Will gays EVER be accepted by mainstream Christianity?

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KCKID
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Will gays EVER be accepted by mainstream Christianity?

Post #1

Post by KCKID »

The Mainstream Christian Church (i.e. the 'Christian Church' in general) appears to have an unshakable belief that gay people cannot possibly be Christians. Therefore gay people will always be regarded as 'lepers' because the mainstream Church believes that homosexuality is against the will of God and the actual practicing of such is a 'grave sin'. This is in spite of the fact that nowhere in the Bible is homosexuality referred to as a grave sin. This more comes from the minds of people who have received a life time of brainwashing into believing this. Where homosexual activity IS mentioned in scripture it almost always - in fact, PROBABLY always - refers to the practice of idolatry and not as WE today refer to homosexuality. There are those Christians who are so appalled at the notion that gay people might desire to integrate with 'actual Christians' within their Church community that they suggest gays start their own denomination ...minus the 'Christian' prefix, of course, which would be sacrilege. Such folks want nothing to do with homosexual people and their minds appear to be set on this.

Below is a recent item from The Guardian that tells of the plight of gay Christians in Uganda. In our particular neck of the woods (probably the majority of those of us who participate on the forum) gays have no fear of state imposed death or life imprisonment as do those in places such as Uganda. Gays do, however, have a stigma placed on them by most Christians that results in rejection by the mainstream Church and, indeed, by God himself. And, of course, the rejection of God is tantamount to death or, worse still, eternal torment. The latter makes the penalty imposed on gays in Uganda pale by comparison.

Will mainstream Christianity ever be accepting of people whose only 'sin' is that they happen to be gay ...i.e. an involuntary sexual attraction between two people of the same gender? If not, why not? Please, give your HONEST reasons.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/f ... ry-kampala

Sunday is a special day in Uganda, the conservative east African country that is threatening to put gay people behind bars for life. On Sunday you can see families flocking to churches all over the country for prayer, wearing their best clothes.

The sermons are predictable. Church leaders will pray for divine intervention against the corrupt leaders, poverty and the potholed roads, and then finally call doom upon the country's homosexuals who are sinning against the Christian God and ruining African culture.

But not at a tiny church tucked away in one of Kampala's suburbs. Here, gay people meet in devoted challenge to mainstream denominations that have declared them outcasts. With dread-locked hair and in jeans and bathroom slippers, members of this congregation would stand out in the prim and proper evangelical church I sometimes go to. I feel overdressed in my white dress.

"Here we are all about freedom," Pepe Onziema, a gay rights activist tells me. "It is a universal church. We welcome people whether gay or straight."

The gates may be open but the road to the church that calls itself a friendship and reconciliation centre is not paved with sleek cars or thronged with believers. The worshippers trickle in. They take their seats, but not before surveying the crowd furtively, trying to identify everyone. Their life depends on this vigilance.

In Uganda, police raid homes and arrest those they suspect to be gay. Homosexuality is an offence under the penal code. The president, Yoweri Museveni, refuses to pass a bill that seeks to strengthen the punishments for homosexuality to include life imprisonment, but isn’t under pressure to do so. Conservative Christian churches, under the auspices of the Uganda Joint Christian Council, refuse to accept homosexuals in spite of more gay-friendly approaches from parent churches abroad. The anti-gay furnace is fanned by American evangelical churches that have made it their mission to free Africa of homosexuality, saying it is alien to African culture.

The gay Ugandan church seeks to spread an alternative gospel of love and acceptance for all. On this particular Sunday, it is the memorial of David Kato, a gay rights activist who was murdered in 2011. So the numbers are bigger than usual. When the church was started by Bishop Christopher Senyonjo (who has since been thrown out of the Anglican Church for ministering to gay people), the gay community in Uganda attended devotedly. But with arrests and growing anti-gay sentiments, threats to their lives and arrests, fewer and fewer people come to the church.

"Our numbers have reduced ever since we started in 2008," Denis, the chaplain and a primary school teacher, tells me. "It is worse now that the bill has been passed." If Denis's employees knew of his orientation or his calling, he would certainly lose his job. "This is the only place we can feel at home. Here we can worship God without feeling guilty or fearing persecution."

Joining a gay congregation in Uganda is risky but Onziema says it is necessary in a society that greatly values community. For on Sundays, when many Ugandans spend time with their families, most gay people have nowhere to go. "Coming here lets us know that we are not alone and gives us the strength to continue the struggle," Onziema says.

