Sad our church turned its back on dd

[TeenLifeMum]

Dd has been to church all her life. At one point we moved to a different church that suited us more but we made lovely friends etc and dd was attending youth group until she was 15. Suddenly she was less keen but focusing on GCSEs so we didn’t push it. With clubs etc for the other dc, regular attendance dropped a bit but we were fairly relaxed.

I believe in god but have always had issues with “the church”, but put that aside to be with people of faith.

I recently learned why dd stopped going to youth - they did a full session on how they should pray for gay people in the hope of healing them. How they are so angry about people loving each other is beyond me.

dd is gay. Her girlfriend is loving, kind, polite, and caring. I want all my dc to have loving healthy relationships so have no issue and naively thought others wouldn’t care. Turns out they do. Two of her closest friends stepped away due to her being gay (parents we’d met through church) and now she understandably doesn’t want to go to church, and neither do I.

I’m angry. I hope they’re really proud of themselves from their high horses. On the off chance they’re on here - no, you’re not good Christians.

Thanks for humouring my rant.

If you are anywhere near Manchester you may want to take her to village church. I know both of the female clergy who are part of the clergy team for this church and they are passionate about LGBTQ+ (sorry if I've got this bit wrong) people having a safe space to worship and where they are welcomed and loved no matter who they are.

Well said @sparklyfox 👏🏻

Except what the bible "says" varies from branch to branch of organised religion, and even within each of those denominations! Church A and Church B could be mere yards from each other, with A teaching that homosexuality is a sin, and B accepting homosexuality with open arms. Nobodies opinion is based purely on "what [the bible] says". It's based on theirs or a leaders own interpretation of the bible. And that's where the problem is!

I understand where you are coming from, but as someone who's life is scrutinised in this way it certainly feels like hate. No matter how much people try to dress it up as loving concern.

What a bunch of tossers...and well done for supporting your daughter without question.

You’re a creationist? Which of the two creation stories in Genesis do you subscribe to and why?

You refer to “the Bible”, which is an assemblage of texts written over thousands of years, referring to even earlier oral traditions, and gathered together by various committees.

Do you honestly not wear clothing made of mixed material?

And can you put your hand on your heart and say that you have never worked on a Saturday?

Why should we adher to the existential ruminations of Bronze Age tribes who believed that the sun orbited the earth?

Much of the debate seems to centre round the meaning and translation of “arsenos koiten “. What are your thoughts on this?

@sparklyfox, if someone objects to their daughter marrying a black man with "I'm not racist, I just believe it's immoral for people of different races to marry, interracial marriage is just as bad as adultery" - would you think that that person isn't racist?

They really aren't as they believe that Jesus is the brother of Satan, God came from the planet Kolob and if an LDS man tries hard enough he can be God of his own planet some day. Plus, Joseph Smith was a charlatan.
They do not believe in the Holy Trinity and although they use the same words as Christians, they do not have the same meaning.

Check out inclusivefaith.lgbt
It is an umbrella group of Christians who are inclusive of LGBT+ people. I think it is based in Northern Ireland (Where traditional churches are very homophobic- to the point of barring taking of communion if you are gay).
I'm sure your daughter will find a community of Christians who accept her.

OK then 👍
Let’s look at that

“Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them,
“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
John 8 :3-11

Though He, as God incarnate was without sin and was the only man present who could have condemned her He offered her grace, forgiveness and a fresh start and commanded her
“Go and sin no more”. 👀

My local CofE church had a gay priestess! I only went due to scouts cos I'm not religious, but it just shows how duff each church is. The priestess was brilliant btw.

You maybe need a new church.

@ZoeCM @sparklyfox You are aware that certain denominations didn't and in some cases still don't believe that people of different ethnicities/skin colours should marry each other as one ethnicity/skin colour is inferior.

@Reugny yes but that's not biblically based. Candice Owens has spoken on this. (A black Christian married to a white man)

There’s no such thing as a standard CofE congregation. It’s a broad church intentionally. You’ll find everything from high church (smells and bells) to evangelical / evangelising to nominal / cultural and everything in between, what you have described sounds very American and very rare in the U.K. I think you need to look around for a congregation that suits her better, if she wants to go / believes at all. Gay priests are not uncommon and they manage to make peace with their sexuality and interpretations of scripture that are sometimes used to suggest homosexuality is wrong.

I think there is a difference between being homophobic and believing it is a sin. If any of my children are gay I would support them in line with my beliefs - the older ones already understand that as we have talked about the difference. The younger ones it’s not appropriate yet.

Candice Owens is chock a block FULL of hate. She is not someone to turn to when discussing these subjects.

@JayJayEl you aren't missing anything.

Some Churches including CofE are completely homophobic. However there are individual churches and their associated schools who due to their location wouldn't have a congregation on Sunday if they were homophobic.

Oh and the other posts on here show the HATE which people are excusing as normal behaviour from those who are religious.

Believing homosexuality is a sin absolutely is homophobic!

Those are cults (as is seventh day adventist and scientology).

And being gay is biblical sin so the church cannot say anything different than it is a sin. "If a man lies with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them."

If the church suddenly declared it as not sinful the church would not be biblical.

There are many good things in the bible, this is not one of those.

If you tell your gay children that they should never fall in love, have sex, get married just because they're gay and pray that they do this then you're a homophobe and a bad parent

There are many versions of the bible.

Or why do you think those in the Southern states of the US and South Africa could call themselves Christian while preaching HATE against those of another ethnicity/skin colour?

I should add I have experienced HATE due to my skin colour by Christians. People on MN commonly believe children infant aged and younger don't understand racism however they do especially if they are on the receiving end of it.

I have also had to put up with Christians who claim they are tolerate be completely homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, misogynistic and/or ableist due to their beliefs.

Seventh Day Adventists are not a cult, they are a mainstream church, Drinkdrink.

You know the version of the bible you are quoting from was written and rewritten long after Jesus was dead?

Sexual immorality is sexual immorality, simply that.

What constitutes sexual immorality is a matter of opinion though. You can choose to believe in the Biblical interpretation - but it is no more meaningful or valid than any other.

Clearly I disagree with you because my job is to bring them up in line with our faith - at the end of the day life on earth is so short and simply a prelude to everlasting life with God. Put in context of this any sacrifice on earth is small.
i imagine you don’t agree but I don’t think this aspect of my parenting makes me a bad parent - plenty of other aspects of it are far from perfect though.