looked down upon as sub-human beings, to not receive the same equal treatment and basic human rights as every other human being is just wrong. To be denied health care, housing, jobs, cakes, adoption privileges and being able to serve in the military just because of their gender is a terrible disservice to people that are loved by God. People who are loving, smart and capable of fulfilling their desires but are unable to do so because of all the unloving discrimination in our world.

What really gets me is that many times, not always, the most discriminatory actions and hate filled treatment comes from those who claim to be christians. Those who claim to represent God, who is love. They seem to show more hate and unacceptance than others. Those of us who follow the example of Jesus and who love God should be the biggest supporters, showing the love of God and being inclusive of all. Yet due to the mistranslation of some bible verses and due to taking what we were told or what we read without further study and follow-up, many choose to judge and condemn those who are LGBTQ without any further question.

As mentioned in my previous articles, those who are black/brown, female, and those with various religious and nationality backgrounds all deserve the same treatment and opportunities as anyone else. God did not make any mistakes or second-class human beings. All deserve the same human rights and equal treatment no matter what they believe, what they look like, who they love or how God created them.

It is time to forget the labels and see people as human beings. It is time we love God and love all people without the judgment, condemnation and hateful treatment we so often see in our world. It is time to follow the words of Jesus by loving God and loving one another.

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Enemies within Religion

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Love of God, tagged acceptance, atheism, buddhist, gay community, hindu, islam, LGBTQ, religion on June 21, 2017| 12 Comments »

Growing up in the organized church, I was taught over time that we actually had enemies within the religious world and that certain groups of people were to be avoided.

I do not think this was done openly but very subliminally, it was just something that you picked up over the years in the christian religion.

I can say this because I spent well over fifty years in the organized christian church and I know how I used to feel. Fortunately, not everyone in the church system feels this way but it does seem to be a pretty normal way of thought for those of us who grew up in it.

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Let me be clear, I no longer think this way. I believe Jesus came to show the love of God to all people and he accepted and respected everyone.

Yet in the church system I found that things such as, if you attend a certain denomination all the other denominations do not quite measure up.

If you are a christian then those outside of christianity are to be avoided. Of course acting like a friend so you can witness to them and try to convert them to christianity was OK. I know for a fact that friendship with ulterior motives can be very disheartening.

I found that inside the christian religion atheists are considered to be our enemy. They deny that God exists and it is best for us to stay far away from them so that doubt does not creep into our own way of thinking.

Inside the church system the gay community is to be condemned and shunned. Anyone openly admitting they are gay is an abomination to God and thus to us also. After all, people choose to be gay and that means they are choosing to go against God. Wait, I do not remember choosing to be straight, it is just the way I am. Is that not the case with people who are gay?

People of other religions such as hinduism, buddhism. confucianism, gnosticism, judaism, islam or a host of other religions were considered to be confused and wrong in their beliefs. Nothing measured up except christianity. Still, christianity is a religion created by men. Jesus did not come to start a religion and he is not the head of the christian religion.

Being outside the walls of religion, I have come to see people as people. I have come to know several people of all beliefs and ways of life and have found them to be good friends. We all have our different backgrounds and beliefs but we are all basically the same.

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No matter what label the world or religion puts on people, that does not completely describe who they are. Each of us is a person who basically wants the same things and same goals in life. We all want to be happy, to be loved and accepted and to live a good life. We all go about it in different ways but the basics are the same.

Rather than judge and condemn others who do not see things the way we do, it is time we do what Jesus said to do. Love God and love others. We are not here to judge, condemn and try to force people into accepting things the way we see them. The Holy Spirit will draw, convict and change people if that is what is needed. We are only called to be loving and kind to all we meet. Being loving does not mean we always agree, but we can show the love of God and be respectful even in our differences.

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Christianity and The Gay Community

Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Lifestyles, tagged acceptance, condemnation, gay community, gay rights, love, religious on July 8, 2015| 10 Comments »

If you think by the title of this article that I am going to say being gay is a sin and they had better repent or else, you are wrong. I will not get into the debate of whether being gay is right or wrong, or of bashing other human beings. We see and hear enough of that kind of talk all over the place and truthfully, I think we should be above that way of acting and show the love and acceptance Jesus said we should have for one another.

For some reason or another, Christianity has made being gay the supreme sin of the world. Whether it is a sin or not is not for me to decide. I do know we ALL have sinned in one way or another. God showed us how to live a perfect life and none of us can do it. He knew we were unable to live a sinless life, and He sent Jesus to provide a better way, a way of grace. He did the work, now we can rest in Him.

Jesus told us to love others. He did not put us in charge of pointing out everyone’s differences or mistakes. We are all different in one way or another. Jesus came to show us that God loves and accepts us, and when he died he took our sinful nature and put it to death.

I recently saw an article somewhere that said gays hate Christians. First, I do not believe that, at least not for all gay people. Let’s face it, some gays do hate Christians, as do some straight people.

I really believe the problem for those who hate Christians is because they see Christians who are unloving, condemning and unaccepting. They seem more concerned about being right and getting their point across rather than showing the love of God. What those taking the brunt of such treatment so often do not see is the Father, who is love. They see people calling themselves Christians, yet not acting at all like God our Father, who loves all, accepts all and died for all.

Today what a lot of people see, and it seems especially gays, are people telling them they are bad, they are sinners, they are unacceptable, they need to change. Unfortunately, a lot of people saying these things are Christians who are supposed to be showing the love of God.

Jesus came to show us the Father. He came showing love and acceptance to all he met. In fact, the only ones you see Jesus having a problem with were the religious people of the day who thought they were better than everyone else.

We can love and accept others even when we are different and do not agree. Loving does not mean always agreeing, but it does mean loving without condemning and expecting anything in return.

We can be Jesus to those we come in contact with each day, but let’s be the Jesus of the bible, who loves and accepts others. Let’s not be a jesus of religion who condemns those who do not believe and act like we expect.

God is love, and we, as followers of Jesus and representatives of God, are to be like our Father, loving everyone we meet along the way.