LGBT and the War on Christianity

[stephaniec]

LGBT and the War on Christianity

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-mott/lgbt-and-the-war-on-chris_b_8885486.html?utm_hp_ref=transgender

The Huffington Post/By Stephanie Mott    01/05/2016

"I am a transgender Christian woman. This is the line I often use to begin one of my presentations about being a transgender woman of faith. Then I often follow that line with these: I like to start with that because you don't often hear the words transgender and Christian in the same sentence. I like to start with that because people often tell me I can't live authentically and be a Christian. And I like to start with that because for many years of my life, I believed them."

[Jill F]

I'm sick of this "War on Christianity" crap.  There is no "War on Christianity".  Why do some people fail to understand that their first amendment rights end where mine begin?

[Deborah]

The truth is that the Christianity she preaches is not authentic at all if authentic is defined as what it was since the beginning.

I say that out of certainty too because as part of the process of sorting myself out I spent several years studying early Christianity to find its acceptance for me.  That study included reading thousands of pages of primary source material from the first through fifth centuries.

The fact is that Christianity as an institution has been intolerant and extremely hateful towards us since its inception.

The myth of a tolerant Christianity is just that, a myth.

Now if someone wants to invent a brand new tolerant religion that includes Jesus then that's great.  Just be honest and call it something else.  Don't try to sell it as the authentic version of something that has never before existed.


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[Lady Smith]

Like you Deborah I've spent much time researching the early church and ended up being largely underwhelmed.  Studying the Christian mystics led me to discovering the doctrine of the Free Spirit and The Mirror of Simple Souls by Marguerite Porete.  I was a Franciscan for a while until the Catholic Church made its recent official pronouncements on gender different people which was the final straw that made me leave the church.  I think I always will remain a Franciscan at heart, but without being a part of the institution known as the Catholic Church.

Prayer and meditation lie at the centre of my faith only I'm not interested in putting a (TM) label on it anymore and it simply is what it is.

[stephaniec]

I'm a proponent of the Blessed Church of Stephanie.

[Eevee]

My boyfriend is Christian, even if I am not. I don't have anything against Christianity, so it always confuses me when anyone says there's some war on their religion. It's the #1 religion in the United States and many other countries. It's not going anywhere, either.

On the other hand, some Christians seem to have an issue with my existence. If my presence is what they mean by war, they need to join the military to see what war is really about.

[V M]

Seems to me the only folks who have declared a "Holy War" on Christians and anyone one else who disagrees with them is a competing religious sect

Something sounds kinda backwards    I'm not the religious type but I do give respect to other people's beliefs

The U.S. constitution grants freedom of religion, if someone wishes to worship a fly on the wall and write books about it I'll smile and wish them luck with that

It seems to me however that the LGBT community is most often the one under attack by various religious groups

Can "equal rights for all" really be all that difficult? Apparently there are some folks that can't seem to comprehend such a simple ideal

 

[Devlyn]

Of course there's a war on Christianity, and I'll tell you why. The second you utter the words "Sorry, Devlyn, I won't bake a cake for you" I'm calling in an airstrike on your fanny!   

[V M]

I made some cookies over the weekend

[stephaniec]

did it happen to have any cactus buttons in them

[V M]

Sorry, maybe next time 

[SarahM777]

The fact is that Christianity as an institution has been intolerant and extremely hateful towards us since its inception.

The myth of a tolerant Christianity is just that, a myth.

Now if someone wants to invent a brand new tolerant religion that includes Jesus then that's great.  Just be honest and call it something else.  Don't try to sell it as the authentic version of something that has never before existed.


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See the thing is most people do not understand what the institution is for. The institution itself is designed for these things,and that's money,power and control. Power and control for a human being is opposed to love. And anything that threatens the money,power and control must be crushed.

And in order to keep all those things the institution must teach dogma and reinforce that dogma. (Doesn't matter whether or not it's true or not. And anyone that is part of that institution MUST adhere to that dogma.) Which also gets into why we have so many different translations. Why? Because the institution MUST have a translation that preaches the SAME DOGMA. And it doesn't matter if the bias and dogma produces contradictions within the text. Why? Because the institution must have a translation that teaches the dogma that the institution wants preached. The dogma has been substituted for the truth. And once the institution starts teaching dogma instead of truth,the institution tells you how to read the text etc.,which is nothing more then brain washing.

The institution has placed a higher value on their dogma over the one key thing that Jesus said would define His disciples.

John 13

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."


