tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5558712462088910728.post9154173976622160866..comments2023-02-22T01:10:31.119-08:00Comments on Being Queer and Coptic: Silent Majority?Just A Dudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607094231556874706noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5558712462088910728.post-91180834566450185832010-12-20T20:31:26.538-08:002010-12-20T20:31:26.538-08:00Hi Michael,
Thanks for your interest in this blog...Hi Michael,<br /><br />Thanks for your interest in this blog, and for posting a comment. There are plenty of links and posts on this site that talk a bit about Romans 1. Romans 1 seems to provide an explanation for homosexual orientation, and that it's the result of a person's distance from God. It's a result of a man ceasing to worship God and begin worshipping man-made things. <br /><br />However, most gay people, including myself, have felt this way since their early teenage years, or even beforehand. Many of us, were very close to God at the time, we were children, innocent, many of us were close to God and the church. Yet these feelings were still there.<br /><br />At the time of Paul's writing however, there were people who were normally heterosexual, who during certain pagan religious practices would engage in ritual sex. Many older men had younger male lovers even if they were married. <br /><br />I'm not sure Paul is talking about the small minority of people who are actually homosexually oriented. He talks about shameful acts, but what is the shame exactly? Is it the fact that they are men having sex with another man? Or is the shame in the context they were having sex? The bible talks about many shameful heterosexual acts, but it does not disqualify heterosexuality. In fact most of the mentions of sex in the bible are coupled with shame and God's wrath, yet any Orthodox Theologian will assert the Godliness of sex, as it is an expression of mankind's deepest desires for love and connectedness, and when shared with the right person in the right time and the right context, God is present in that union.<br /><br />I will say however, the Bible is often used to prove one thing or another, so I will just default to the words of Jesus, to judge a tree by its fruits. These are the tests of all things, and the beginning of wisdom.Just A Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607094231556874706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5558712462088910728.post-76813443187570620532010-12-15T18:46:13.100-08:002010-12-15T18:46:13.100-08:00I hope so too. I hope more sane voices are in the...I hope so too. I hope more sane voices are in the mix, because the extremes make the most noise.Just A Dudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607094231556874706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5558712462088910728.post-17063858338882870512010-12-14T19:36:16.718-08:002010-12-14T19:36:16.718-08:00Hopefully a dialogue both in the Coptic and Orthod...Hopefully a dialogue both in the Coptic and Orthodox Churches regarding homosexuality can begin on the internet and spread so that gays in the Coptic and Orthodox communities can see that they are not alone. Perhaps even we can shout out and make a noise loud enough to be heard, not just in the blogging sphere but in the mainstream.Leftmosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01264352541547222243noreply@blogger.com