Can a gay be religious?

[Guest Grouping]

There are two distinct categories of people in the realm of humanity.
God invented one group, and another group invented God.
I believe I fall into the former group.

[Steve5380]

On 9/25/2022 at 8:03 AM, Guest Grouping said:

There are two distinct categories of people in the realm of humanity.
God invented one group, and another group invented God.
I believe I fall into the former group.

 

Thank you.  I think I also belong to the first group.

 

My "God" could be the unknown force or mechanism that created the first self-reproducing cells,  which then evolved into the whole animal and vegetal kingdom.  We don't know where this could have happened in the Universe, and at what early time after the big bang.  Maybe LIFE is a natural matter besides the inorganic matter including the negative matter?  Something that is equally fundamental and did not need to be "created" or invented?

[thickhead79]

As long as u donate money to them 

God will love u n accept u 

[sum1outhere_03]

1 hour ago, thickhead79 said:

As long as u donate money to them 

God will love u n accept u 

 

If you're talking about the Christian faith, this is a flawed teaching under the word of faith movement. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Faith#:~:text=Word of Faith is a,the right to physical health.

 

https://www.learnreligions.com/word-of-faith-errors-700135

[Steve5380]

7 minutes ago, sum1outhere_03 said:

 

If you're talking about the Christian faith, this is a flawed teaching under the word of faith movement. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Faith#:~:text=Word of Faith is a,the right to physical health.

 

https://www.learnreligions.com/word-of-faith-errors-700135

 

Thank you for reminding us of the preachers of the "Word of faith",  the "prosperity gospel".

 

A believer in the divinity of Jesus Christ should remember his saying in Matthew 19:24  " it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God "   The "prosperity gospel"  is in total blatant contradiction to the very words of Jesus !!

 

If we are gay,  we should feel confident in being religious.   It stars with our personal realization of the fundamental fact that there is nothing wrong with being gay, therefore there cannot be anything sinful in this.  Then, having found this big flaw in the doctrine of an attractive religion like Christianity, it is a natural derivation that other parts of the doctrine, or its integrity, can be false too.   After all, there is absolutely no proof of it, being all hearsay.  Then, we should feel free to entertain our personal ideas of religion.  It is a good state of our spirit to have religiousness.

[Steve5380]

10 hours ago, Since u r here said:

 

 

So much common sense does Pope Francis have!!!   He is TOTALLY RIGHT.

 

Catholicism considers a SIN all sex that does not have the purpose of procreation.  So all the straights who have sex with their women, wives or lovers, using any kind of contraceptives,  are SINNING as much as homosexuals.

[fetish72]

Being religious is genderless as it makes you do the right things prevent you doing bad things. Regardless what you belief you can be religious as long you dont preach on others or belittle them. Religious is something makes you calm and put you on the right path as well direction and prevent bad karma come and hunt you.

[Guest Homo]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:03 AM, Steve5380 said:

 

So much common sense does Pope Francis have!!!   He is TOTALLY RIGHT.

He is absolutely WRONG!!!  Homosexuality is NOT A SIN. 

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, Guest Homo said:

He is absolutely WRONG!!!  Homosexuality is NOT A SIN. 

 

It depends on your point of view.

 

Remember that the Pope...  is the Pope,  the head of the Catholic Church on earth.  And in the Catholic doctrine, sex should only be used to make babies.  Otherwise, sex for the Catholics is SIN, no matter if it is straight or gay sex. Pope Francis, being The Pope,  cannot depart from this,  so he is right.

 

For us, the non-believers, nothing of this matters.  We KNOW that our sex is not a sin, it is right.   Nothing what others say should bother us, unless they try to impose their views on us. 

 

And Pope Francis is right that although homosexuality is a SIN,  laws criminalizing it are unjust, because they should equally criminalize the 99% of heterosexuality that is not done to make babies.  but they do not. 

[Guest Homo]

45 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

And Pope Francis is right that although homosexuality is a SIN, they should equally criminalize the 99% of heterosexuality that is not done to make babies.  but they do not. 

Right!!!  Pope Franics is a biased piece of fool.   Homosexuality to him is considered Sin, but not Hetrosexuality.  

[Steve5380]

10 hours ago, Guest Homo said:

Right!!!  Pope Franics is a biased piece of fool.   Homosexuality to him is considered Sin, but not Hetrosexuality.  