John thentakes it even further

1 John 4

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

And many will never get why Jesus said this

Matthew 7

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

See many miss he fact that they had FAITH but they were missing a key part of it and that is the 2 greatest commands. Paul says the same and so does John. Love is greater then faith. And it is so plain if you do not love your brothers and sisters you CAN NOT know God. Many of those claim Christ but they DON'T know Him because they don't love as God first loved us.

[SarahM777]

I'm sick of this "War on Christianity" crap.  There is no "War on Christianity".  Why do some people fail to understand that their first amendment rights end where mine begin?

It's perceived as a "War on Christianity" because it threatens the dogma. Taken to the extreme many of them can not and will not accept the plain facts that many are born intersexed. Many will claim all the evidence is a Satanic agenda. They removed the eunuchs from birth out of the equation. Why? Because it doesn't fit the dogma of God created them male and female,and it still works perfectly that all of us are born exactly male and female as God designed it to be.

[Deborah]

It also has a lot to do with what happened to Christianity during the reformation.  From that, Protestantism grew into a religion where the bible has essentially become their God (I know, they will deny that but it's obvious if you look closely).  So anything at all contrary to their personal interpretation of the Bible directly threatens the validity of their God.

The Catholic Church is different and I believe will eventually recognize us as legitimate.  However, they are taking a whole lot longer getting there than is necessary and allowing a deliberate evil to persist.  That is the demonization of us.


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[SarahM777]

It also has a lot to do with what happened to Christianity during the reformation.  From that, Protestantism grew into a religion where the bible has essentially become their God (I know, they will deny that but it's obvious if you look closely).  So anything at all contrary to their personal interpretation of the Bible directly threatens the validity of their God.

The Catholic Church is different and I believe will eventually recognize us as legitimate.  However, they are taking a whole lot longer getting there than is necessary and allowing a deliberate evil to persist.  That is the demonization of us.


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I would disagree that they see it as threatening the validity of God as it would more likely be that it threatens their belief system. If one is wrong on one point what else are they wrong on? But as for saying many have made the book into a god,I agree. (I have seen it far too often myself)

In the current institution we have replaced the tax collectors and prostitutes. We get the same treatment from the institution.

[Deborah]

Another thing is that for a lot of evangelicals, they have in effect deified their own minds.  So a disagreement with their own personal religious opinions becomes to them an attack on God himself.  What I mean is that these people believe that God himself resides in their mind and teaches them personally the meaning of every verse in the scriptures.  The final effect is that they become incapable of any rational understanding of the world and are impervious to any counter viewpoint.

I once got banned from a religious forum trying to discuss religious things with them.  And that was when I was still conservative and deep in Catholic belief.  You will make more progress trying to dig an intercontinental canal with a wooden spoon than you will arguing historical or scientific facts with these people.


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[Adena]

You can say that all Christians have been bad people from the beginning who hate those who are different from the "norm" in one way or another if you want. I don't believe that is true, but I can sure find lots of bad examples too. This is irrelevant to whether there is a good message from the Gospel and a great example for living from the life of Jesus. I happen to believe there is but I am certainly not wanting to push my world view on others. I accept you who believe differently and want your friendship and support here (I love having friends of different faiths and cultures and ideas. Life is boring when you only stick around with people who believe exactly as you do). But I wish you too would not think I am automatically a bad person because I am a Christian. You can however, think that I am foolish to believe, I can live with that. 

Love,
Denali

[SarahM777]

Been there,done that. 

It wouldn't been so bad if I had been banned with an explanation,I had to find out from the gossip column why I was banned from the Christian site I was on. Water under the bridge so to speak.

Are you sure that's it's like using a wooden spoon and not like using tweezers? 

[Adena]

It wouldn't been so bad if I had been banned with an explanation,I had to find out from the gossip column why I was banned from the Christian site I was on. Water under the bridge so to speak.

Not good. Probably I will be banned from some sites / churches too at some point too (I took a sabbatical before that could happen up to now).  My views seem to offend almost everyone at one time or another.

Love,
Denali (a

[Deborah]

No, not all Christians are bad at all.  Here I am mostly referring to specifically evangelicals who are a specific subset of conservative Protestantism.  And even they are not automatically bad either.  The person next to me at work is one and he's a great guy.  But their worldview is hostile to ours and I believe wrong in every way.

I don't think it's foolish to believe in God either.  I believe myself and the Gospel is part of that.  I just no longer believe that American evangelicals are based on the Gospel in any meaningful way.

In my view, if I have to define specifically what evangelical is in America today I come up with this:

"A syncretic mixture of fundamentalist Protestantism, militant nationalism, crony capitalism, and Randian objectivism."


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