Excellent_Spite2618 t1_j6ovf1q wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:19 PM

I’m a Christian and I can’t comment on the “growing hatred....” because I don’t live in the US and don’t know what’s really happening.

If my (conservative) pastor were to tell me to “hate the LGBT” etc, I’ll tell him that we are told to share the gospel, not to go around telling people not to be homosexuals. Their sex lives is none of my business. My “job” is just to tell people that there is a God who loves them no matter who they are, and if they were to be willing to listen to the gospel and have a respectful dialogue, there can be a meaningful outcome of our conversation. I don’t see how telling people “God hates what you’re doing” is heading in a desired direction.

dumbandneedhelp22 OP t1_j6ovwcz wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:22 PM

It's the rhetoric from their leaders. It's openly saying God will burn them. It's lying through their teeth saying transfolk are all pedos. And people eat it up. I truly can't figure it out.

The conservative party is full of anti LGBT rhetoric. They keep painting them as deviants, mentally ill, perverts.

I grew up in a relatively liberal Lutheran church. We lost 1/2 our members when they allowed gay marriages.

Excellent_Spite2618 t1_j6oxoey wrote on January 31, 2023 at 9:33 PM

I’d say it’s one thing to follow the teaching of the Bible and not be a homosexual, but it’s another thing to be supportive of gay marriages to the extent of holding gay marriages in the church. I would leave the church if the pastor were to officiate gay marriages in the church.

I’d say the teachings of the Bible only applies to me and it’s up to me to follow them, I’m in no position to ask others to follow the teachings of the Bible. It’s just like a vegan telling the rest to not eat meat just because he/ she is a vegan. Doesn’t this sound ridiculous?

Homosexuality is a complex issue and it’s not a mental illness. I’d say church leaders NEED to learn what it actually is from the scientific perspective.

I wouldn’t be ok with my church officiating gay marriages, but I’m neutral about civil marriages. Their marriage do not need my approval. At the end of the day, all one needs is someone to be there for them, and sometimes people need a family member to sign the form to perform urgent surgeries. So what if this family member/ spouse isn’t a heterosexual? Does it matter when someone is dying and in need of medical assistance?