Let me just say that I really feel for you here, because I was in a similar situation. I was also brought up in a hard-core Christian home and for the longest time, I believed in everything I was taught and fought for it in every conversation. But one day in college I met my girlfriend (I am straight guy) who I love more than anything in the world. She is sweet and loving and kind, but not a Christian, so by Christian beliefs she is going to hell. When I realized this, I stopped believing. I still believe in most of the Bible, but I refuse to believe a perfect God would send people to hell just for not believing in him. It's unjust, plain and simple. I'm not trying to bash Christianity. In fact, think Christians are some of the best people in the world. I just don't believe God works this exclusively. He can't if He's really loving. The same is true for homosexuality. Even if it is wrong (not saying it is) there are much huger problems in the world. A just God can't send a homesexual to hell, but let in a serial killer who accepted him at the end of his wretched life. It makes me sick to see all this hatred toward a little thing like a person's sexuality, when it should be going toward murderers and terrorists and other people who don't deserve to live. All I can really say to you is that it's good that you're questioning your faith. Faith you're not allowd to question is slavery and If Christianity is true then it should be able to stand up to all you're questions. I hope to God that someday I can ask my questions to an understanding, strong Christian who won't judge me and I hope you can too.

Hey there this was very informative well thought out and researched. I do have a problem u seem like one u blakently say christians are against homosexuality yet I personally and many of my friends don't. Object to it. Also u single out christianity other religions or at least the big three islam christianity and judism also chritize homosexuality anyway it was a good essay though those are my only gripes

I don't have anything against what you have said I see NOTHING wrong with homosexuality. What do I mean by this? MY BEST FRIEND in highschool was gay. I had REALLY CARED about him. What do I mean by this? He had ended our friendship when I had started dating my now ex. I still wanted to be friends with him I had even tried to contact him. I NEVER/NOT ever really knew the exact reason why he had ended our friendship. It had REALLY hurt when he did. Why did it hurt? Because he had been my friend for years and I CARED ABOUT HIM.

The bible wasn't originally written in Greek though, just saying. Also, languages evolve over time and so aren't necessarily the exact same as they were and if you could find an original copy of the bible to translate then I would credit what you translated.

Solution: find someone who knows Greek and ask them what the original translation says. I mean, that sounds stupid, like "Well, just find a time machine and go back and ask Jesus for yourself!" but a lot of pastors study Greek in school and I bet they could tell you.

I had already talked about this in great detail however I will say I like how you wrote the following - I will use this part of it - "I fell in love with somebody who was there for me, cared about me, and who made me feel special and loved." Why am I using this? Because I think that feeling is universal NO matter whether one is Bi-sexual, Homosexual, or Straight I am using straight because I am uncertain if I will spell headerosexual correctly.

Very courageous of you to write this. Not surprising that the reviews are so polarized.

Sexuality is on a scale (look up the Kinsey scale online, watch the movie, etc.). As heterosexual as I think I am, I have some homosexual tendencies, and sometimes feel a little transgender/ transexual, but of course the freedom I feel in thinking about them and acting them out has a lot to do with my culture, religion, etc. Sexuality is personal, private, and individual. Anything (religion, politics, popular opinion, theories of evolution, history) that gets in the way of sexual expression is a waste of time, as far as I'm concerned. Have your cake and eat it too, or you'll regret it when you're older. Just don't have any children you're not ready for!

