Is God for the gays?
A student holds a Bible while also expressing his pride and support for the LGBTQ+ community.
It’s 2020 and there are still people who can’t accept others for who they are.
Over the last two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in public acceptance of homosexuality, as well as same-sex marriage, but a lot of churches don’t seem to budge.
“Sexual orientation was not understood in biblical times. There are references in the Bible to same-gender sexual behavior, and all of them are undeniably negative,” said former Methodist church minister, Jimmy Creech.
Rather than accepting homosexuality, some churches provide help and counseling for those who feel attracted to the same sex.
This is stated on the Evangelic Alliance’s website, “We welcome and support the work of those individuals and organizations who responsibly seek to help Christians who experience same-sex attraction as in conflict with their commitment to live in accordance with biblical teaching.”
“Religion isn’t really for LGBT. People use religion to hate on others. It categorizes things as either good or sinful and the world doesn’t really fit into those two categories,” said sophomore Jamie Sanchez.
One major misconception is that most people in the LGBTQ+ community are not actively religious.
“People presume if I’m actively LGBTQ+ and proud of it that my faith is not overly important to me. The assumption that you can’t be both is made by both communities. In reality, I really care about my relationship with God and my faith is important to me, and I know now that being who I am and being with who I love doesn’t invalidate that,” said Abbey Thorton in an interview for Independent
The religious gap between LGBTQ+ and straight adults narrows somewhat on the question of belief in God or a higher power. About three-quarters of LGBTQ+ adults (77%) say they believe in God, lower than the share of straight Americans who say this (89%) according to the Pew Research Center.
“I don’t think church should be used to hurt people but to bring people together,” said sophomore Yarethsi Leal.
It’s hard to find a major denomination where all the adherents are accepting. The Old Testament was pretty unequivocal, and it’s only until recently that they have changed their interpretations.
“Jesus’ knowledge is limited to what was knowable in the first century because—and this is a key point that I’m afraid too many Christians don’t think about nearly enough—Jesus is, in many senses, limited by the first century,” said Biblical Theology Professor Robin Scroggs on PBS Frontline.
Catechist Hilario Cardoza at the Lady of Guadalupe Church has this to say on the matter.
“I don’t understand how some could use the word of God to hate on others. God made all of us and created us differently for reasons. We should treat each other with nothing but love and respect just like he taught us,” said Cardoza.
I love my 12-year-old perrito, I have double-jointed arms, and I met Jamie Camil aka Rogelio De La Vega ;)
Ethan Kolenyi • Mar 13, 2020 at 11:06 am
I think this is a good article. I often see people in the comment section of Instagram arguing about these kinds of things. It’s good to see what other people think about it, outside of social media.
Daniel Salazar • Mar 13, 2020 at 11:05 am
The Church I go to is almost exactly the same. When reading through the book they gave us I read many things saying that they’d “help” people attracted to the same sex with counseling. The teachers that I got personally, I could tell they’re trying to be more open to that idea but they’re far from seeing each other equally.
Justin Memije-Funes • Mar 13, 2020 at 11:02 am
I like your article. I like how you’re talking about how people in the LGBT community are still not being accepted by churches.
Daniela De La Cruz • Mar 13, 2020 at 11:02 am
I strongly agree with this, especially the last quote on the article. I may be atheist, but I still believe that everyone should be treated with love and respect, religious or not religious. I still know religious straight people who accepts the LGBTQ+ community, even if their religions “claims” that homosexuality is a sin.
Manuel Ramos • Mar 13, 2020 at 11:00 am
This is a very interesting topic that has been chosen. I can take the side of this article for the most part. I can agree with that the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t mix to well with religion and that most of the time if someone is in the LGBTQ+ community they will most likely would have lost ties with god. I can say this because I lost ties with god because of my sexuality and other personal reasons.
Izel • Mar 13, 2020 at 10:59 am
I totally agree with this and how the church should make other people feel safe and loved rather than a burden to that religion. we have the right to love who we love and we should respect that. We are children of God as it said in the bible so let us all be treated the same.
Pablo Agustin • Mar 13, 2020 at 10:57 am
I think that it is unfair to use religion to hate or be discriminatory against LGBTQ+ members. I think it’s great to see that many churches are offering their help to same-sex people who are struggling to fit in their community, but religion usually has never accepted these types of people and it’s something that probably will never be accepted, sadly.
Alejandro Prado • Mar 13, 2020 at 10:57 am
I honestly think that it is important to shed a light in this topic because it is very supportive to those who are part of that community. There are actually many churches that I learned about where they present same sex marriage where they accept all people no matter who they are.
Rodriguez • Mar 13, 2020 at 10:52 am
I completely agree with Catechist Hilario Cardoza. I’m catholic and I was always told to love and accept others for who they are and not to judge others for who they want to be, you have to treat others the way you want to be treated.
Joel Garibay • Mar 13, 2020 at 10:41 am
I really like how you addressed the problem of religious conflicts and addressed it by asking Catholics and asking their opinion on the subject. This topic itself is very interesting just by itself
Gil Looez • Mar 13, 2020 at 10:37 am
It’s amazing how many people believe that just because I’m not straight that I’m not religious. I pray every day and read the Bible weekly. I’m glad that some churches are starting to be progressive for the LGBTQ+ community and hope that our local churches do so as well!