Religious family and being bi / gay?

[jason93]

Is anyone here in a religious family and also bi or gay and how do you cope in the situation where the people close to you think your lifestyle is bad enough to go to hell?

My family are baptist and while I am straight sometime I get interested in guys so I suppose I curious but would never be in relationship with a guy as I would be afraid of the response from my family.

How do you cope?

[Captor K]

Lol, yes. Southern Baptist here, bred from a family of hardcore Bible believers.

Honestly, I cope through the Bible. I try to study it and understand the passages in their context. I am content with the fact that my being gay is unchangeable, and that if it were that serious, there would be a lot of animals going to hell (over 1500 species to date). I try and understand the purpose God has for me being gay - whether it's simply keeping a population in check, or some other service - and that no matter what gay-bashing Christians say, God loves me as I love Him, and He does not require me to forcibly try and change who I naturally am to worship and cherish him.

I also remember that God loves me so much that He gave his only Son for me, so that, "whosoever believes in him should not perish," and by accepting Christ in as my savior, my free gift of salvation has been sealed through the Holy Spirit. I know God loves me as I am, because after I've come out to myself, I have found changes for the good shaping my life and I am looking back with no apologies and few regrets.

I also take comfort in the fact that I'm not coming out to God; that He has always known I would be gay long before I was ever to exist: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I set you apart."

Because of all this, I do not fear for my soul; I do not fear living in loneliness of eternal hell fire under the the wrath of God, because of His grace and mercy, which He has given to me to keep my chin up, stay strong and faithful in Him, because He has adopted me into His heavenly family for all eternity. I am at peace.

And you should feel this way too.

[XxNickyxX]

That was beatifull to say the least :D.

BAsically what he said.

Im from southern texas. (the bible thumper capital of the united states trust me) I believe god made me gay for a reason but i dont know what that reason is.

[justalovestruckteen]

Its basicly your choice,
After a dream I had,,
It was a scary dream, I dearmt I had sex with someone,than I dreamt I ate some cereal and it had lead in it, than I dreamt that I was dieing of lead posining than I went to hell,
and it seemed so real,
the first part happen and in fear of the rest hapening, I decided to not 'act' on homosexual feelings from then on..
Anyways,
its your choice...

[The Flightless Hawk]

I think everyone should have their own realationship with God and understand that he made you the way you are for a reason. The problem with pastors and priests etc. is that their understanding of the Bible is influenced by their family and the media, that's the problem with religion, i think, it is not completely pure and what was truly meant to be, because media and personal ideas get in the way. Know that you were made the way you are for a reason. :)

[playa85]

I respectfully disagree whole heartedly with the consensus that you were born this way....there is absolutely NO scientific data, study or otherwise, that suggests that being gay is a genetic predisposition (that you were born that way). Thats the reason why the APA (American Psychiatric Association) removed homosexuality several years ago from thier DSM IV (Diagnostic Statistical Manual, the bible for health specialists)...because science has failed to find the ¨gay gene¨...there are however countless studies that prove that a persons upbringing and early childhood experiences influence greatly on who they are and what they define themselves as....Hence why I know that my definition of who I am sexually is exactly that, a decision, based on emotions, experiences, likes, dislikes, etc...but the origin of the aforementioned, is post birth, not before.....Mixing God into the equation to me, is un called for....the bible is clear when it says that we were made ¨in his image¨ male and female....and that gender is an essential characteristic to individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose......Just my thoughts with all respect....and with no itention of making anyone feel bad or to speak ill or wrong of or the other.....