Woman Holds “Love Is Love” Sign At Cabinet
A woman has been sitting outside of the Cabinet building on Front Street this week holding a sign that says “Love Is Love,” with Nancy Jane Goksel saying she did it as she thought it was the “right thing to do.”
Ms Goksel, who was there today and earlier this week, said she plans to be at the Cabinet building each day this week “to show support or to give support for family and friends that have gay, bisexual, transgender family members.
“I just thought it was the right thing to do, and I have a lot of support so far,” she added.
I hope you will come join our Protest as well for Comprehensive Immigration Reform…..Come
Hahahahahaha
Why? It’s a completely different topic.
Hey where is your sign mike?
My sister is holding it.
I hope she has status..
…
Why would you ask that? We’re Bermudian, born and raised.
“The Government doesn’t take a position…it in succumbing to pressures, no doubt from within and without….has decided to take this emotional issue and put it in the hands of the people, as opposed to leading”. Direct quote from Walton Brown PLP MP on another topic.
Agreed. The OBA needs to lead and push through its plans for SSM and Immigration Reform since the PLP has provided no plans of its own for either. Nor of course has the vocal minority who held an unlawful public gathering blocking East Broadway this week. Bipartisan Reform? Merely words and supported by those who have no ideas of their own. Lemmings come to mind.
Also 180 degrees on the political spectrum.
Sorry Betty the platform of which you speak has nothing to do with love, rather it is really sad, hateful venom being spewed at members of our community that have worked hard to contribute to our country’s development.
Not at all the same. In fact I am ashamed for all of you Comprehensive Immo Reform robots.
Have a blessed day.
you forgot to add the Bipartisan part….or you could just shorten it to B.C.I.R.
I will be there to ask questions. see you tomorrow.
I was there ReallyReally Betty but I could not find you as you didn’t use your real name. Don’t hide free yourself it feels great.
Just like it says. Love is love. Yes
Now THAT is a sign!!!!! All you lame sign makers (or rather, the ONE person that makes all of the other signs) take note!! This is how a sign should look!!
* Is it chicken-scratched on the back of a hanging file folder taken
from the office? NO!
* Does it have WAAAAY too much verbiage? NO!
* Does it make it’s point clearly? YES!
Oh, and is she SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD BLOCKING RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC? NOOOOO, she isn’t.
Classy lady (whether you agree with her or not.)
yeah sure, using a word to describe itself is real smart. thats the reason why we are in this mess today.. Foolish people ruling and reigning over us changing words, meaninga everyday.. truly a silly foolish nation.. nation. “Bipartisan is Bipartisan” the word “love” is now being hijacked to mean ???????tsk tsk tsk , this world is a wrap!
This post is what is truly silly.
No word is being hijacked. Love is love.
Check your Shakespeare. “A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.”
This what she’s talking about.
You keep trying to change the meaning to exclude people because you think you’re better than them. What she’s saying is that love is love. No matter who is loving whom.
Good for you lady, can you now hold up a sign that says, WELCOM TO BERMUDA on East Broadway LOL
I don’t hate the individual LGBT person, but I despise the gay agenda.
Gay Agenda:
People:
De-Population
Destruction of the Family
Altered Hormonal States:
Hyper-levels of hormones in our food
Hyper-levels of hormones in plastic (water bottles, etc.) causing an imbalance
Media:
Desensitization and public indifference
Public shaming/demonization of people who are not “going along with the pack”
Psychological attacks
Conversion
The blurring of gender/gender roles
Propaganda:
Homosexuality is genetically determined
Change is not possible
Gay rights are part of the civil rights (race and gender) agenda
J, I think you need to sit down next to Nancy on Front Street and get educated my friend.
Or acquainted.
LMFAO
That was actually good for laugh! You should ditch the babble and stick to comedy
Doubt they will take on what You said J
Of course people won’t.
It’s all lies. Why should people believe this hate?
what is hateful about what was said? some of it is stupid, absolutely; hateful, nope.
Just because you don’t disagree with the sentiment doesn’t mean it’s not hate.
I hate cucumbers…
Facts are now Hate?
Mike You are not even willing to pay attention.
J has made Truthful Statements.
You are a Blind Defender
Not even a little bit true.
Nothing in his post is true. It’s all complete nonsense designed to spread fear and hate.
Not a single lick of evidence can be shown for these claims.
They aren’t facts, they’re ranting.
