Serious theological question for mature Christians

[Ryougabot]

I have read the Bible twice, and I can see that the Bible, and God by extension, is very anti Homosexuality. The issue I am running against, is why would I want to spend eternity with a being that hates my son? I am not trying to be a troll, it is a legitimate question that I am struggling with.

 

[Wheelimus]

I'm a very non adherent Christian. For me it comes down to Jesus, and he didn't say a damn thing against homosexuality. I couldn't care less about the Old Testament and the old laws.

But then again my faith means little to me at this point, to quote a tune "I have faith but don't believe it, it's not there enough to leave it." So I'm probably not the best Christian to quote on this. But I personally (not that I go to church) would never step in a house that wasn't accepting of LGBTQ+.

 

[wonko the sane?]

You can either adhere to the anti-homosexuality stuff, or you can adhere to the peace, love and tolerance stuff. They are mutually exclusive, and you will have to choose.

Frankly, most of the preachers I've heard when talking about the two testaments in context to each other: the new invalidates the old.

And to be even more frank: if your religion is asking you to hate your son for something he literally had no say in, it's time to find a new religion.

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

I come at questions like this from my seminary background (I'm not ordained, but do have the same MDiv many denominations require for ordination. Also, my wife is an Episcopal priest who not only has an MDiv herself, but a PhD in Christian Worship).

I would question the translation you used in the first place. Much of the homosexuality language used in certain English translations didn't exist in the English language until a little over a century ago.

That's not to say the Bible is utterly silent on the matter. God clearly cares about sexual matters. But it seems to me that God was more concerned with non-consensual situations in which one person abused another. A lot of the times in which you see "homosexuality" mentioned, the original language used a phrase which, in the cultural context of the time, would have suggested such abuse, rather than what we understand as consensual homosexual actions today.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

At Church, I was taught to "love the sinner but hate the sin":

- https://www.compellingtruth.org/love-sinner-hate-sin.html

Although I agree with the Bible/mainstream Christianity's stance on homosexual* acts being sinful, that does NOT mean:

- God hates anyone from the LGBQT+ community.
- That such people should be denied any of the same human/legal rights that others enjoy ( https://www.rethinknow.org/give-to-caesar-what-is-caesars-meaning-mattthew-22-21/ , although it's more akin to the separation of church and state).
- Being non-cis/heterosexual is sinful.
- Homosexual acts, if indeed sinful, are "worse" than any other sin (and by extension, that people who engage in homosexual acts are more sinful than "regular"* people)
- LGBQT+ people can't be Christians nor become Christians.
- Christians should coerce LGBQT+ people to "pray away the gay" as it were (although praying to God to help, in whatever way is deemed acceptable or appropriate to all parties concerned, should be fine).

Although this isn't going to make people with fundamentalist, strict or conservative (Christian) views regarding homosexuality welcome or "off the hook" with (some? many? most?) LGBQT+ people, it should be used to show that most of the actions committed by other such people against the LGBQT+ community are NOT Biblically condoned.

The Bible is very clear; God so loved THE WORLD that he gave his only son to die for OUR sins. ( https://www.bibletruths.org/god-loves-lgbtq-people/ )

Here's an interesting report about how a conservative Christian community learnt/dealt with LGBQT+ issues. I only skimmed through it, but it does seem to reflect some of the points I made above:

-

"...One city’s (Bloomington, Indiana) conservative Christians came to realize that there are at least three sides to the subject of homosexuality: the civil rights factor, the human factor, and the theological factor. Thy have found that it is possible to show compassion in recognizing the human aspect of homosexuality and to support laws against discrimination without compromising their theological position...

...even conservative Christians (though traditionally among those most opposed to gay civil rights) are learning that theological concerns need not blind any of us to the needs and rights of homosexuals as human beings..."

(Source: - https://www.religion-online.org/article/conservative-christians-and-gay-civil-rights/ )

Hope this is useful in answering your question!

*DISCLAIMER: - Any terms used, especially (but not exclusively) in italics or parenthesis, etc, are meant to be illustrative but not definitive terms (i.e., to show certain ideas for the purpose of argument/discussion). Terms can/could also be interchanged to reflect LGBQT+ issues in general and/or homosexuality only, depending on context. Some terms used may also be in lieu of more relevant or correct ones, etc. Apologies if any terms used were not appropriate. Please let me know and I'll edit this post if needed.