 

Not Right!!!  For Pope Francis any heterosexual sex that is not done for procreation is also SIN.  He just was not talking about heterosexuality but about homosexuality.

[Guest What?]

7 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

 

Not Right!!!  For Pope Francis any heterosexual sex that is not done for procreation is also SIN.  He just was not talking about heterosexuality but about homosexuality.

He certainly knows how to pick and choose to secure his personal status..huh.

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, Guest What? said:

He certainly knows how to pick and choose to secure his personal status..huh.

 

YOU don't know how to pick and choose to secure your own personal status...huh!?

[Guest Pope's victim]

10 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

Not Right!!!  For Pope Francis any heterosexual sex that is not done for procreation is also SIN.  He just was not talking about heterosexuality but about homosexuality.

How convenient!!

[Steve5380]

3 minutes ago, Guest Pope's victim said:

How convenient!!

 

Yes, it is convenient.  And he is the first Pope to say so.  He passes from the religious to the secular, and states that homosexuality SHOULD NOT be criminalized, even when in the domain of his religion it is considered a sin.  

 

His words are smart and helpful to us.  With them he shuts the mouth of those who justify homophobia and homophobic laws with the argument that it is considered a sin by the Church.   He has not said that homophobia is a bigger sin than homosexuality,  but it is possible that he says this some day...  

[Steve5380]

And this good and wise Pope Francis has clarified his statement about homosexuality not being a crime:

 

https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-lgbtq-people-religion-marriage-862075728690d103bd99bbe8e1e65aba

 

 

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has clarified his recent comments about homosexuality and sin, saying he was merely referring to official Catholic moral teaching that teaches that any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin.

And in a note Friday, Francis recalled that even that black-and-white teaching is subject to circumstances that might eliminate the sin altogether.

Francis first made the comments in an interview Jan. 24 with The Associated Press, in which he declared that laws criminalizing homosexuality were “unjust” and that “being homosexual is not a crime.”

As he often does, Francis then imagined a conversation with someone who raised the matter of the church’s official teaching, which states that homosexual acts are sinful, or “intrinsically disordered.”

“Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime,” Francis said in the pretend conversation. “It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another.”

 

The Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit who runs the U.S.-based Outreach ministry for LGBTQ Catholics, asked Francis for clarification and printed the pope’s handwritten response on the Outreach website late Friday.

 

In his note, Francis reaffirmed that homosexuality “is not a crime,” and said he spoke out “in order to stress that criminalization is neither good nor just.”

“When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin,” Francis wrote in Spanish, underlining the final phrase.

But in a nod to his case-by-case approach to pastoral ministry, Francis noted that even that teaching is subject to consideration of the circumstances, “which may decrease or eliminate fault.”

He acknowledged he could have been clearer in his comments to the AP. But he said he was using “natural and conversational language” in the interview that didn’t call for precise definitions.

“As you can see, I was repeating something in general. I should have said: ‘It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage.’ This is to speak of ‘the matter’ of sin, but we know well that Catholic morality not only takes into consideration the matter, but also evaluates freedom and intention; and this, for every kind of sin,” he said.

.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Steve5380

[MasterFitMalaySG4U]

Nope. Never. 

[Guest David]

Former religious people, what was your breaking point?

[Ryuki]

Your female boss having mental retardation 

[Guest Happy Food]

Gay has the option to practice his religion.  Religion can also be practiced in a variety of ways, depending on your preferences: traditional or contemporary; closed or opened; tightened or relaxed; loud or quiet; preachy or worldly.    You have the right to choose which method suits your spirituality that makes you happy.  My religion is a mixture of Christianity, Jewish and Buddhism all blend into one book that I used as spiritual food.

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 2/18/2023 at 3:47 AM, Guest Happy Food said:

 

Gay has the option to practice his religion.  Religion can also be practiced in a variety of ways, depending on your preferences: traditional or contemporary; closed or opened; tightened or relaxed; loud or quiet; preachy or worldly.    You have the right to choose which method suits your spirituality that makes you happy.  My religion is a mixture of Christianity, Jewish and Buddhism all blend into one book that I used as spiritual food.

