2Co 2:11
"...that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices."Although mentioned elsewhere in other essays on this site, I wanted to take some space & devote it to the primary doctrinal problems regarding the "Same Gender Relationship" issue within the church.
In another essay, I showed how Lucifer operates by misquoting God & then he looks for flaws in people's responses to exploit. So, when a translation contains GROSS ERRORS, FABRICATIONS & MISREPRESENTATIONS, -who do you suppose was whispering to the "translator"/man who put them there?
So here's the summary (again): Every time you see the term "HOMOSEXUAL"
in the Bible, it's a BLATANT MISTRANSLATION (every instance). This
can be proven by looking at the underlying source texts & consulting appropriate
literal concordances.
Very often, the word itself is ill fitting to the very
sentence it is in.
Mistranslation Example: "You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunks, slanderers, and robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God." -1Co 6:9 ISV
Presuming that Paul was not sloppy with his writing, it would seem logical to
presume that he would NOT REPEAT HIMSELF while composing such a list.
First on the list is "Sexually immoral people", and
a ways down -"homosexual" is listed. If being
a "homosexual" is a form of sexual immorality -as so many clerics
insist, - then why repeat what was said
first on the list naming sexual immorality? And, the translators who rendered the Greek into
English chose to say "thieves" & "robbers"
in the same sentence. Hmmm.
The explanation to these curiosities is simple: SLOPPY TRANSLATIONS. And those
people who will cling to a bad translation despite contrary evidence in the
source texts are: IDOLATERS (& you'll notice that
the list in the Scripture above names that sin as a
trait of those who will not reign in God's kingdom).
So what is really being said (CLICK
HERE)! Well, the most obvious way to
determine this is to look into the matter for yourself (But if you're lazy, you
won't; --& hence you'll get what the wicked deserve). A good interlinear Greek
w. concordance is a great way to check the source text of the New Testament and
an interlinear Hebrew for the Old. And here's a rule of
thumb: If a translator uses a word that some man invented for the purpose of
filling in the translation, then I'd suggest that you find another term.
"SODOMITE" was literally created to mistranslate the Hebrew term kodesh. "HOMOSEXUAL" as a
word did not even exist until the late 1800's AND (get this point), the PREfix
is "HOMO" which in itself is a GREEK word meaning "sameness". Considering that
the New Testament is written in Greek, doesn't it seem logical that Paul would
have used the term "HOMO", IF (say "if") he was describing the thing that most
modern translators say he was??? Well, he didn't use the term "homo" in
relation to any sexual proclivity. Ironically, the Scripture uses the
Greek term "HETERO" in the Book of Jude describing the sin of Sodom!
Yeah: According to the Scripture -
the sin
of Sodom was some sort of HETERO-sexuality
(NOT HOMO). How's that for a twist on
'common knowledge'!?
At this point, most readers are feeling one of three emotions:
Of course, the only advice I can offer is to continue to read the essays on this site & then check into the issues raised & adopt your own conclusions. The best this group of essays can do is to say: LOOK OVER HERE & EXAMINE FOR YOURSELF.
UN-Sermons
A g0y
essay...
I
was one of untold millions of guys who grew up in rural Amerika. My
parents attended a fundamentalist-type of religious denomination, and so I did
too. There were different "flavors" of fundamentalism and by the time I was 13,
-I had my groups that I <mostly> enjoyed. One was a summer camp run by local churches. It
was really great -except for the fact that it was really terrible. I'll explain:
By the time I was 13, I had made the startling discovery that I was 100% into good look'n guys and 0% into women. Being raised in a "fundamentalist home", -I made the prudent decision to keep this discovery to myself. Nobody else had a clue. 13 was the age of my 1st year of summer camp. I had a really great time. Of course, even then, I had reached the realization that none of my friends liked the "real me" because it was always open season on "fags" & it seemed that a guy could do almost anything to get that label -especially if it had anything to do with being tender on other guys. Of course, NOBODY at the camp had "those feelings" (except for me). Yeah, now I realize how bullsh1t the lie was. But the fact is that nobody can tell what somebody else is feeling and because there is no "GUY LOVER light" that glows pink or something, - everybody that has those feelings denies it -- making everyone feel like they're the only one!