 

[Wheelimus]

Not to nitpick but Bloomington, IN is not a conservative town at all. VERY liberal compared to the rest of the state. Which makes sense being a college town.

 

[Caldwin]

Okay, there was a link to this thread in the LTBTQ thread. That is the only reason I found my way here. I wouldn't reply, except this is something that has been weighing heavy on me.

Let me say that this is a very complicated matter and even trying to get all of my feelings down into a single post is probably futile. I WILL use the wrong words. I WILL say things in ways that aren't the most eloquent way to say it. I ask that you at least try to see where I'm coming from with all this, okay?

I agree with a lot of what Primal Convoy says. I'm mostly trying to say it in a different way. So, here I go.

Is homosexuality a sin? Blunt answer, according to both old an new testaments (if you think it's only an Old Testament thing, take a look at 1 Corinthians 6 9-11)...yes. It absolutely is. It's very black and white, spelled out in the Bible.

BUT so what? And I really mean that. SO...WHAT?

On the one side, if you're not a Christian and there is no way I am ever going to convince you to become a Christian, what do you care what is considered a sin or not? It doesn't effect you. You're not living by the Christian "code of ethics." What do you care what we say?

If you're not a Christian but you want to be one but you think that you'll never be accepted for being a homosexual:

1. You have more important things to worry about than any one particular sin. What do I mean by that? Wheelimus is right about one thing. Jesus didn't say one single thing about homosexuality.

Have you ever laughed at a dirty joke? Ever let loose an F-bomb? Ever have a few choice words or hand gestures to the person who just cut you off in traffic? Ever have something on your internet history you're not exactly proud of? Am I the only one raising my hand to every single one of these? And anyone who's seen me in the LGBTQ boards on the site before the crash knows I'm not exactly innocent when it comes to homosexual feelings and some really dark episodes in my life that spanned the LGBTQ and the Depression/Suicide pages.

So you know I absolutely am not coming at this from any kind of judgmental angle. But here's the good news. HE FORGIVES US ALL.

The first thing to do if you want to become a Christian is to accept that forgiveness. Cleaning up your life is not a prerequisite. It is result.

Behaving myself is not something I do because I want my father to accept me as his son. It's something I try to do to the best of my ability because he already does accept me as his son.

And no matter how long and how hard I try...I AM going to hug it up...repeatedly...over the same things. It was a major source of depression for me that I always found myself doing the same darn thing over and over and over again. How could he forgive something like that? Messing up in the same way repeatedly and so...very...often!

Well, he does forgive something like that. As many times as I fail, he forgives. And what a load off my shoulders when I finally realized that!

So the first thing you need to worry about is to accept Gods forgiveness. Getting your life straight comes later...with his help.

2. Yes, that was all number 1. Take a look at the people Jesus hang around with. Did he ever call someone out for being a prostitute, or did he say that "he who is without sin should cast the first stone?" Did he call someone out for being a tax collector (historically someone who extorted money from the already destitute and were seen as traitors for working for Rome) or did he go so far as to make some his own apostles?

In fact, the ones he called out most and most harshly were the ones who looked down on these people, the ones who pointed out that "what you're doing is a sin and you're going to burn for it."

Don't get so wrapped up in "this is a sin" and "this is not."

Even as an adult, I live by the moral code my parents instilled in me. But I didn't learn their moral code and then became their son. I was their son and then I learned their moral code.

And I live by that code not because I desire acceptance. I already have their acceptance. I follow the code they instilled in my because I love them and try to honor them by how I live my life. Knowing what's cause and what's affect is critical here. Same thing with Jesus.

Now, finally, if you are a Christian and you do believe that it's a sin, again I say...SO WHAT? You know what your morals are. Live by them. Don't expect everyone else to follow your code.

If "they" are a Christian, they also know what their moral code is. If "they" are not a Christian, tearing them down for not living up to your code is a far worse sin and is exactly what Jesus did speak out against more vehemently than anything else.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

Not to nitpick but Bloomington, IN is not a conservative town at all. VERY liberal compared to the rest of the state. Which makes sense being a college town.

I think the article was referring to a conservative Christian group in that town? My apologies if I presented it incorrectly.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

Spoiler

Okay, there was a link to this thread in the LTBTQ thread. That is the only reason I found my way here. I wouldn't reply, except this is something that has been weighing heavy on me.

Let me say that this is a very complicated matter and even trying to get all of my feelings down into a single post is probably futile. I WILL use the wrong words. I WILL say things in ways that aren't the most eloquent way to say it. I ask that you at least try to see where I'm coming from with all this, okay?

I agree with a lot of what Primal Convoy says. I'm mostly trying to say it in a different way. So, here I go.

Is homosexuality a sin? Blunt answer, according to both old an new testaments (if you think it's only an Old Testament thing, take a look at 1 Corinthians 6 9-11)...yes. It absolutely is. It's very black and white, spelled out in the Bible.

BUT so what? And I really mean that. SO...WHAT?

On the one side, if you're not a Christian and there is no way I am ever going to convince you to become a Christian, what do you care what is considered a sin or not? It doesn't effect you. You're not living by the Christian "code of ethics." What do you care what we say?

If you're not a Christian but you want to be one but you think that you'll never be accepted for being a homosexual:

1. You have more important things to worry about than any one particular sin. What do I mean by that? Wheelimus is right about one thing. Jesus didn't say one single thing about homosexuality.

Have you ever laughed at a dirty joke? Ever let loose an F-bomb? Ever have a few choice words or hand gestures to the person who just cut you off in traffic? Ever have something on your internet history you're not exactly proud of? Am I the only one raising my hand to every single one of these? And anyone who's seen me in the LGBTQ boards on the site before the crash knows I'm not exactly innocent when it comes to homosexual feelings and some really dark episodes in my life that spanned the LGBTQ and the Depression/Suicide pages.

So you know I absolutely am not coming at this from any kind of judgmental angle. But here's the good news. HE FORGIVES US ALL.

The first thing to do if you want to become a Christian is to accept that forgiveness. Cleaning up your life is not a prerequisite. It is result.

Behaving myself is not something I do because I want my father to accept me as his son. It's something I try to do to the best of my ability because he already does accept me as his son.

And no matter how long and how hard I try...I AM going to hug it up...repeatedly...over the same things. It was a major source of depression for me that I always found myself doing the same darn thing over and over and over again. How could he forgive something like that? Messing up in the same way repeatedly and so...very...often!

Well, he does forgive something like that. As many times as I fail, he forgives. And what a load off my shoulders when I finally realized that!

So the first thing you need to worry about is to accept Gods forgiveness. Getting your life straight comes later...with his help.

2. Yes, that was all number 1. Take a look at the people Jesus hang around with. Did he ever call someone out for being a prostitute, or did he say that "he who is without sin should cast the first stone?" Did he call someone out for being a tax collector (historically someone who extorted money from the already destitute and were seen as traitors for working for Rome) or did he go so far as to make some his own apostles?

In fact, the ones he called out most and most harshly were the ones who looked down on these people, the ones who pointed out that "what you're doing is a sin and you're going to burn for it."

Don't get so wrapped up in "this is a sin" and "this is not."

Even as an adult, I live by the moral code my parents instilled in me. But I didn't learn their moral code and then became their son. I was their son and then I learned their moral code.

And I live by that code not because I desire acceptance. I already have their acceptance. I follow the code they instilled in my because I love them and try to honor them by how I live my life. Knowing what's cause and what's affect is critical here. Same thing with Jesus.

Now, finally, if you are a Christian and you do believe that it's a sin, again I say...SO WHAT? You know what your morals are. Live by them. Don't expect everyone else to follow your code.

If "they" are a Christian, they also know what their moral code is. If "they" are not a Christian, tearing them down for not living up to your code is a far worse sin and is exactly what Jesus did speak out against more vehemently than anything else.

I completely agree and also your point and "spitting it out and hoping for the best" is what I tried to do too. I can't expect people who've been deeply and negatively affected by the persecution of conservative/religious people to accept me and that's perfectly understandable. I'm definitely not a victim in that regard (due to my position in society, it's rather a privileged one, arguably).

My own (coined) phrase is that "Fish shouldn't condemn birds for flying". By that, I mean, we shouldn't judge others for being what we're not. The Bible, in the book of James, even states that just following "the rules" doesn't make us a Christian/saved, but rather our relationship with God. Unless someone is a Christian and LGBQT+, then the discussion about those issues, is irrelevant (or at least judging such people is both that and unacceptable). For the record, I'm the biggest simner that I know.

NOTE: OP's original post put behind spoiler tags to reduce post/page length.

 

[NovaSaber]

Is homosexuality a sin? Blunt answer, according to both old an new testaments (if you think it's only an Old Testament thing, take a look at 1 Corinthians 6 9-11)...yes. It absolutely is. It's very black and white, spelled out in the Bible.

Highly debatable (the references are more specific than often assumed to be), but also less important than the points about whether and why someone would care what it says.

On the one side, if you're not a Christian and there is no way I am ever going to convince you to become a Christian, what do you care what is considered a sin or not? It doesn't effect you.

Are you serious?

It affects lots of people who aren't Christian.

It especially affects the LGBT+ children of parents who hold such harmful attitudes.

It affects anyone who has to regularly interact with anyone who won't keep their bigotry to themselves.

It motivates actual violence.

And there are still people trying to make it influence law, which affects literally everyone.


And why do you presume that I wouldn't care about those who are harmed by believing it about themselves?
Basically every LGBT+ Christian or ex-Christian went through a period of unnecessary guilt because they were being told that it was sinful to be who they are.
(It's also one factor in why there are so many LGBT+ ex-Christians, but people leaving Christianity is only a bad thing from your perspective, not mine.)

You're not living by the Christian "code of ethics." What do you care what we say?

Because the people who are vocal about saying it want to impose it on others.

Christians are not some isolated group of monks that keep to themselves and follow weird rules without ever telling anyone else to.
Multiple large Christian groups, including most of the strongly anti-LGBT+ ones, are very politically active in the US.

Now, finally, if you are a Christian and you do believe that it's a sin, again I say...SO WHAT? You know what your morals are. Live by them. Don't expect everyone else to follow your code.

And the fact that you're already aware of there being ones who need to be told this means you do understand why I care.

If "they" are a Christian, they also know what their moral code is. If "they" are not a Christian, tearing them down for not living up to your code is a far worse sin and is exactly what Jesus didspeak out against more vehemently than anything else.

Or as a meme I once saw said, "telling me I can't get married because it's against your religion is like telling me I can't have cake because you're on a diet".

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

Spoiler

Highly debatable (the references are more specific than often assumed to be), but also less important than the points about whether and why someone would care what it says.


Are you serious?

It affects lots of people who aren't Christian.

It especially affects the LGBT+ children of parents who hold such harmful attitudes.

It affects anyone who has to regularly interact with anyone who won't keep their bigotry to themselves.

It motivates actual violence.

And there is still people trying to make it influence law, which affects literally everyone.


And why do you presume that I wouldn't care about those who are harmed by believing it about themselves?
Basically every LGBT+ Christian or ex-Christian went through a period of unnecessary guilt because they were being told that it was sinful to be who they are.
(It's also one factor in why there are so many LGBT+ ex-Christians, but people leaving Christianity is only a bad thing from your perspective, not mine.)



Because the people who are vocal about saying it want to impose it on others.

Christians are not some isolated group of monks that keep to themselves and follow weird rules without ever telling anyone else to.
Multiple large Christian groups, including all of the strongly anti-LGBT+ ones, are very politically active in the US.


And the fact that you're already aware of there being ones who need to be told this means you do understand why I care.

Or as a meme I once saw said, "telling me I can't get married because it's against your religion is like telling me I can't have cake because you're on a diet".

I think you both are in agreement on the same points? I don't think Caldwin meant to dismiss the impact that anti-LGBTQ+ (Christians) have had on people, but rather that such giving it credence is like putting the cart before the horse, sotospeak? Or rather, that such Christians aren't really helping anyone (including their own "side") by condemning any non-Christians for their sins. The whole point of most religions is for an individual to make a choice and then start to follow said religion.

Also, I think your idiom is rather better than my "fish/birds" one.

 

[Caldwin]

Also, I was talking from a personal way of living stand-point, not a political standpoint. Politics is a whole other can of worms I'm really not prepared to get deep into at the moment.

 

[Sunstorm]

I have read the Bible twice, and I can see that the Bible, and God by extension, is very anti Homosexuality. The issue I am running against, is why would I want to spend eternity with a being that hates my son? I am not trying to be a troll, it is a legitimate question that I am struggling with.

You are being attacked spiritually. Satan is using Abraham's dilemma against you to put a wedge between you and God. This is going to be harsh, and I'm sorry for that. However, irrespective of the sin, there's only one choice. Lean on God, fast and pray, and the devil will flee from you because he knows that unlike Abraham, there's no need for you to find a ram in the bushes.

 

[Wheelimus]

Or we could, hear me out here, NOT base our entire lives on a two thousand some year old book written when people thought the Earth was flat and that the Sun revolved around the Earth. And even if you want to not completely discount The Bible Jesus couldn't be bothered to say anything about homosexuality. So who cares.

 

[Corvus]

AND was translated, retranslated, retranslated again, mistranslated, retranslated again, mistranslated again, etc, etc.

Even if you believe the original texts were the inerrant word of the almighty, great swaths of it just aren't anymore.

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

I really can't emphasize enough the point I made a while back about the fact that the language we now use (and, thus, that modern Bible translations use) for homosexuality did not exist until the late 19th century, and that the passages in question were probably intended to speak to issues of abuse, rather than homosexuality as we understand it today.

 

[NovaSaber]

Also, I was talking from a personal way of living stand-point, not a political standpoint. Politics is a whole other can of worms I'm really not prepared to get deep into at the moment.

It also exists on levels between "personal" and "political", though.

In fact, the thread's opening question was specifically about an in-between level, about family.

I guess I should just answer that directly.

The issue I am running against, is why would I want to spend eternity with a being that hates my son?

You shouldn't. Any religion that tells you it should be more important to you than your family is a cult.

Honestly, if you believe in a god that hates anyone, you should either change your beliefs, or understand (as every deist and polytheist already does) that you don't have to worship every god you believe exists.

And again I maintain that any LGBT+ Christian who believes the things their homophobic peers say is being harmed by their own belief.

Or we could, hear me out here, NOT base our entire lives on a two thousand some year old book written when people thought the Earth was flat and that the Sun revolved around the Earth. And even if you want to not completely discount The Bible Jesus couldn't be bothered to say anything about homosexuality. So who cares.

Minor technicality; most of the Old Testament was written by people who thought the Earth was flat (and it shows), but at a time when there were already some people who knew it was round.
And of course the New Testament was mostly written in Greece long after that Greeks knew it was round.

 

[Caldwin]

It also exists on levels between "personal" and "political", though.

In fact, the thread's opening question was specifically about an in-between level, about family.

Here's the thing. I hate prolonged discussions for one reason. I feel pretty confident in what I said in that first post. I was pretty careful of my wording in that first post.

But I'm not a great debater. Someone starts trying to put words in my mouth, twisting what I say...any number of a hundred things that wind up happening in internet discussions, the more I start saying the wrong thing and feel like I'm starting to having to defend stances that aren't nearly what I meant to say in the first place. That is why I avoid political discussions, because political discussions are usually had by people who are masters of it.

Here's what I'll try to say and try to leave it be. I've seen a few different viewpoints when it comes to christians and politics.

I've seen some people who think we should do everything we can to change policy in our country so that it becomes a more "godly" country. Right now our country is sick and we should do everything we can to bring it back to God.

I've seen some people who think that since the very beginning of society, no matter what country you live it, it's a fallen world and there's nothing that we can even begin to do about it. Our citizenship is heaven, not earth and we need to focus on heaven and just let society be what it's going to be.

Me? I vote. I fill out little surveys and petitions that come my way that I agree with. But at the end of the day, I'm one person in a country of billions. I do what I can, but I have no illusions that I'm going to change the face of the world and change human nature.

When it comes to spreading my religion, I talk to who I can. But do I have any illusions of coming into somewhere full of people who don't want to hear it, who think I'm an old fashioned idiot for believing what I believe and that with a few well placed words on my part everyone's going to be "You know what? You're right. I never thought of it that way before. I'm going to change my life around right now."

Call me jaded, but I haven't believed that for a long time. Maybe when I was a bright eyed child singing "Jesus Loves All the Little Children" in Sunday school. But no. I have no illusions of changing the views of a small community, let alone an entire country. If I can reach one person, I think I'd be doing well.

So that's why I'll say, don't talk to me about politics. It's too exhausting.

[B[]The issue I am running against, is why would I want to spend eternity with a being that hates my son?][/B]


You shouldn't. Any religion that tells you it should be more important to you than your family is a cult.

Honestly, if you believe in a god that hates anyone, you should either change your beliefs, or understand (as every deist and polytheist already does) that you don't have to worship every god you believe exists.

And that's really what I'd like people to see. I feel like people see God as this hateful being that is looking for an excuse to send people to hell. That's not who my God is at all. My God sent his son to die in my place to cleanse me of the sins I committed because he DOESN'T want to see me go to hell. That was the whole point of Jesus dying on that cross. Hate the sin, love the sinner. That's my God.