Well then back those statements up with something, anything. Honestly I get what J is saying, I’ve researched it, seen the theory on agenda 21. It is a conspiracy theory until proven. If you think drinking out of a plastic water bottle is going to make me want a man in my bed rather than my girl you have lost your $h!t. I only drink water by the way, always have, coke will eat your insides trust me I use it for industrial purposes. Bush blew up the twin towers, that is science. Making people gay is laughable. So many better alternatives to population control than trying to make people gay lol.
i guess you ‘ve never tried steroids, its amazing what pills can do to the pysch! and physio!
OMFG
Someone has commented on the FACT that science proves 9/11. The fact that the people of the United States of America do nothing for justice shows we are all doomed by our own complacency while the banks and corporations build their fortunes…
where are the fighters of liberty and justice now?
What’s amazing is all you Jokers who constantly slam OTHER people who protest for their cause, are conveniently avoiding direct comments to the protest at hand and childishly directing your comments to each other.
Interesting
this is weirdo propaganda….you honestly believe that rubbish you wrote…if you do, I feel sorry for you, as people will take advantage of you very easily throughout your life.
See J, I told You they won’t take it on hmmmmmm
Ant evidence of these claims?
Or are you just pretending that this is true?
The ‘Truth’
So, nothing then. That’s what I thought.
Youtube Mike, come on, everything on the Internet is true. I’m a french model…bonjour.
I’ll never understand what your dislike of evidence is all about.
Why is having courage of convictions and backing up your claims such a bad thing?
You fall for that extremist nonsense too? Wow.
Extremist Nonsense WOW
I have been given up on trying to ‘wake’ people up.
What the hell did I just read? Only one explanation: aliens
This is disgusting, horrific nonsense.
Nothing here is true.
Is this what all anti-SSM people believe?
Will any of them speak out against these lies?
sure, right after you point out all the lies and misinformation pro SSM blogger post.
I will when I see some.
Would you care to point some out and then defend your case?
Or will you do what you usually do and run away?
And why does your denunciation of this depend on my denunciation of others?
Is it ‘cuz you agree with him, deep down?
Care to share? You’re born gay… No scientific evidence to back it. What am I missing?
Just because You ignore it and choose not to see it, does not mean what was said was lies.
Blind Defender to The End
Not without any sort of evidence.
Which you refuse to provide.
So… yeah. You’re talking rubbish.
Mike all You have to do is look around but as a ‘Blind Defender’ You will not see it even if You did Look
Information was provided but all You want is ‘evidence’ to be giving to You, instead of just looking into it Yourself.
Dismissing it and labelling it as ‘hate’ will not make it ‘lies’
J never mentioned the over all goal/agenda…..
None of this makes sense.
It’s just more sad excuses to not back up your claims.
Nothing he said is true and nothing you’ve said proves it.
It’s just hateful rhetoric designed to oppress a minority in out community and it is shameful.
Mike – STOP! You are trying to rationalize with someone who has no concept of intelligent or rational thought. You can’t fight crazy. Just let it go. I know what he says is ridiculous and frustrating but you will never get any intelligence out of him. Call it a day, Darwin will take care of this mutated organism.
Sorry. I can’t.
I don’t want to risk someone reading his nonsense and thinking it’s true.
I’m not fighting him. I’m simply pointing out that it’s complete rubbish, just in case.
You come across as being delusional. Bordering on nutcase.
I don’t hate the individual LGBT person, but I despise you.
Mike isn’t even LGBT. He is happily narried to a woman. Not eveyone that stands up for others has a ‘gay’ agenda. So really, your comment is so dumb. Get your facts straight.
Sorry, happily *married
Not sure that their post was directed at me…
This only agenda here is your one J
If you would be so kind, could you advise us of the sources?
You need to educate yourself. This is sad.
Hyer-levels of hormones in our food is the gays fault???
Are you serious?
Do you also believe the Earth is flat?
Yours is the most powerful yet simple message I have seen this week. Now lets hope the politicians have a “come to whomever they believe in moment” and find some love in their hearts.
I agree, there is too much hate in this world. It takes a lot of energy to hate and for me is too stressful.
cowpolly— what is love? to some of us it means obedience, so I don’t know how aliens feel about it, but “humans” know that it is obedience!Can a word be used to describe itself, or do you have any capability of discernment to explain?
Love is obedience?
Huh?
NOW who is trying to hijack a word?
Where’s the thumbs up button?
Thank you.
So, so incredibly proud of you, Jane.
Love you.
Thanks Mike for your support. love you too.
How can someone DISLIKE this???
This is the level of insane hate we’re dealing with.
One person can make a difference.
Shalom.