At 14, I was back for another summer & I noticed that the "gay hate" was turned up a notch with occasional sermons & comments by "counselors". Man, looking back at the respect these guys got - so UNdeserved...makes me want to piss in someone's coffee. Counselors of "death" they were in some cases. Counselor "Brad" comes to mind. Years later he's still at it - telling people "the truth in love" that ironically happens to be predicated on gigantic life-destroying lies. Brad seemed to be a self-righteous douche-bag, -but I wondered if it might simply be a personality-conflict. Years later I've concluded that it simply was the case that Brad was a douchebag. But I digress. Anyway, at 14 I was much more sure of my sexuality; - Namely, that it wasn't going to change. Guys YUP; Girls Nope.
However, girls liked me. I'm sure of that. Once, one (Lisa L.) fell down a flight of stairs after seeing me for the 1st time (there are witnesses). I had lots of "friends". Well, the guy I pretended to be had lots of friends. Everyone seemed to hate the guy who loved guys (so I kept him hidden away just beneath my skin). You try to block it out, but the continual comments about "those people" builds up over time. For a few years, you get a thick skin, -but I think that as you mature & figure out just how bad the hate was & that nobody really liked you for who you are, -& well ... lots of people give up on life. Giving up is easy - especially when you listen to the sermons about "Hoe-Mo-Sex-Shu-uls" & "A-Bomb-In-Ations". And the people yelling & wagging their Bibles over their heads as they talk about the "Sin of Sodom" ... -at the time - I had no idea that they didn't know what they were talking about. I hadn't read the Scriptures in the original languages then, -nor did I know enough to catch the sheer number of logical-errors in their rants about Adam & Steve.
So, I concluded that I'd be the best "Christian" I could be & try to deny "these feelings". I became the ultra-responsible guy. I was the one people could trust - depend on. Everybody liked me. But I suppose, that nobody did.
Then summer camp rolled around again. I was 15. He was 14. And I was in love. Nobody had prepared me for this! Yeah, he was handsome & a stud, for sure -- but that wasn't the entirety of my obsession. No, it was the way he walked, talked & his voice was gentle, deep & something I could have listened to all day. Everything about him made me feel good to be near him. We were good friends & I let him know in my own way that I thought he was a great guy. As the days went by, I found myself consumed with anticipating his presence & I really enjoyed any activity that brought me into close contact with him. But, I realized that he didn't seem to share the same feelings. In his mind, we were "friends", so I made the effort to be the very best friend I could be. For the next 3 years, he became my waking thought & among the last of each day. The fact I saw him less than a month out of the year didn't matter. I kept in touch with letters, phone calls & when I finally got my driver's license, I'd invent reasons to make the hour-drive to see him. It wasn't often, but at least 3 or 4 times. We were good friends & that's what mattered. It was the best I could hope for - considering.
When I was 18, I attended an event at that same camp ... now for men. He was there, too. Somehow, it felt different. Later that night I took a walk alone down a dark dirt road. Around a corner, the road was pitch black along a stretch where the trees were thick on each side -blocking the starlight. Little did I know, but my friend was walking back in the other direction with another counselor making small-talk. I stopped walking as I heard them approach in the pitch blackness.
"So, are you & Curt going to get married, -or what", the other counselor asked my Buddy.
"Huh?", My bud Jon responded, - confused by the question.
"Well, it seems pretty obvious that he's got wood for you, or something...", Greg continued.
Jon thought for a few seconds & figured out what Greg was hinting at. "Shut up...he's not like that...", Jon went on. I wondered if they could hear my slamming heartbeat just a few feet away from them as they slowly passed me - standing right there in the blackness.
"I dunno...", Greg went on: "Has the guy ever mentioned any dates or anything?", he pried. Seconds passed. Too many seconds passed. Jon was thinking - examining the accusation's validity.