Again, this has made me think. I am NOT an expert on the bible for I haven't read it since my mother insisted upon it when I was a small child. When I was a small child I wasn't analyzing what had been written. I know this when humans sit in a circle and one says a word or phrase in another person's ear as it is said in each person's ear the word and/or phrase changes. What does that mean? Things may have changed with translation. Also, based on what I had learned as a Roman Catholic God gave man the choice to if I remember correctly to eat the apple or to not - free will. Based on man's choice the decisions that we make are ours - I am NOT basing this off of homosexuality. I am basing it off of when the bible was written genetic engineering hadn't been even thought of, humans weren't playing with hormones and antibiotics to alter food. What is my point? Family's were thought of as a woman, a man and a child or children. It was the choice of man kind to alter the food supply and the food is NOT like it was when the bible had been created. Again, what do I mean by this? I am not certain if when the bible was written if back then people were born gay and just went along with everyone else because that was the way that it was and out of fear. I REALLY DON'T know. However a LOT of things have changed since the bible was created and again I DON'T know everything that there is to know about the bible. I will say this - that love is supposed to be accepting and without negative thought. What do I mean by this? Are we really showing love toward our fellow human beings if we judge them based off of their differences? What point do we prove when we do that?

Realistically the church at least in Roman Catholic religion has been tarnished and that is NOT because of homosexuality it is because of men that have done HORRIBLE things to children. They have abused their positions as priests and that has hurt the thought of the church. I will also say this - when I was a teenager I had watched this movie called; Stigmata (if my memory serves me correct) basically the church was man made - God didn't say it necessary to attend the church for God could be felt out in nature amongst the trees and the birds - animals. However they were making money off of the churches and so they had continued along with it. What has hurt love in society is the people that have abused their positions and have done WRONG and HORRIBLE things to children. That has NOTHING to do with homosexuality and EVERTHING to do with people abusing their positions. I DON'T like every time I hear about a priest who has abused young girls or boys - it makes me upset and they should have NOT NEVER/NOT ever been a priest to begin with. That "IS" what is hurting our society it "IS" the abuse and neglect of children. I am CERTAIN that God DOESN'T want that for children and I would also think that it includes animals also. Regardless whether it does or doesn't also include animals I will ALWAYS stand up for them because animals/our pets/our friends give us unconditional love and they are ALWAYS by our side.

MY APOLOGIES however I know that there is a LOT of ignorance out there and I DON'T think anyone should be treated horribly because of their differences. Also, I have noticed that a LOT of people DON'T like change however change can be a GOOD thing especially because change means having more knowledge and MORE of an understanding of life and the world around you.

MY APOLOGIES for rambling however I ONLY ever mean well here.

I will leave one last comment - I went to a Roman Catholic elementary school and once a week or so a priest would show up at the school and the priest had asked me; "Why don't I go to church?" I told him because I don't have to go to church in order to believe in God and he had agreed with me and I left it at that. I would like to also add that I LOVE historical churches as there is much love in the creation of those structures and they aren't made that way anymore. I LOVE historical buildings, I will also say that I have ALWAYS wanted to try to go to a church where they sing out and yell out Hallaluyah and Praise the Lord - Why? Because I wanted to see what it is like? Because I wanted to know if that church would feel more like a community of people? Because I wanted to see if I felt love there. What do I mean by this? When I was a child - I wasn't really noticed when I would walk around after church I would hear people's conversations and they would talk badly about each other and it seemed more like a place where people showed off their clothing. I want to see if I feel love in another type of church a community the way that it should be.

I think places should feel like communities where everyone is accepted and everyone is respected and everyone feels love and warmth of friendship. NO judgements, NO riduculing, NO being mean or anything negative - just the feeling of being connected and that is why I LOVE NATURE. I LOVE being out in nature. SERIOUSLY I DO. Especially when the butterflies fly around you as though they are checking out your aura - I LOVE that. Have I had that happen to me? YES.

"Could it be possible that someone, in the act of translating or simply just transcribing the bible, could have read it wrong or took the meaning the wrong way and made it so that now God hates homosexuality?"

Yes, that's very possible. Throughout time people have used words in the bible in innumerable instances to further their own goals, ends and beliefs, twisting and skewing the words for their own purposes. The Bible was written about 5,000 years ago, canonized about 2,200 years ago, and then added to (the Christian tradition) about 1,800 years ago. I do not find it difficult to believe that the intended meanings of the words are often understood completely differently from how they were intended to be. That's why there's theology; it's a constant work at attempting to understand the Bible because not everything is blatantly obvious or clear.