 

 

I second your idea about religion.  And going one step further,  we all have a natural ability to practice religiousness.  This does not need to be tied to any organized religion, although we usually are born into and educated in a particular one.  Religiousness can be simply allowing ourselves to speculate about the supernatural.  Letting rest the rational mind and accepting that completely different dimensions, worlds may exist of which we are totally ignorant.  That these supernatural worlds may open to our spirit after we end our journey in this life. 

 

In reality, a 100% atheism can be a deficiency, a lack of imagination, of ideas about probability.  It can also be an excessive self opinion,  that "if it exists, I should be able to perceive it".   And it can be some resentment against organized religions.

 

The most comfortable position is that of the agnostic.  All this takes is to recognize that "I don't know" or "we humans are limited in our knowledge, and nobody knows for sure".   Let it be... what it is. 

 

Now that you are in the state of Happy Spiritual Food,  reach also the state of Happy Body Nutritional Food.   

[Steve5380]

I am going back a few months when Pope Francis made some clarifications about homosexuality.  We all read about this, but I found this video that I find so charming!  This Pope from Buenos Aires speaks here in the Spanish we use there, fortunately translated into English,  and his sincerity and goodness are clearly reflected in his voice.

 

We Catholics... well...  we have to take the word of the Pope as the word of God.   So now we know that for God,  being gay IS NOT a crime,  ha ha.   

 

Yes, but it is a sin!   Bah...  it is also a sin when I make fun of the church.  No big deal, we won't go to hell for that.

 

 

 

[Guest Zantou]

Hello all!! Question: Has anyone found a common level of religious belief, in the person's previous life? In other words, were they very religious, kinda normal religious or Atheistic? Thank you.

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, Guest Zantou said:

Hello all!! Question: Has anyone found a common level of religious belief, in the person's previous life? In other words, were they very religious, kinda normal religious or Atheistic? Thank you.

 

Hello Guest Zantou,  let's start with you, having the same chances as we all of being reincarnated.  Have YOU found any clue of your religious belief in your previous lives?

 

I have ZERO information about my previous life,  and I think that the way reincarnation works is that we don't have any.  But I accept that we might have some spiritual influences like feelings that come from a previous life.

[Guest R U with me?]

19 hours ago, Guest Zantou said:

Hello all!! Question: Has anyone found a common level of religious belief, in the person's previous life? In other words, were they very religious, kinda normal religious or Atheistic? Thank you.

Religious conviction is a malleable product.  In your present existence, you have the option of holding a variety of beliefs. Some people alter their beliefs frequently in this lifetime.   Pick the one that best suits you or that you believe has already improved your life.

 

If you have the opinion that a particular belief is what ties or unties your previous life. Then no matter what your experiences in this life were, your soul will eventually guide you to the same road of faith.

[Guest David]

I'm so excited for Pope Francis visit this September here in Singapore. Anyone feeling the same?

[thickhead79]

just ask god wan gay money or not

[Swimfun]

Can I suggest that you post your question directly to your trusted religious leader instead of here? You know you will only get brutally selfish answers. No one florist will tell you their flowers smell bad. There are reasons why you trust a particular religious person and have chosen to devote oneself to a particular religion.

[Steve5380]

24 minutes ago, Swimfun said:

Can I suggest that you post your question directly to your trusted religious leader instead of here? You know you will only get brutally selfish answers. No one florist will tell you their flowers smell bad. There are reasons why you trust a particular religious person and have chosen to devote oneself to a particular religion.

 

There are reasons for everything.  Even for committing suicide.  But what is important is to have GOOD reasons.

 

Florists will not tell you their flowers smell bad.  But...  ...  if you have a sense of smell,...  you can smell their flowers yourself, and determine if they are any good or not.

[Guest Martin Luther]

11 hours ago, Guest David said:

I'm so excited for Pope Francis visit this September here in Singapore. Anyone feeling the same?

The population of Catholic in Singapore is not big,  except fillipino.  Are you a pinoy?

[egal]

i m sure the powers to be want the swift effect

[singalion]

Can a gay be religious?

 

 

Actually, I find the discussion futile.

 

Why should a gay as any other person not be religious.

 

While there might be some conflicts with religious rules for a gay, I don't see how this differs from others who are also infringing the religious rules (adulterers, liars, thefts...).

 

For me personal, I m probably too smart to don't see or understand the past reasons why certain religions were against homosexuality. But I find it outdated. Unfortunately, some religions fail to adapt to the current times.

 

Everyone has to decide for himself what is approach to religion is.

