please excuse me if this is a bit of a random ramble...

Yesterday I attended the civil partnership ceremony of a very good friend of mine. Her and her girlfriend have been together over 3 years and yesterday they got married. It was a lovely day, they both looked so happy. She hasn't had an easy life and i am so pleased for her that she is so happy.

Talking to her at the reception she said that another close friend had refused to come because she said that homosexuality is wrong, evil and a sin. My friend asked me, why are Christians who are supposed to believe in a God of Love so bl**dy judgemental?! She was very upset by it.

I am not trying to start a debate on homosexuality. I have my views but that is not the point. I was there for my friend yesterday.

But it did get me thinking. As christians we should stand up for our beliefs and truths, even if that is unpopular with others. i am never ashamed to say I am a Christian and my friends know about my beliefs. BUT i personally feel that I don't want to be a judgemental person. It is not my place to tell someone else their lifestyle is wrong, in my opinion.

Where do we draw the line when standing up for our beliefs? I wonder, if my friend were in a relationship with a man, and had announced a pregnancy whether this other girl would have refused to come to the christening as the child was born out of wedlock?

i don't know if this makes much sense but i wonder what people think. IMO all this girl has done is lost a friend. And if we alienate ourselves as Christians how can we spread God's message to others? However on the flip side i can perhaps see that if she feels so strongly that this partnership is wrong and against God, well God comes first and perhaps that is why she couldn't be supportive because she didn't want to be a hypocrite. *shrug*

any thoughts?

I know what you mean. My mother was in a lesbian relationship for 20 + yrs and when she first told us I told her that I believe that the Bible says clearly that homosexuality is a sin, and thats what I believe but that I don't stand in judgement and we are all sinners. Once that conversation was said, we never broached the subject again and her partner was welcome in our home and even now that my mother has died, her partner is still considered to be a grandparent by my children. I personally wouldn't have been happy without that opportunity to tell my mother what I believed but once said, her choice is her choice and we all make our own choices, some wise and good and some stupid and not so good!

Hannah

Hi

I am intruding here so hope nobody minds. I am an agnostic/atheist but thast has never stoppped me attending christenings, weddings in church even though I don't share the faith. My idea is that it is not about me and my beliefs or lack of but about the person/persons getting married, buried or whatever and what they want. I didn't have my children christened and I won't be having a religious funeral service when the time comes because I think that is hypocritical, but it is not my place to stand in judgement on anyone else.

As an outsider I do find many christians incredibly judgmental and yet Jesus said "do not judge lest ye be judged", I find some have a prurient interest in the sexual lives of others and a rather unholy fixation about what people choose to do in the privacy of their own home.

 I find that the issue of homosexuality is a bit of a slippey slope, I did Theology at Uni and I don't remember Jesus actually mentioning homosexuality at all in his gospels. Surely He is the model on which we should live our lives, not some ancient verses from the OT which is a pretty unpleasant book all round. I also find some christians pick and choose certain verses from the bible that back up their own prejudices/agendas whilst conveniently forgetting others.

I think that living by a literal translastion of the bible is going to be very tough in this day and age, afterall in the OT you could beat your wife, keep slaves, not eat shellfish or pork and men had to have beards amongt other things.  Why are these verses not adhered to but as soon as a gay/lesbian is mentioned there is much muttering and about waving of the relevant verses? It is this sort of hypocricy that puts many people off from the church and  makes Christianity seem very smug and holier than thou at times and I have to say deeply unattractive.

I am glad you were able to support your friend, even though you may have moral reservations. Sometimes we don't have to agree with or like what people choose to do or how they live their lives, but it is their life and not ours. I am sure your friend was very appreciative.  

I hope I haven't offended anyone as that was not my intention at all but hope that seeing it from the other side might be helpful.

Hi Bumfy, course we're not offended. I know so many people who feel the way you do, both Christians and non Christians. In the same way that its such a shame that people view Muslims through the murky lense of extremism, which is not what it is, and in the same way I hope that people don't view Christianity through the murky lense of some people they know who are or claim to be Christians. Neither necessarily represent the faith. Of one thing I am absolutely sure is when I finally meet Jesus, I will find out some things I believed was true aren't and some things I didn't believe were true, are. The thing is Christians aren't perfect and make mistakes. I don't know any who claim otherwise.

I'd slightly disagree with your analogy though, of you going to Christenings/weddings etc despite not being a Christian in that you don't have a view or belief that a Christian wedding/Christening is a sin so its not going to weigh the same. Some Jews might happily attend a hog roast, but not partake and some wouldn't go at all and thats ok, do you see what I mean?  

Aside from that, I hear what you are saying :-)

Hannah