If I were back on island now, I’d pull up a chair next to her. If she’s still there in a week, she’ll have some company. Couldn’t be more supportive.
Hi Casey,
Yes I will be there next week, I will be taking ‘The Rainbow Show’ on the road, around town and Bermuda. I will be posting the location in the mornings of the day. Would love to chat when you get here. Peace. Jane.
I love my mother and I love my father , my sister and my brother , I love the cook the thief and the Indian chief . By I don’t want to marry them !
I think anyone that knows you, feels the same way.
Good thing we’re not talking about any of that gibberish, then.
And your point is?
then dont…no one is asking you too.
That is the beauty part about this – you don’t have to.
Soooo basically you are a racist AND a bigot.
Good for this lady. There are still nice people around. Well done.
how about a sign that says “NEVER FORGET, AIDS KILLS”
Yes – a disease the primarily heterosexuals have no.
Educate yourself.
…soooo comprehensive Sexual Health Education?
You are truly disgusting and ignorant.
Shame on you.
I think J is in the closet
Y’all that don’t have a clue what J is sharing are the ones in the closet all up in your comfort zone…J’s out side the box in which you dwell…Some people search for the truth whereas YOU wait to be informed therefore you are only repeating what they want you to know.
So if you are searching for the truth…do your OWN research.
Won’t how it works.
The burden of proof is on you and J.
Most of us have done our research and have learned that the rubbish he is spewing is false.
But we’re open minded enough to listen to the evidence of his claims so we can make our minds up.
Your defense of “go do your own research” reeks of “we don’t have any actual evidence, but, instead of having the courage of convictions and admitting it, we’re going to attack anyone who dares question us”.
So… Do you have anything at all to back this up, or is it just another baseless lie designed to raise fear and hate to promote your agenda of discrimination based on nothing?
Curios!! How does she get to SIT with a sign on the sidewalk with a billboard type sign without the blue and blue checking her out, but yesterday the man with a cardboard sign trying to get his paycheck was approached by the blue and blue???
And the lady said she will be there tomorrow. Double standards or what?
He called the police because North Rock allegedly with held his pay stub
Abomination is abomination, abnormal is abnormal, weird is weird. Two people of same gender can not make a human life from both DNA s unless creepy intervention in an experimental lab, that is why is not ok.
Wondering what procreation has to do with sexual orientation, love or marriage? Or your business for that matter?
Feel free to explain.
“Creepy intervention in an experimental lab”?
So if a heterosexual couple try to reproduce the ‘natural’ way, and cannot, and decide to do so through a “creepy intervention in an experimental lab”, shall we conclude that you do not approve of this?
No body caressssssssssssssss. Gay couples can adopt! All those kids you don’t want aborted who are put up 4 adoption can find homes with gay couples.
And what does that have to do with marriage?
I’m not surprised you’re anti-science i.e. logic and critical thinking but “creepy intervention in an experimental lab” – you mean in vitro fertilization? A lot of straight couples use this. The vast majority I would say are heterosexual couples. It’s really only necessary if you have fertility issues (being homosexual isn’t a fertility issue), homosexual couples just need donor eggs/sperm (possibly a surrogate) which is can be done without IVF.
That being said adoption is also an option where Science and Technology isn’t needed – just paperwork, lawyers, time, and money.
FYI “abomination” as it was translated into the bible from the latin didn’t mean what it means to us today. It meant forbidden, not in our custom, taboo etc so not allowed for people who subscribe that religion but perfectly fine for others. Like not keeping kosher or wearing cloth of mixed materials.
Speaking of abnormal and weird: because homosexuality has existed across all human populations since the beginning of history and since homosexuality exists across all orders of animals on Earth – I would call that normal, average, basic, plain, boring, run-of-the-mill, and everyday.
This is a wonderful reminder of how one person with one voice and a clear message can soften our hearts and help us focus on what is important – love.
Thank you for your service to our community as we struggle with the complexity created through the fear of others.
Love is an action word which has been over used, and by looking at the lack of DIVERSITY % in certain protests that have been occurring, we have a long way to go.
This is racially biased bigotry.
Par for the course.
Did you actually read the comment, Mike? Onion Juice is actually stating a real concern and you stab at it with the label of “racially biased bigotry”? That’s why people has issue with the SSM agenda and those who support it. You are blind to anything besides that agenda…
What onion was stating above was that we, Bermuda, have a long way to go with our problems as a country. He is stating the fact that we are still polarized as a community when it comes to the issues we see as important…which is as important as the SSM agenda, as is the Immigration reform, and all other issues facing the country.
