Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 7 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 26 years, 1 month ago by
.
- Posts
I was raised in a very devoted Catholic family. I attended mass once a week (never missed a Sunday) and attended CCD classes while growing up. I fully appreciated my family’s strong religious beliefs and found the experience to be one I would want to have if I did things over again. However, around the time I entered college, I finally accepted something I knew for years but wasn’t able or ready to accept. I am a lesbian and now feel very isolated from my church. I am completely comfortable with who I am and have been in a monogomous relationship for more than five years. While growing up, I practiced my faith with as much devotion as my sisters, but given the Catholic church’s stand on homosexuality, I no longer feel accepted by my church. I have tried to take the attitude of “well everyone attending mass doesn’t agree with all the views of the church,” but in this particular instance, I feel I am being targeted as not welcome. Now that I am an adult, I feel something is missing from my life. Although I feel very strong spiritually and live the life I believe God intended me to live, I do miss many things from my Catholic upbringing. What other religions are out there that are more accepting than Catholicism?
User Detail :
Name : MC21869, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 27, City : Portland, State : OR, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I was raised in a very strong Catholic faith, went to CCD and mass every week, and still am a lector, catechist and more within the Catholic Church. Religion is part of my life, and I’m gay. At first, I felt left out of my religion. So, for a few months, I went to Cathedral of Hope Metropolitan Community Church. It was very open to gays and accepting. But I still felt out of place since my roots were Catholic; and I’ll be Catholic till I die. I soon found DIGNITY, the gay/lesbian/bi/transgendered group of the Catholic Church. We have mass and are working with the bishop to intergrate gays into the full body of the church once again, like less than a millennium ago. On the Internet, search for “Catholic Dignity” and read. I’ve now found my place within the Catholic Church and am happy.
User Detail :
Name : Patrick S., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 24, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am also Catholic. I do not pretend to have the answer to your dilemma. You should know, though, that the Church does not reject you but certain actions that you have chosen to engage in. The church holds you to no standard it does not hold me and others to.
Supposing, for argument sake, that I was born into an alcoholic family and subsequently became alcoholic. Suppose further that I physically abused my wife and children and embezzled from my employer. Should the Church say that because I was predisposed to alcoholism that the Ten Commandments apply to me only in part? Should the cross that I have been assigned to carry be made lighter by abrogating the rules that apply to others? Now I used the example of alcoholism because it is obviously easy to relate to. But I could have chosen any other aspect of human shortcomings. It is very difficult to say that it is God who intended that anyone live with these shortcomings when it is we ourselves who have the power to choose.
You are apparently at a spiritual crossroad; hopefully you will find a suitable religion. The Catholic Church really is Catholic; there are plenty of parishes that accept you exactly as you are while others may stay closer to traditional teachings. Leaving the Church may, for you, be the only viable solution.
User Detail :
Name : Normand-O-L19938, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 50, City : Alameda, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Mechanic, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The Unitarian Church is very accepting of those people who feel rejected by other religions. This church may allow you to continue the religious structure you have grown accustomed to while not rejecting your lifestyle. Personally, I do not believe in a supernatural being. However, I will be getting married soon, and my Baptist grandmother is expecting a traditional ceremony. I plan on speaking with a Unitarian minister (hopefully a woman, so I can mix things up a little) who will be able to perform a Christian ceremony while not making me feel like a hypocrite. You could also search for that needed structure somewhere else in your life and finally abandon the oppression of Christianity that has isolated you from its core.
User Detail :
Name : Ben W., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 25, City : Fort Collins, State : CO, Country : United States, Occupation : Air Force Officer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,According to Normand, “Leaving the Church may, for you, be the only viable solution.” I would like you to make sure that you try the avenue of DIGNITY, the Catholic gay/lesbian/bi/transgendered support group. I’ve been very happy since coming to this group; and I didn’t have to give up my faith. Oh, the previous remarks comparing homosexuality to alcoholism, wife abuse and embezzlement, and implyng that “… it is we ourselves who have the power to choose …” is no longer believed by the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Bishops are in agreement that sexual orientation is inherent, thus not comparable to those other traits that are chosen.
User Detail :
Name : Patrick S., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 24, City : Dallas, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The church does hold gays and lesbians to a standard that it does not hold heterosexuals and Normand to. Gays and lesbians are expected by the Catholic Church to go through life without being physically intimate with the people they are in love with and committed to. Heterosexuals are held to no such standard.
User Detail :
Name : SW, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Lesbian, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pagan, Age : 31, City : Berkeley, State : CA, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, or any human, or any other organization (which are all subject to the sins of our anti-Christian prejudices), God does not discriminate based on race, sex, sexual orientation or any other God-given characteristic. Indeed, Christ’s life exemplified the central values of our religion: Love, generosity and non-judgmentalism. Certain denominations (though far from reaching a Christian ideal) tend to be better at this than others. Try Methodism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism or, of course, the Metropolitan Community Church rather than the less God-oriented denominations of Baptist, Catholicism and Mormonism. Also, many individual congregations do remember God’s teachings and try to welcome all people. In Portland, try Dignity; the Roman Catholic Gays and Lesbians University Park United Methodist Church Reconciling Congregation, which celebrates the gifts of bisexual, gay, lesbian, straight and transgendered people; or First United Methodist.
User Detail :
Name : H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : white Southerner, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Washington, State : DC, Country : United States, Occupation : statistician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Get off the cross… someone else needs the wood! How dare you say that the abandoning the church is the only viable solution. I hope you do not dispense this poison to others where the message and love of God are concerned. God has the ability to surround us all REGARDLESS of whether or not we are CATHOLIC, White, GAY, short… it doesn’t matter!!!! So, please, ask God for forgiveness for being so narrow-minded and pray that the person that you intended to help NEVER read your message.
User Detail :
Name : Glenn, Age : 35, City : Germantown, State : MD, Country : United States,
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.