You can see both hope and fear in the eyes of the congregation as they read Bible verses proclaiming God's protection over them and sing "What a friend we have in Jesus".

Here, there are no thunderous shouts of praise, speaking in tongues or Bible-thumping that is characteristic of the evangelism that is so trendy in the country. In the quiet worship of Uganda's gay community, there is a still hope and the kind of courage you can only muster after you have seen it all and there is nothing left to fear. Sunday is also the day gay people in Uganda cast off their masks to chat about the latest fashion, cars and celebrities.

"You thought we were going to pray that God stops the anti-homosexuality bill," Mugisha, the head of Sexual Minorities Uganda, asks me with laughter and mischief in his voice. "It will not pass. We do not need to pray for that."

Mugisha is for a moment free from his job, his life, fighting for the basic human rights of gay people. "I come here for the community. It is better than staying home alone," he says. As the service ends, members of the congregation are asked to say something in memory of David Kato, whose spirit of resilience they will need as they walk out of the church into their daily routine.

"We know he did not die in vain," Mugisha says. "One day we shall be accepted."

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Post #2

Post by Haven »

Sadly, I really don't think so. Fundamentalist Christianity is so rigid in its rejection of outside ideas that I think it will never see LGBT people as human beings. I think acceptance of gay people will eventually spread to Africa, but it will be because of secularization, not Christian acceptance.
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KCKID
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Post #3

Post by KCKID »

Haven wrote: Sadly, I really don't think so. Fundamentalist Christianity is so rigid in its rejection of outside ideas that I think it will never see LGBT people as human beings. I think acceptance of gay people will eventually spread to Africa, but it will be because of secularization, not Christian acceptance.
Then, and I might be going out on a limb here, Fundamentalist Christianity is rejecting the very One it (claims to) desire to emulate. Why in God's name can it not see this ...?

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Jake
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Post #4

Post by Jake »

Given enough time, the church will follow the progress of society. Probably several decades late, as usual.

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Nickman
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Post #5

Post by Nickman »

[Replying to post 4 by Jake]

Yep, I think you are spot on. One day they will have to change or be the outcast.

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Post #6

Post by 99percentatheism »

Nickman wrote: [Replying to post 4 by Jake]

Yep, I think you are spot on. One day they will have to change or be the outcast.
As Jesus predicted, hatred of the Church is seen as something to cheer on by the world.

As it is noted above, gay authority comes from the world and it's ways "secularization" and not the Gospel.

The hostility of this thread shows the incompatible nature of the gay agenda and Christian life.

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Post #7

Post by Ooberman »

99percentatheism wrote:
Nickman wrote: [Replying to post 4 by Jake]

Yep, I think you are spot on. One day they will have to change or be the outcast.
As Jesus predicted, hatred of the Church
Wow, some prediction - you preach hateful things and you predict people will hate you for it? Wow, the man was a psychic! :roll:


As it is noted above, gay authority comes from the world and it's ways "secularization" and not the Gospel.

The hostility of this thread shows the incompatible nature of the gay agenda and Christian life.
Right, because Christians have in their religious text hateful things that are incompatible with civil society.


Again and again, Christians refuse to recognize they are the ones spreading hate.
Thinking about God's opinions and thinking about your own opinions uses an identical thought process. - Tomas Rees

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Post #8

Post by Haven »

[color=indigo]99percentatheism[/color] wrote: As Jesus predicted, hatred of the Church is seen as something to cheer on by the world.
Who said anything about hating the Church?
[color=blue]99[/color] wrote:As it is noted above, gay authority comes from the world and it's ways "secularization" and not the Gospel.
"Gay authority?" What do you mean by this, friend?
[color=brown]99[/color] wrote:The hostility of this thread shows the incompatible nature of the gay agenda and Christian life.
Other than the article mentioned by the OP, I don't see any hostility here.
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Post #9

Post by Haven »

[color=green]99percentatheism[/color] wrote: . . . the gay agenda . . .
I hear conservative Christians use this term a lot, but I'm still not sure what it means. What is this "gay agenda?" I'm gay and I'm not aware of any "gay agenda" (my agenda includes nothing but finishing papers and getting assistantship work done).
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Post #10

Post by alive »

Accepted? Why? You will still be Gay... A Gay Christian... Gays will always be seen as different accept if your gay... Don't see the point in being "accepted" in anything... To everyone I'm a Atheist.... Except for Atheist...The harder you try to be accepted the more the division will be... Just be yourself and let the chips fall... In the end its only you that have to accept yourself....

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