My God hates prostitution. It demeans the woman. It makes her feel worthless. It makes society at large detest that woman as someone who is worthless. It's also a very dangerous thing: diseases, pimps owning women like property...so many things I know nothing about, but I'm sure people can imagine. It's nasty business. God hates prostiution.

But he loves the prostitute. When a prostitute washed his feet with her tears and those around him wondered "don't you know who this woman is," he showed nothing but compassion for her. When a woman was brought before him to be stoned, he cowed those accusing her by saying "let the one without sin be the first to throw the stone."

He hates sin, but he has shown nothing but compassion for the sinner. It's why he came.

So yes, absolutely, if someone is telling you that God hates your son, they don't know God...and in fact, they're the ones Jesus most commonly spoke against.

And again I maintain that any LGBT+ Christian who believes the things their homophobic peers say is being harmed by their own belief.

You see, here's the thing. I hate that it always seems to come down to LGBT+. It's like that is the one thing that everyone in this society concerns themselves with. It's on every poster in ever rally. It's on every website, every newscast. It's all about LGBT+.

Why is that?

Remember, I openly admitted that I have bisexual tendencies. So when I say that "yes, it is a sin," you know I'm not saying it from a hateful place. I'm saying it as "sin is sin" and rather we're talking about letting an 'F' bomb slip, having a few choice words/hand gestures for the guy who cut you off, ever having it cross your mind that "man oh man, if only they'd fire that useless son of a bitch," dealing with anyone as though they're a lesser person than you...sin is sin.

We have all sinned. Why has LGBT+ taken the spotlight as the one thing that will keep a person out of heaven? Because I sure haven't seen that anywhere in the Bible. Have I seen in the Bible where it's a sin. Yes. Have I seen it anywhere in the Bible being mentioned as a sin more horrible than any other sin that I commit every single day? No! Why has it become such the center point of every discussion in this society? It feels like such a red herring!

Do I feel like I'm being harmed by my own belief because it says something I'm doing is wrong? No, I really don't because EVERYBODY has done something wrong. NOBODY deserves to be saved. God sent his son to die so that we could be saved, not because we deserved it (because we didn't), but because he loves us and doesn't want any of us to be lost. To me, that's a comfort. It means that even after some of the things I've done in life, even I haven't messed it up so bad that God doesn't love me any more.

 

[The Doctor Who]

Why has LGBT+ taken the spotlight as the one thing that will keep a person out of heaven?

Probably because a large percentage of Christian pundits made it a hot topic for civil and political clout chasing in order to create a wedge that would allow them to leverage the fears and doubts of the masses into a powerful base? It's not a secret or an obscure historical fact. It's literally the playbook that has been on stark display for pretty much ever. Same thing they did with black people. Same thing they did with Native people. Same story over and over. "Look at these different people, they're different and we can all agree that they're different, so hate them and support us. The good people who do good things."

The LGBT aren't even the only one, just the one most in the headline right now because we were actually making progress toward acceptance. I see Christians picketing Planned Parenthood nearly every day. I see Christians telling me how racial minorities don't deserve affordable healthcare. I see Christians saying that I will go to hell if I don't follow their specific brand of guidelines. The LGBT are just one out of many, many, many talking points for conservative Christian pundits. Anything that can frighten the straight, white men (and women by proxy) of this country is a target and always has been.

Like, I appreciate that you don't want the LGBT to be persecuted, but this isn't a mystery. It's in the news. They don't mince words. There's no quite part they're hiding. It scares the straights, so they use it to leverage power.

 

[NovaSaber]

So that's why I'll say, don't talk to me about politics. It's too exhausting.

Okay, but if someone asks a question on a publicly visible forum the answers are for anyone interested, not just the person who asked.
Also, I didn't even say anything political in my second post. (But I will in this one.)

We have all sinned. Why has LGBT+ taken the spotlight as the one thing that will keep a person out of heaven? Because I sure haven't seen that anywhere in the Bible. Have I seen in the Bible where it's a sin. Yes. Have I seen it anywhere in the Bible being mentioned as a sin more horrible than any other sin that I commit every single day? No! Why has it become such the center point of every discussion in this society? It feels like such a red herring!

Because "conservative Christian", "Republican", "conspiracy theorist", and "anti-SJW troll" are all heavily overlapping groups these days, to the point where there was recently a megachurch chanting in unison about how they'd "stand against wokeness".

Though conservative white Christians were also on the wrong side of segregation before that overlap was so pronounced, so it's also just because LGBT+ issues, and more recently trans issues in particular, are the current civil rights issues.