Religious Left

The rightwing has twisted words again. Which in this case changed the entire article. They don't wait to start their deception. It's in the first sentence of the article: The original version: The degree of negativity toward homosexuality is what predicts poor sexual and mental health in gay men, according to a University of Minnesota study The rightwing version: Researchers from the University of Minnesota have revealed that the negative attitude towards homosexuality among homosexual men predicts poor mental and sexual health- not the act of being homosexual. Notice how they inserted the 'among homosexual men' part? Click here to read the actual unadulterated article. Click here to read the rightwinger version.

By Rev. Edward Bellsmith The speaker was Wendy Gritter. She is the director of a Canadian organization called New Direction. It is a conservative Christian group set up to minister to gays and lesbians. I must explain that this is one of the groups targeted in the past by the gay community as being anti-gay and homophobic, because of their previous stance of seeing homosexuality as something that needed to be changed or cured. She began with an apology to the gay community for the hurts caused by uncharitable Christian attitudes. She said, 'I believe we have a long way to go to eradicate hateful and homophobic environments and responses in the Christian community. We have a long way to go to demolish the pervasive hierarchy of sin. And we have a long way to go to counter-act the perpetual sense of shame that many experience due to the reality of their same-gender attraction.' full article

Focus on the Family, Concerned Women of America, the Illinois Family Institute, and other groups with access to right-wing airwaves claim not to be bigoted and reactionary organizations. In particular, they claim not to disrespect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people when they denounce their "lifestyles." No, they merely want to deny these couples the same rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples in marriage. These rights are many and important; they encompass everything from inheritance rights and the right to be on a spouse's health insurance policy to the right to visit one's life partner in a hospital. These groups also oppose federal protection of LGBT people against discrimination in housing, public accommodations and employment. They like the idea that a landlord should be legally able to refuse to rent to somebody gay or lesbian. They approve of the power an employer has to hire or fire someone based on his perceived sexual orientation. They see noth...

According to Pat Robertson, God is using superhighway I-35 that runs from Canada to Mexico to purify America from sin. He says "I-35 is the highway spoken of in Isaiah 35:8 - "And a highway will be there; it will be called the way of holiness." So, evangelical Christians have set aside 35 days to use the cities around I-35 to rid America of sin, meaning "abortion clinics, gay bars, strip joints, and porn shops." God is using "purity sieges" to set America free. One of the main people featured in the clip posted below is James Stabile, who was apparently "cured" of his homosexuality by a minister at one of these purity sieges. Joseph Stabile said he’s fully accepting of his son’s sexual orientation and believes being gay is neither a choice nor a sin. Joseph Stabile said James left home to go out that Friday night and never returned. Joseph said James, or 'B.J.' as his parents affectionately refer to him, is bipolar and had stopped ta...

Self-righteousness and a profound sense of superiority have been responsible for the deaths of millions of humans throughout history. The Taliban consist of men who worship power above all else and abuse the name of God or Allah to justify their evil ways. Sadly and tragically certain fundamentalist and extremist men who thump bibles and call themselves ‘Christians’ behave in a similar reprehensible and evil fashion. They themselves constitute that element of society which Jesus Himself so loathed—the power crazed HYPOCRITE!!! If we continue to lose our basic human rights and freedoms as Americans these evil men will eventually use their extremist and twisted interpretations of Biblical Scripture to terrorize our citizens. As they gain power and prestige they will launch a campaign of hate, bigotry, and persecution of women, which will mimic the pernicious evil of the Taliban—thus becoming a ‘Christian Taliban’. Although not yet in power, there are several powerful men who would lead u...

“I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.” Thomas Jefferson As tax-exempt entities, houses of worship may not intervene in partisan politics by endorsing or opposing candidates. Pulpit-based electioneering not only violates federal law, many believe it corrupts the true mission of our faith communities. Federal courts are often our last line of defense to protect our constitutional rights. Federal judges should respect our Constitution and appreciate the important role that church-state separation has played in safeguarding religious liberty. The so-called “faith-based” initiative is a euphemism for taxpayer-supported religion. The initiative funnels taxpayer dollars to religious social service providers without adequate safeguards to prevent proselytism. In addition, these groups seek to discriminate in hiring based on religion even though their programs are publicly funded. The right to practice your chosen fa...

I found a coming out story online from a 19 year old. I'll warn you now, he didn't proof read his writing. But the issues and points are still valid. So I'm starting to feel good about my sexuality, when I begin to feel pressure from my church. I should first state that I was forced to go to church every Sunday since freshmen year. Its a really fundamentalist church. No gay allowed. Its seems like every time there was a sermon it was about gay. "Gay to Hell" sermons. I felt like I was being pushed back into the closet. I becoming depressed. Suicidial even. Then two weeks ago I decided that I just could not go any more. And I'm feeling happier than even.

While the bible passage Leviticus 20:13 advocates the killing of queers, there are other stories in the bible that feature what might be gay and lesbian love affairs. So says Reverend Heather Creighton of the Metropolitan Church in Burnley, a Melbourne chapter of an international queer-friendly church network that began in California in 1968. “To keep out of people’s bedrooms,” is the message that Heather would like to send out to the elements of the mainstream church that advocates homophobia. “There are homosexual stories in the bible, if you really want to look at them,” she suggests. “The love between Ruth and Naomi and the love between David and Jonathan. If you look a bit closer at the story of the Centurian, his servant could possibly be viewed as a homosexual too,” she says, adding “but I wouldn’t want to go there.” She is but one voice in a worldwide chorus of Christians who insist that Jesus never said anything forbidding about homosexuality; that it is the words and agendas...