Do You Ever Go To Church? (Please reply)

[BabyScooter]

AMEN![/quote]
I second that! Yes I go to church and I'm Saved by the blood of Jesus!

 

[D'Snowth]

I don't consider myself religious or a fan of organized relgion. I don't go to church. I still pray every now-and-again. I give thanks when things are going well or I ask that my friends and family are watched for and taken care of when things are going bad in their life. I kinda consider myself agnostic. I believe in a higher power. The few times my roommate/best friend and I have gone to church (weddings or funerals) he stated that he feels kinda weird since the church "hates" me (as he puts it) cuz I'm gay. When I do step into a church, I do get the feeling of not being wanted there, eventhough nobody would know I was gay. Why go somewhere you're not wanted? I'll pray from my house.

It's like some weird double-standard... I mean, it's like, according to the Bible, homosexuality is wrong, but it's also said in the Bible that everyone should "Love Thy Neighbor".

The way I see it: if the Bible says "Love Thy Neighbor", then all Christians should love the homosexuals as well even though they're like "outcasts". I don't know why, but it's like most Christians feel that homosexuality is like some "evil cult" or something... doesn't the Bible also say we should not be judgmental of other people? So see? THAT'S wrong to call homosexuality an "evil cut", so I guess we should all hate ourselves then, right? Wrong. Because nobody ever wants to admit they're wrong.

I mean, that's just the way I see it...

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

I do. I've been a Catholic since birth, I go to Mass once a week like a good girl (more than once if there's a holy day of obligation involved), I'm often asked to be an altar server during my visits home, and I occasionally help do the music.

 

[MrsPepper]

I agree with you, Snowthers. Personally I don't think that homosexuals are "outcasts", however, some people think they are. To them I say, Jesus loved the outcasts (the prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, everyone who was looked down on in society) and spent time with them and respected them for who they were, so we should do that too. It is not our place to judge.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, I didn't mean to say they were, I just meant that most Christians seem to think they are, hence that whole "evil cult" idea.

It's like the other night when they were talking about the revealing of Dumbledorm's sexual orientation, they were reading e-mails from parents giving their two-cents worth of the whole matter, and one mom's e-mail complained about how the whole world is trying to introduce children to this "evil cult" and that if they knew of his orientation all along, they would have never bought a single Harry Potter book in the first place.

It's that kind of reactions that give the Christian faith a bad name.

 

[MartyMuppets]

I do agree that according to the Bible homosexuality is a dreadful sin in the sight of God. But God still loves homosexuals even though their sin is an offence to Him. Just like God still loves liars, thieves, adulterers and murderers while abhorring their sin. There have been many murderers, thieves, and yes, homosexuals who have repented of their sin and been forgiven by God through the sacrificial death of Christ shedding His blood on the cross and they will not live their lives in such a wrong manner again.
But sadly some Christians have a tendency to permanently brand homosexual men and women as anathema and so they end up being strongly unwelcomed among the Church Christ died to make them a part of.

Why do we forget what Jesus said about not judging others and hating the sin but loving the sinner in this single area? How heartbroken it must make Jesus Christ, His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

[D'Snowth]

I do agree that according to the Bible homosexuality is a dreadful sin in the sight of God. But God still loves homosexuals even though their sin is an offence to Him. Just like God still loves liars, thieves, adulterers and murderers while abhorring their sin. There have been many murderers, thieves, and yes, homosexuals who have repented of their sin and been forgiven by God through the sacrificial death of Christ shedding His blood on the cross and they will not live their lives in such a wrong manner again.
But sadly some Christians have a tendency to permanently brand homosexual men and women as anathema and so they end up being strongly unwelcomed among the Church Christ died to make them a part of.

Why do we forget what Jesus said about not judging others and hating the sin but loving the sinner in this single area? How heartbroken it must make Jesus Christ, His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.

EXACTLY! It's like these commercials I've seen on TV a couple of years ago about a specific church shooing certain people out of their altar (a gay man, a goth girl, a man who was lusting over another woman, another man who was wanting to kill the crying baby behind them), then at the end of the commercial, a message flashed saying "Jesus didn't turn people away."

 

[MartyMuppets]

Yes Jesus desires that all should come to Him for forgiveness. He will never turn away anyone who is genuinely sincere no matter what they have previously done in their lives.

I've seen some great words once while perusing an old church hymnbook.
"There's room at the cross for you.
Yes, there's room at the cross for you.
Though millions have come, still there's room left for one.
There is room at the cross for you."

 

[CensoredAlso]

It's like the other night when they were talking about the revealing of Dumbledorm's sexual orientation, they were reading e-mails from parents giving their two-cents worth of the whole matter, and one mom's e-mail complained about how the whole world is trying to introduce children to this "evil cult" and that if they knew of his orientation all along, they would have never bought a single Harry Potter book in the first place.

It's that kind of reactions that give the Christian faith a bad name.

After learning more about the issue (I haven't read all the HP books so I had to do more research lol), I think what Rowling did was fine. You will meet homosexuals in your life; it's almost guaranteed. You have to learn how to deal with different kinds of people, or you will be quickly left behind. And whatever you may think of the life style (everyone's entitled to their opinion), everyone deserves respect. People are people; some are good, some are bad. You need to judge people by the kind of person they ultimately are, regardless of orientation.

It is upsetting how judgemental some Christians can be. Again, you can have an opinion, but as Jesus said, worry about your own problems first before you pass too much judgement on others.

(And btw, you can find judgemental people everywhere, religion or no. And Christianity, including Catholicism, is a very tolerant and compassionate faith in many ways. And it has dealt with its own share of persecution over the years. If we are going to talk about respect, we should mean everyone.)

Honestly, I think that's why we have so many problems in the world. People are too busy pointing figures to notice their own frailties (and I mean both 'liberals' and 'conservatives.'). I'm not saying you should never judge people (there are evils in the world we are all guilty of such as selfishness and violence). However, you cannot force people to change. You can only change yourself.

"On Sesame Street we are lucky...We can teach the kids about how to live with each other...the sooner you realize that, you can get onto other important things. " (Richard Hunt said that).

And I just wanted to say, I wasn't referring to anyone here. I think this discussion has been very informative and civil.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

To me there's a difference between living in sin and struggling in sin. We're all born sinners and and the church welcome in them in, but it's up to the individual to turn away from theirs sins and turn to God. We can all remind each other to be righteous, but we can't make anybody do anything. It wouldn't be right for me to call somebody else wrong if I've done wrong myself, but we're all struggling in different places in out lives. You never know what somebody Else might be going through. You know, If the church didn't accept people who were have done wrong, I think nobody would be welcome.