Faith and Homosexuality

When I went home over the Thanksgiving holiday, I got back in touch with one of my old friends from high school and a friend of his, whom I had met a couple of times before.  We went out to a bar and started talking. Faith came up, and  so did the issue with homosexuality.

Photo Credit: blogthechurch.com

I expressed my concern with many churches attitude towards homosexuality, bringing up the kind of people who hold up signs such as “God hates fags”. They expressed disapproval for such actions by churches and “Christians”, however they also made it clear that homosexuality is a sin, so is pre-marital sex, lusting after someone, and getting high or drunk. My question is, why are these things sinful? Who are these actions hurting?

Shouldn’t the church be concentrating on “sins” that actually harm people, rather than accusing homosexuals and lesbians of being unnatural or sinful, causing many young men and women to take their own lives? The church should preach love and acceptance, given that so many people seek wisdom and guidance from it. They take the word of the church very seriously, so imagine the emotional damage caused to a gay man growing up in a church that tells him that his feelings are against God.

Make no mistake, I am no longer a Christian, but having been raised in the church, I know what a good positive experience it can be. I have lifelong friends from the church, I learned leadership skills in my youth group, and I developed a moral sense of right and wrong which I keep even though the church is no longer a part of my life.  The church can be a very positive part of a person’s life. It is a community of people who support one another. So when a church -which should be a place of support and community- demonizes a persons sexual identity, are they really speaking for God?