Even the passage you mentioned above is extremely vague. It doesn't mention homosexual female intercourse. It does mention sodomy which is elsewhere mentioned in the Bible as something you shouldn't do. However, it is my personal belief that it's worthwhile to note that anal sex can be dangerous. That doesn't mean that men shouldn't do it, but sometimes it's not always good for the anus. There may be an entomological reason for sodomy at least, but that, like the consumption of pork, is something which was specifically socially and culturally relevant at the time of writing and this is not necessarily the case any longer.

Also, there are a lot of impulses that you don't act on. That doesn't make the impulses any less present. You are gay because you want to have sex with other people of the same gender, not because you do. And if you prefer people of the same gender, why make yourself suffer? Because God says so? Except for God doesn't say so specifically, your preacher says so using vague quotes from the bible that make it seem as though his point and the quote are the same when, in reality and upon closer study, they aren't.

Christianity is a very broad net, there are alternate view points within the religion even on homosexuality. I would suggest looking at some pro-homosexuality Christian theology. In my opinion, it is so much kinder and more natural to embrace and accept and love than spurn, repress, and hate.

I have noticed something throughout my life people will always critisize something that they don't understand and in some cases that they fear. However it DOESN'T make it right. I know that people don't chose to be gay they are or they aren't. Also, the Christian reliigion has ridiculed other things throughout the years based on fear and ignorance again that doesn't make them ridiculing things right. I have NOT analyzed the bible as of yet so really I DON'T remember all that it states and regardless it would've been man's interpretation based off of things and etc... However technically if you think about it - we the people of the world ALL people are brothers and sisters. We should ALL respect each other and care for each other NOT judge people based upon their differences - if a person doesn't understand something then they should talk to the people that know about it and find out. NOT in a critical sense in a sense of finding out information basically like a journalist with an open mind.

Thank you for sharing this as it had made me think.

You said:

"I would propose that even though homosexuality has been around since Henry VIII and before it is basically a 21st century phenomenon. Before now everyone was straight and there wasn't a whole lot of question about it, you just were. Then something different, guys with guys and girls with girls, started emerging and because it was different it was almost immediately perceived as wrong just for that, before anyone even started getting into how it's all morally wrong and junk. So once again, a I'm-going-to-rebel-because-everyone's-being-so-unf air-towards-me-because-I-dare-to-be-different mentality is emerging and really can you blame them? If you've ever been on that side of a situation you probably felt the same way."

I would like to point out that before now everyone WASN'T just straight. If you do reading on pre-Christian homosexuality, you will find a lot of information, particularly about the Greeks. It was considered normal for an older man to have a sexual relationship with a younger man, and some people even thought that a man hadn't even really lost his virginity until he'd had sex with another man. Female homosexuality was largely ignored, but that isn't to say it didn't exist.

If what you're arguing is that people did not necessarily IDENTIFY as gay, straight, lesbian, whatever, then I would agree with you. These are modern TERMS. This is new language to describe new ways in which people identify themselves. A lot of the time in previous eras, depending on the social and cultural context discussed, homosexuality was either just something you did on the side, the person you were really in love with when your marriage was solely a mode for the production of children, or something that you were that was perhaps just not socially acceptable or discussed. That's not to say homosexuality itself is a new thing; far from it. Only the social context and understanding of homosexuality is different or, perhaps, new.

I'm a Christian,and am TOTALLY for homosexuality. Some people CAN be born gay,my grandmother told me that my aunt used to cry at night when she was little because she thought something was wrong with her. And some people can chose as well.
My grandmother also told me that the bible says that homosexuality is a sin,and the sinner will go to hell,that I do NOT believe in ANY way. I KNOW God is a wonderful person,he wouldn't send some one who is as kind and wonderful as my aunt. Or who is as funny and charismatic as my BFF (also bi).
BTW I liked your work. c: