Gays, Transgenders, And The Bible - And Response

  • Monday, May 2, 2016

I was baptized as a young child in the Universalist Church,  now the Unitarian. My family, both sides, are Methodist going back to the 1800's. I was married in the Episcopal Church. I thought seriously about becoming a Catholic or even a Jew but felt too old to go through all the training. The religious intolerance I heard and read seems to reside mostly in the South. How could such intolerance exist when so much has been written about the churches in the world? There is nearly a church on every street corner in Chattanooga.  

I have wondered if the Bible is one book to one group and to another still another book? The aftermath of so many Southern states legislating morality and governors' signing legislation that discriminates against only a  few people.  Does being different alarm so many that we have to legislate what bathroom we can use or if two people in love can marry and we, in some state punish a group of people because of who they are. It is not what they are . Some, probably most, are decent law-abiding citizens but flawed, as those that hate suggest.

  During the period of my professional work I worked with students so afraid that a parent or their church would find out they are gay. The fear manifested itself to one student beginning to harm herself with sharp objects. Another case, this time a parent, so fearful that he was feeling that his inner self was really a woman.

         I have been a visitor in both San Francisco and in Iceland and saw the Gay Pride Parade in both cities .  The joy expressed and the creative nature of the human being was so in evidence. The colors, costumes and acts talented people did was truly wonderful to see.  Are those cities somehow to be where God's wrath will strike?
 
I have heard that a lot living in the South. I don't believe in a God that hates. I don't believe such a person exists that has so many billions of people believing in his goodness. Hate hurts both the person that hates and those around him/her. But, I am thankful that his/her hate does not affect me.

Robert Brooks 

* * * 

Thank you for expressing yourself on this subject, Mr. Brooks. 

When you speak about the Bible, which version or interpretation are you referring to?  There have been so many new "versions" put out over my lifetime alone that it is terribly confusing. 

Next up is the question of whether or not an individual "believes" the Bible, whichever one they choose to refer to.  Mankind has questioned the origin of the Bible, the translations, the interpretations of it, etc., etc. Some individuals have no idea what the Bible says on any subject, but rather what someone else has told them the Bible says. I've seen hundreds of rants about the Bible and religion that clearly reveal that the ranter has no personal knowledge of the Bible. They
are spewing out arguments that have been passed along for decades. 

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the most basic questions regarding the Bible.  If a person accepts some translation of the Bible for reading and study, do they believe that the Bible relays truth? Do they believe that the Bible is relevant for our society today? 

One would have to settle the questions above before sitting down to discuss the relationship between the Bible [a Bible] and the issues of LGBT. So if an individual does not believe in the Bible [a Bible] or a particular translation/interpretation of the Bible [a Bible] as truth, then there is no sense in talking. 

The Southeastern part of the United States has been referred to as the "Bible Belt". Years ago that was based on the common belief that the KJV Bible was the inspired, authoritative word of God. I can tell you what the KJV Bible says about LGBT. But tell you what it says is all I can do. I cannot make anyone else believe it, accept it, or apply it to their lives. 

Our society has adopted a creed that is referred to in the Bible [KJV]: "And every man did that which was right in his own eyes". Think about what that means to millions of people living together on the earth. The questions in our nation and world regarding LGBT will not be answered from a Bible becasue virtually no one can agree about the origin, accuracy,translations, interpretations, truth, or relevancy of a Bible. 

I am sorry I could not answer your questions Mr. Brooks.  Best wishes.  

Ted Ladd
Ooltewah


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