 

 

 

[singalion]

9 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

There are reasons for everything.  Even for committing suicide.  But what is important is to have GOOD reasons.

 

Florists will not tell you their flowers smell bad.  But...  ...  if you have a sense of smell,...  you can smell their flowers yourself, and determine if they are any good or not.

 

Doesn't it go for religions also?

 

[singalion]

11 hours ago, Guest David said:

I'm so excited for Pope Francis visit this September here in Singapore. Anyone feeling the same?

 

But I don't think he will fill 7 nights of the Stadium like Taylor Swift.

 

I am not Catholic but actually I am quite disappointed from Pope Francis.

He promised some reforms to modernise the Catholic church but actually he prevented a lot of reforms during his term.

 

His appearance doesn't matter much to me.

Which means the Catholic have to live with him and his "policy".

Currently he seems frail also, might resign soon as Benedict did.

 

 

[Guest Mind your business?]

4 hours ago, singalion said:

I am not Catholic but actually I am quite disappointed from Pope Francis.

He promised some reforms to modernise the Catholic church but actually he prevented a lot of reforms during his term.

 

You should not be concerned about his reform or lack thereof, as you are not a Catholic.  As a result, Catholics shouldn't think about you much.

[Steve5380]

9 hours ago, singalion said:

 

Doesn't it go for religions also?

 

 

You might have a point...

 

Why many religions use incense in their services?  Does the nice smell of incense... hide other smells?

[Guest Godly Son]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

You might have a point...

 

Why many religions use incense in their services?  Does the nice smell of incense... hide other smells?

Who cares about smell of incense. Get back to the topic. 

 

Religion is not exclusive to straight people. Prove to me which religions mentioned  gay cannot be religious.  The answer is none. You people are scaring yourself. 

[Guest Answer this first]

Can an ant be dogmatic?

 

 

[singalion]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

You might have a point...

 

Why many religions use incense in their services?  Does the nice smell of incense... hide other smells?

 

It might hide the imperfections of the religion or the priest... 

 

 

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, Guest Godly Son said:

Who cares about smell of incense. Get back to the topic. 

 

Religion is not exclusive to straight people. Prove to me which religions mentioned  gay cannot be religious.  The answer is none. You people are scaring yourself. 

 

I never wrote that religion is exclusive of straights, and I don't believe it is.  And there is one further DETAIL:

 

For those of us who believe in our heart that homosexuality is not bad, is not a sin,  religions that condemn homosexuality have to be stricken off immediately as being false.  It should not be possible that a religion that is TRUE and exists for thousands of years can still take exception with sexual orientations.  We are ALL created equal.

 

1 hour ago, singalion said:

 

It might hide the imperfections of the religion or the priest... 

 

 

Correct.  The same as the long garbs of a priest can hide a hard-on.

[Steve5380]

11 hours ago, singalion said:

 

I am not Catholic but actually I am quite disappointed from Pope Francis.

He promised some reforms to modernise the Catholic church but actually he prevented a lot of reforms during his term.

 

His appearance doesn't matter much to me.

Which means the Catholic have to live with him and his "policy".

Currently he seems frail also, might resign soon as Benedict did.

 

 

 

You have a perfect right to be disappointed with anyone.  Like with a Pope who is not traditionally Italian, but is an Argentinian,  people who have some reputation of being arrogant.

 

I like Pope Francis because he has not a cell of arrogant but instead gives great examples of humility.  I know of no other Pope who stated that to be homosexual is not a SIN, and gay sex is not a CRIME but simply a SIN like all sex that is not intended for procreation.  He is progressive,  like he has shown condemning Trump.

 

Wise leaders in power don't try to radically change everything in their power.  Look how long it took your government to decriminalize gay sex!  And your Prime Minister is not trying to force same-sex marriage.  Similarly, Pope Francis recognizes that he is just one more "intermediary to God",  and he does not try to turn Catholicism upside down.

.

Edited April 14, 2024 by Steve5380

[Guest Spirited Boy]

9 hours ago, singalion said:

 

It might hide the imperfections of the religion or the priest... 

 

 

8 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

Correct.  The same as the long garbs of a priest can hide a hard-on.

You guys are trying to be smart but I don't see it that way.  Incense served two purposes.  One for the man, one for the spirit.

 

The Spirit

Bible says, Man burn incense to please GOD and connect to the Spirial Realm.

