As you can tell by this Agnostic or Atheist site. You are not alone! Indoctrination has a lot to do with why gay individuals still want to believe and worship. You'd have to ask the same question of black people also, because the god of the bible condones slavery!

Gay religious Christians are the ultimate oxymoron. They must really, really want to belong.

I never got it. Ever.
Someone asked me to pray with him once. I thought he was joking. "Are you a televangelist now?"
He wasn't, and he was offended. I was annoyed.
"I don't get on my knees for THAT"
End of acquaintance-ship.

I know a guy who is a gay Christian, a virgin and deeply torn about his homosexuality.

IMO he creates so much stress, it eats away at him and daily life is difficult bc of his inner turmoil.

An argument can be made that god created all things to be exactly as they are. If one holds that belief, one can assume that homosexuals were created to be homosexual and that they serve a purpose in the divine plan. In that case, it would be easy for a homosexual believer to come to terms with the idea that his relationship with god is not connected to his relationship with society.

That said... belief requires the suspension of reality. Both concepts of god and concepts of sexuality are man made. If we made it, we can twist in whatever way suits our individual and collective needs.

Remember the two words that keep 95% of people in the Republican party:

Cognitive

Dissonance

We have a similar dysfunction here in the UK - working-class Brexit supporters - so in love with the bauble of closed borders and caps on immigration that they fail to see how that is utterly self-defeating in terms of trade.

you are all missing the fucking point, ,,,,,stop quoting the fucking bible for Christ sake, and start thinking for your fucking self, ! (those among you with any intelligence will see the irony) x

Honestly I think if there is a God/Godess....they we be offended by religion. Religion teaches we have "free will" and were created uniquely so why would a creator dictate rituals for all? That is in direct contradiction to free will and what about love being the most important or not to judge others? Religion is the worst thing that ever happened and gives a potential creator a bad name!

How does religious ideals tie up with paedophile priests? It shows that you can invoke the name of god and still be a vile person. That is what makes religions so laughable. Okay many religious people are good people. No doubt about that. But many, especially in America, make millions in the name of religion. They know how to use the name of god to make money. That is called using the concept of a non-existent being to rip off the poor. Not to different to selling snake oil.

Watch the documentary Religious. Bill interviewed two gay Muslim activists. He also interviewed a Fransiscan preist. The preist said that if you are gay you are gay, and you should be happy. Bill said that's not what the bible said. He said that's what the bible meant to say...

No, you are not the only one that thinks so. Your post is absolutely correct. The bible is not reliable for much.

The Church has been one of the few safe places in society for centuries, pedophiles are also welcome and bastards of the wealthy of course.

Who else would be priests, though?

Gay people have always played roles in society as priests as artists as healers or truth tellers..this is acceptable in many cultures such as some polynesian societies or for example the hopi culture..i think the gay gene would not exist if it did not provide a social benefit..

I think that churches seek out gays for their monetary donations. most gays are very generous people

I would argue that Romans isn't "God's word". Romans was a letter written by Saul of Tarsus to a church in Rome. It was his opinion (though he claims to have had hallucinatory conversations with Jesus) on how people should behave and how the church should be run.

Why are you berating people who i am sure get enough grief anyway?! None of your damned business, either their sexuality Or their religion!!!.

Given that religion is bullshit to begin with, you should hardly expect consistency out of it.

THey don't seem to be overly concerned about adulterers either. Plenty of preachers have been adulterers. I can understand them not worrying about pedophilia. I believe the bible endorses marriage to minors.

Because you're born gay or straight, or bi. No one would choose a life of discrimination. If you're also born into a religious community, you've got double trouble.

Curiously, there is no mention in the gospels regarding homosexuality that I am aware of, therefore, from a textual viewpoint, Jesus is silent on the matter. In Corinthians Paul uses the term arsenos koiton translated from Leviticus which refers to shrine prostitution. Bearing in mind that in Romans Paul criticises 'gossips, slanderers, the arrogant and boastful' in the same context as homosexuality declaring "such things are worthy of death", looks like we are probably all off for a stoning! The only voices of dissent that we hear on the issue of homosexuality are from Paul and in the text of 1 Timothy which also uses the expression arsenos koiton. It seems that the problem is not with Jesus but with Paul. Is Paul's zeal and impatient paranoia sufficient to inspire such ire in the name of his 'saviour'? To cut Paul a bit of slack he was speaking in a specific time in a specific location, for a specific mission but I would suggest the ideas are no longer pertinent.

People in general seem to need something to believe in and with the ruling classes regularly screwing everyone else over regardless of country, well... something bigger outside of themselves seems to fit the bill. Giving whatever that is a godly status and persona and creating rules of conduct to honor that "something" generally follows in short order.

I think on some level, some people still realize this and instead of letting someone else tell them what is right or wrong, shifting the religious dialog so they can keep their beliefs seems to be an easier step than just not believing at all. That isn't unusual. Even what we consider the biblical cannon right now was changed many times over the years. Different councils decided on different books to add, subtract or change depending on the ideas of religious authorities of any given time period.

Honestly, I don't believe homosexuality was even addressed in Christianity earlier on. I've seen papers discussing the process of how such things developed and how sexuality advanced through different times and places where Christianity was concerned. I honestly think many of those involved just need acceptance, assurances and support in the idea that they are ok as they are. That's what most religious grouping amounts to, similarities in ideas and belief congregating around the idea of some deity to make it all seem more important, give it more purpose.

Why go to church if you're divorced and remarried. Certainly the Bible states one spouse for life with the exception of adultery.
Organized religion eventually evolve but it's normally too late to fix the lives they broke.
I have seen churches where the LGTBQ community are accepted, loved and welcomed. Ames church in IL comes to mind.

For the record last time I checked Christianity wasn't the only religion on Earth.