Sunday, August 16, 2009

Religiosity

OK, apparently my last post was a little too boring for people, so I'll try to avoid that. I was just curious as to what your opinions are. Thank you to Sam though for explaining things to me & giving me a more international perspective.

I pretended to be sick to get out of going to church today. We just moved into the Bible Belt & my parents want to try going back to church & become more practicing Christians. Now I grew up in Christian home (not fanatical, Bible-thumping Christian, but Christian nonetheless) but I've sort of grown out of it. I'm not too sure why. Maybe it's a phase. Maybe it's just me rebelling. Maybe it has something to do with a traumatic event I associated with church (& there are a few I can think of right off the top of my head). Either way, I'm not too into the idea of going to church.

I'm not sure right now if I'm Christian or Agnostic or what, but I do know I'm not Atheist. I'd like to believe that even if I can't personally know the truth, that there is some hope of there being some higher purpose to my life. Atheism just seems too depressing & hopeless for me. And in my mind, religion is more about hope than anything else. Hope for a purpose. Hope for a better life. Hope for meaning. Atheism is just too absolute for me. "There is no God." And I know you can't "prove" that God exists, but you can't disprove his existence either. Anyway, I'm starting to confuse myself now.

I know there are some conflicts between Christianity & homosexuality (sin, burning in hell, etc). I personally don't see how the two can be mutually exclusive though. Sure, it might me a sin, but doesn't God forgive all sins? What makes homosexuality so different? What makes homosexuality unfogivable? And how can you say God loves everyone unconditionally, but then turn around & say he hates homosexuals? I know the Bible says to condemn sodomites to death, but it also says you can sell your daughter into slavery, not to work on the Sabbath, & to avoid pork. If the Bible is God's Holy Word, can you really pick & choose parts that only serve your own purpose?

Sorry, that turned into more of a rant than an explanation of what I believe. Oops.

2 comments:

  1. I think the Bible is pretty clear on the point that homosexual activity is sinful. Never mind the Old Testament business about putting people to death, which we don't do in any of the cases mentioned. The epistles of St. Paul are clear enough for me, although I know some people think they have good reasons for not taking what he says at face value. But I also think you are absolutely right to ask what makes homosexuality so different from other sins and so unforgivable.

    I think that homosexual activity is every bit as forgivable as any other sin. I think that God loves everybody unconditionally, homosexuals included.

    1 John 5:16 says that there is sin which is "unto death," or "deadly," or "mortal," and there is sin which is not deadly. I believe that we go to hell only if we die with unrepented deadly sin in our lives. (I also believe that a sin is deadly only if it is serious, if we know it is serious, and if we choose it freely, so if we don't know it's seriously wrong, or if we're under some exterior or interior compulsion which diminishes our freedom, the sin may not be deadly even though it is objectively serious. This is the standard Catholic view, I believe.) So homosexual sin can surely be forgiven as much as any other sin can be forgiven when we repent.

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  2. Ok so I just found your blog and haven't had a chance to read all of it (I will later)
    But I must say I have the same problem with my religion (Christian) and being gay

    I don't have any reason to give up my faith though (too much has happened for me to do that) but I do know that I need to find a affiliation that accepts gays when I get older

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