My textbook always portrays Christians in funny, inaccurate ways. This time it says Christians believe homosexual men can become heterosexuals by playing manly sports.
First lets talk about conversion therapy. The book states, "a more consequential example of conversion rhetoric designed to change a gender performance is the effort to cure homosexuality" (213). Then the book makes it sound like all Christians support this idea, and conversion therapy, and that is not the case. Dr. Rosaria Butterfield even stated that she did not support it in her lecture because the issue is not a sexuality issue, but an identity issue.
Then the book goes on to list activities that Christian organizations recommend for converting homosexual men to heterosexuals including:
-participating in sports
-avoiding activities such as art museams and operas
-spending more time with heterosexual men to learn their ways of walking, talking and interacting
-attending church
I want to say that as a Christian, I do not believe these things can change a person's sexuality. These things will only change the outside of a person, but will not change the heart. People can change whatever actions they want. They can
stop doing what our society says is a "gay" action and do "heterosexual
things", but this won't change their heart. Apart from Jesus, our hearts
will never change, and we can never produce fruit in our lives.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15:5
Only though Jesus Christ could anyone have the strength and power to give up one lifestyle for another. Not by playing a manly game of football with other manly man, or by avoiding art museums. Actually, I hope my husband likes to look at art, because that is one of my favorite things! And I won't think of him as any less of a man for enjoying it!
"I can do all things through Christ who give me strength." - Philippians 4:13
Gosh, it sure is frustrating to have your life be misinterpreted by a group that clearly hasn't spoken to you! LGBT folks have never experienced that from conservative Christians like yourself. No way.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I am sure they have been misinterpreted. I apologize if I have done that in this blog. I would love to hear your opinion on how this blog has misinterpreted the LGBT community. I don't think I have interpreted them at all. I am simply stating what they bible says. But please let me know your thoughts because none of this is to hurt or misinterpret anyone. It is for a class assignment where I have to blog on these subjects, and as a Christian I believe in the Bible, so that is what I'm writing about.
DeleteYour entire premise of 'love the sinner hate the sin' is hurtful, and states that an entire part of someone's identity is wrong in the eyes of God. That could be a little upsetting. It shows that you haven't taken the time to sit down with someone who is gay and actually talk about their sexuality without trying to tell them that it's wrong or a sin. If you had done that, you would know that one person loving another person isn't a sin, even if they both happen to be of the same gender. Just listening to the other side can be helpful in so many situations, and I just think that this is one of them for you. You don't have to quote Jesus in people's faces. Put aside if it makes you uncomfortable and just listen to an LGBT person talk about their feelings, regardless of religion. I think you'll find there's very little sin involved.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I'm going to reply in a blog post.
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