 

The Man

Priest burn incense to get rid of stale air and human ordor, after a mass, trapped in a window-less cathedral.

 

Hope you two morons get the fact right in future. 

[Steve5380]

2 minutes ago, Guest Spirited Boy said:

 

You guys are trying to be smart but I don't see it that way.  Incense served two purposes.  One for the man, one for the spirit.

 

The Spirit

Bible says, Man burn incense to please GOD and connect to the Spirial Realm.

 

The Man

Priest burn incense to get rid of stale air and human ordor, after a mass, trapped in a window-less cathedral.

 

Hope you two morons get the fact right in future. 

 

Thank you for your kind clarification.  But I think you got two items wrong.

 

- WHY does a God need to be PLEASED?   with incense ??  What a cheap God!

- WHY does Man need the smell of incense to connect with the Spiritual Realm?  I am a simple man, and I can do it without incense.

 

So, don't be such a moron,  and before posting get your points right!

 

  

[Guest Spirited Boy]

5 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

- WHY does a God need to be PLEASED?   with incense ??  What a cheap God!

 

Let me tighten your screw a little bit more:

 

To the GOD

 Psalm 141 we have the plea, “Let my prayer come like incense before you.”   Not everyone knows how to pray with words, incense came as substitute to bring your thought to heaven. 

 

To the Man

The  incense acts as broom to purity and cleanse negative energy, eliminating impurities and creating an environment that is sacred and conducive to spiritual connections and experiences.

 

Feels better now?

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, Guest Spirited Boy said:

Let me tighten your screw a little bit more:

 

To the GOD

 Psalm 141 we have the plea, “Let my prayer come like incense before you.”   Not everyone knows how to pray with words, incense came as substitute to bring your thought to heaven. 

 

To the Man

The  incense acts as broom to purity and cleanse negative energy, eliminating impurities and creating an environment that is sacred and conducive to spiritual connections and experiences.

 

Feels better now?

 

No.  I don't feel better since I don't feel bad, but perhaps you need to think a little better.

 

WHY should one agree with the person who wrote this Psalm 141?  It is a mistake to compare two objects that are heterogeneous,  a prayer (spiritual) with incense (a gum, spice that produces smoke).  If smoke is so great, then firefighters who work around fires and their smokes would be constantly praying...  😄

 

And some smoke from incense won't "purify" any man.  At most, if it is excessive, it may damage his lungs!

[Guest Spirited Boy]

32 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

 

WHY should one agree with the person who wrote this Psalm 141?

Why should we also agree with you then?

 

We are talking about incense smoke here, and you....you are just smoking all over the places in this topic.  Did you not just mentioned that...........

32 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

 

................It is a mistake to compare two objects that are heterogeneous,

You just slapped yourself with the above answer without me needing to go any further.

 

Bye!

[Guest Danial]

Would God punish gays?

[Steve5380]

44 minutes ago, Guest Danial said:

Would God punish gays?

 

A God, if He exists,  should punish gays and straights who deserve it,  EQUALLY.  

[Guest Not Fair]

10 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

 

A God, if He exists,  should punish gays and straights who deserve it,  EQUALLY.  

Gay should be the last on God's mind as punishment as if the Gay has not already suffered through His creation. 

[Steve5380]

8 hours ago, Guest Not Fair said:

Gay should be the last on God's mind as punishment as if the Gay has not already suffered through His creation. 

 

I fully agree with you!  No decent God would support the ugly condemnation, discrimination, punishment that human society has unleashed since ancient times on the Gay and others with non traditional orientations.  

 

The God of Israel has surely punished the ancient Jews for their homophobia, the fact that they had to escape from Egypt, then their Temple was destroyed, they lost their "Holy Land", they were despised by the Christians, and finally by Hitler.  

 

And after Jesus Christ, the Christian homophobes must have been punished with long years in the Purgatory, with the creation of Islam, with the Crusades, with the Inquisition, with today all the scandals about pedophile priests who abuse of altar boys and other youngsters, etc.

 

And after Muhammad, the same Islamic God is punishing the Muslims who are so homophobic by having them endure all the wars in the Middle East. 

 

We Gays should feel confident that we are on the good side of a God, who is now twisting society into the EQUALITY that should have existed since the beginning of Humanity.  Let's feel blessed that we live today and in the future!