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Jared



Last Updated: 11/29/2008

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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 30
Sign: Leo

City: Richmond
State: Virginia
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/11/2005

Who Gives Kudos:

Julianne (2)
DeAunn (2)
Sarah (1)
Saturday, October 29, 2005 
I seem to have a hard time verbalizing my thoughts or formulating what I want to say on a whim.  I have to think for several minutes before I can really offer an honest picture of how I feel.  I've been in two or three situations recently where I'm conversing with someone and I say something that doesn't really come off the way I want.  One of those situations was a conversation about religion and faith, etc.  I couldn't articulate my true feelings in the moment.  So this should help me explain what I wanted to say at the time.  I recently told my sister that I wasn't a Christian anymore and that I felt like I'd probably never step foot in church again.  Part of my reason for feeling this way is because I see Christians speaking out against people with my sexual orientation.  In the Bible, Genesis 38:15-24 tells a story about Judah who was ready to execute his own daughter-in-law, Tamar, because she was pregnant as a result of prostitution.  Yet he saw no harm in hiring a prositute for a night.  The funny thing is, he slept with her not knowing it was his own daughter-in-law (she wore a veil)!!  Well, the reason she didn't stop him is because he had promised her his third son as a husband, and eventually refused to do so, and in order to give him legal heirs, she needed to have relations with someone of his bloodline because his wife had died.  So she became pregnant by him to act in the spirit of the law, yet he wanted to put her to death!  He realized his mistake and accepted twin grandsons that were born to her.  How screwed up is that!?  It's just funny to me that people can take the Bible so literally.  The Bible also says that all sin is equal in the eyes of God so if I don't obey Leviticus 18:22 (A man shouldn't lie with another man as he does with a woman), then I'm just as bad a person as someone who murders another person.  Insane!  So basically where I stand now is that I believe in a higher power, but I am not attaching myself to any particular organized religion.  I went to Christian counseling for a year to turn straight, and all I gained from it was a better understanding of why I don't want to be a Christian!  Well, that will do it for now.  I wish everyone a Happy Halloween!  
9:52 PM
 
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Julianne

 
Amen! I was in Rochester last weekend and saw people protesting right outside the gay & lesbian headquarters, it made me sick because they had signs saying gays were anti-Christian and all sorts of other horrible things! It made me mad also because I think it is the same group of people who protest at "Planned Parenthood" all day - then they spend their nights protesting at the G&L head quarters. Its sad times when people who claim to be Christians can't accept and forgive people no matter their race, sexual orientation or religious beliefs. I'm Presbyterian and I accept you babe!!! ;)
 
Posted by Julianne on Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 11:43 PM
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DPMT
Daniel Tanner

 
I could quote scripture here, but I won't -  just know that you're loved, especially by me.
 
Posted by DPMT on Sunday, October 30, 2005 - 10:08 AM
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DeAunn

 

I've been reading "The Color Purple" lately, and there's this character who is a slutty blues-singer type.  She is talking to the main character about what god is, and she says that church is not the place people should go to find god: it is the place they should go to share him.  'God' is found within ourselves, and any god who created love would LOVE love.  That would be true if a god made lust too... :) In this book, the main female characters are lovers, so I know I'm not offbase with what Alice Walker is trying to say.  But more than that, finding a god presence within yourself means finding what puts you in a spiritual frame of mind.  I've said for a long time that for musicians, music is religion.  It's something that you use to better yourself everyday, something that urges you to treat others well and respect the work that other people do.  You share a soul communion not only with your fellow musicians, but also with the audience.  Christians are sometimes reluctant to understand that you don't have to follow their rules to appreciate creation - because the only reason many of them follow those rules is because they think they HAVE to.  But that's where music has the upper hand...in music you are allowed to appreciate the indiviuality of each person, instead of insisting that everyone act exactly like you.  If appreciating creation doesn't mean understanding and appreciating the differences between us humans - gay, straight, man, woman, black, white, hispanic, asian, etc. - then how can we really understand and appreciate the little surprises that fill the world?


 
Posted by DeAunn on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 3:31 PM
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Sarah

 
Jared,
Hmmm...I always wondered about that 'Christian' counseling you went to - it didn't sound too great, maybe too fundamentalist and too practical. The purpose of a Christian church should be to bring you to Christ, hence the name. Perhaps the church you went to does take the Bible too 'literally'. (Although in 2 Timothy it's clear that we can't just delete or add to Scripture.) The Bible is a collection of literature; each book has its own literary purpose. For instance, most of the Old Testament points to Christ. Here in Genesis 38 is not a story about our glorious forebears - nowhere are Judah's actions commended at all - his actions are horrible and embarrassing. And yet this is the people God chose to call His own. This is actually encouraging because that means the people that Christ died for aren't perfect - I could actually be one of them with all my horrible stuff. Christ died for sinners. Then He said - if you love me, keep my commands. And yes, that means don't murder, don't commit sexual sin.
Not all sins seem to be equal, though. In the Old Testament sexual sin seems to be almost the worst, but not the worst. (Although many people think that homosexuality is just an OT command that can be discounted, they need to read Romans 1:28.) So Jared, you and I would be about equal in our sexual sins, and so would someone who even thought of committing a sexual sin (Matt. 5:28.) How can I escape this sin? Jesus erased it for me by bearing the punishment himself. And if anyone wants to judge you, perhaps you should refer them to Matt. 7. :) Sarah
 
Posted by Sarah on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 12:46 PM
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Luke

 
I'd love to have a dialogue about this sometime.  I have chosen a different path than you, which by no means makes mine right, but I'd like to hear more of your point of view.  I've chosen to adhere to the basics of Christian spirituality, just to try and love people and accept God's love.  I used to think he hated me and that all his people hated me.  Thankfully, He brought some real Christians into my life that were very different than the folks back in Okla-don't-be-a-homo (and weird that it happened in an even more homophobic part of the country).  I'm still working it all out, but feel at peace much more than I did previously.  You should read a book called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, it's beautiful, funny, a quick read, and will make you think.  I'd love to hear your thoughts after reading it.
 
Posted by Luke on Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - 4:18 AM
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