Then he answered, "Sheesh. As if.", but the venom had taken. I waited for them to pass by & then walked down the path a ways until I came onto one of the empty cabins the camp uses during the summer session. I went inside & in the dark, sat on a hard bed that was missing a mattress. I remember shaking & sweating profusely with a knot in my stomach. Up till that time, nobody had ever seriously suggested that I was a "hoe-moe-sek-shual". I had done everything in my power to make such a thought seem ridiculous -- except date women (It seemed wrong to intentionally lead another person into the same feelings that I had for Jon by providence). For the 1st time, I felt truly threatened - genuinely panic'd on the inside about what a rumor could do - not only to me, but to others.
It took me about an hour to
recompose myself & return to the main group's gathering. I played
"clueless", but I felt tension in the air & friends I'd known for years seemed a
little leery - kind of -short in their conversations around me - as if maybe the
conversation had spilled over when they got back to the main lodge (I later
found out that it had - in the form of an argument). And Jon, well he
didn't say much at all, but seemed to be preoccupied with any place in the room
where I was not at. I tried to give benefit of the doubt in my mind. You
have to - because the alternative is too painful to imagine as the truth.
However, over the next 2 days, -it was obvious to me that I had contracted some
sort of "contagion" that turned years of friendships into fair-weather
acquaintances. On the second evening, the "counselor" spoke about several
things & then circled around to the "gay agenda" & "Sodom" & "UnNatural
affections", etc. I feigned listening in a disconnected fashion as if
studying for some class about some emotionally neutral subject matter.
'Hmm, ... this group of people has a lifestyle like this...how fascinating.' I had
grown accustomed thru practice of disconnecting my emotions from subject matter.
However, out of my peripheral vision, I caught occasional glances in my direction to see how I might be "taking the rebuke" - to see if I was taking it personally. I made sure my demeanor was "disconnected" - & played clueless, unaffected, naive. It was the best defense. You see, if you knew how those people could have destroyed my life - because of who they knew & the strings that were pulled in the local communities from the "Good 'ol Boy networks", -- you'd have understood how the denial I lived under was justified by the terrorism inflicted by ignorant pseudo-Christian fundamentalists. Considering the circles my parents moved in combined with their personal beliefs: There was no room for this truth in my family nor in my community. Years have passed but I know as a fact that there are communities & small towns where this form of toxic ignorance is still repeated as a mindless mantra (& FALSELY done in the name of God with corrupted translations of the Bible used to reinforce the lies).
My friendship with Jon was never the same after that weekend. He always seemed "busy" & soon joined the military. I went to college & learned how to even better conceal my personal life. In retrospect, I never emotionally connected with the "gay" community because of the gender-bending & arse-plow'n mentality. A community that is it's own worst enemy is nobody's friend.
This g0y-thing fits who I've always been. Since the days of "camp", I've discovered that I wasn't the only guy in deep cover there. Sadly, some of them were not as discrete as I was & that indiscretion cost several of them dearly. 2 younger guys (teens) were thrown out of their homes. One - a friend that even I didn't know was going thru something similar, swallowed a gun barrel. And a few I don't have histories on. Several "campers" eventually "came-out" as "gay" & are probably plowing arses somewhere if they've swallowed the gay-lies about M2M intimacy-forms. The sad thing, the evil thing is -that fundamentalism doesn't make distinctions between mere feelings or between actions that don't hurt anyone (as opposed to those that tend to cause harm).
I eventually got away from "them" & discovered this g0y-thing. Now, they're going to deal with the likes of me for a long time; --And I've managed to place editorials in several publications describing my experiences & showing what the Scriptures really say (How gender is not relevant - but laws were written forbidding analsex - which happens to be the form of contact that spreads diseases explosively - +5000% more perilous than the next statistic)!
Fundamentalism is like a botanist that thinks all mushrooms are the same & then declares them all to be deadly. And anyone who would consider cultivating mushrooms: Labeled a producer of poisonous, tainted produce. They exclaim: "Let's push for legislation to outlaw growing all such things", (Evidence of distinctions be damned)! Fundamentalists are dangerous & I believe, many are -literally- Satan's puppets & his lying, hypocritical representatives in the now. The truth is their enemy - taken right from their very own Bibles. That's ironic.
That's the power of this g0y-thing: The defiance of lethal-theology (by strongly appealing to the actual Scriptural texts themselves)!