One issues is not more valuable than the other – - that’s all. So it is offensive when you label a simple statement to collectively look at all the issues as “racially biased bigotry” – - it is insensitive and very much liken to those people whom you dislike when it comes to the SSM agenda.
But again, only one man’s opinion, right?
Nope.
What he’s saying is his usual “Nasty European habits” message of “White people support it, so it’s bad.”
That’s it. “Onion Juice” has shown, time and again, that this is his sole message.
Trying to pretend it’s not is disingenuous.
I saw you the other day. With so much going on politically it made me reflect on the power of one. You and your message have been on my mind. Love does not discriminate only people do.
I am sad about where Bermuda is right now and I hope we are just going through teething pains.
Love is love when it is in its right place,Some people love using drugs,some people love gambling,some people love,stealing,some people love speeding,some people love getting drunk,love is one of the most misused,misplaced,misunderstood words,in the English vocabulary.There is a time to love,and a time to hate,a time to stop loving ,and a time to stop hating,a time to reap ,and a time to sow,every thing in its right time ,place ,and application.Same sex love and marriage,is in its wrong time,place,and application.Peace.(and incidentally ,on the wrong planet)
Nonsense.
Let’s make a deal…tell me what it would take to change your vote for ssm
Then I will use the same method to change my anti vote….deal or no deal?
It’s called Marriage Equality
A valid argument for why we should continue denying people rights would be a good start.
One based on facts and reality. One that you can defend and have an actual debate about without disappearing after four posts because the questions got too hard.
One based on things that are real and not hypocrisy and logical fallacies and “slippery slope” arguments.
How ’bout we start there?
No? Ok then. I didn’t think so.
Without acceptance…humility…love…
What am I as a human being…
What value to others …
Am I?
A clear picture of the two Bermudas . Anyway some of us must work !
Love is love and marriage is marriage. Love is not marriage. Marriage signifies two opposites attracting, as is the eternal pattern in nature and physics itself.
A magnet and magnetism works by the two opposites acting together in unison.
Gay marriage means gays can adopt and this is inhumane to any adopted child. Children raised by gay parents never receive the dual parenting spectrum of male and female mom and dad. They grow up and have issues both psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially.
If you are gay and “love” your partner then what more do you need? If love is so important then love is what matters, not marriage. Many marriages have no love.
If every little social minority got what they wanted and demanded we as society would crumble apart into the abyss. It is not possible nor even logical. In Australia people petitioned the government to pass a law to allow “rape licenses” so that men could legally rape women. It almost or did get passed by a judge. I am not fooling you. In many other countries it is tolerated or legal to fall in love with young teens. Some countries have groups of people who petition legalization of pedophilia. All these things are demands of minority groups which have highly different beliefs. But they will eventually get their way by whining enough too. Imagine what it will be like then…Why should groups whose very social behaviour is contrary to science, nature, and physics itself, be allowed to alter the established backbone of society itself? That is Chaos, not Order.
This post shows a breathtaking ignorance of the subject and, indeed, marriage itself.
Every “point” in here has been addressed a multitude of times.
Nothing they’re saying is true or relevant.
“Rape licenses”? Gays adopting is Inhumane? Paedophilia?
Why no mention of the rights afforded by marriage? Does this person just not know about them?
Osiris, I’m begging you. Please try to educate yourself before spreading this sort of misinformation.
It’s hurting people when you do.
I am in agreement with her message. However u raise a good point. Maybe someone could share with us how that she did not get ant police attension? I believe both were peacefull (however being just loud) what is the difference that garnered police presence to him?
Isn’t being loud enough?
I believe the owners of the business called the Police, hence their presence. They were called because the protester had words with the owners, that may have been interpreted as being aggressive. It must be noted that other lone individuals have protested in the past also without any Police intervention.
I have no problem with OTHER PEOPLE’s rights. All deserve rights.
JANE you are a wonderful person – thanks for standing up for LOVE
Why Christians should embrace same-sex relationships
Reason one: Jesus Christ was an advocate of same-sex Relationships:
So … if you’re still unconvinced that the Biblical passages used against gays are irrelevant, if you still think that the Bible doesn’t contain gay love stories, if you still think that the Bible can do no wrong, if you still think that crushing a gay kid’s future is a-OK, and if you still think that our society needs some “old school mob church” rule against the ever-present gays, then consider this: the coup de gras on any Christian homophobia. Jesus Christ, the Savior where the word “Christian” comes from, was the one of the world’s first real out-spoken allies for gay people. Gasp!!
Let me give you a sec and I’ll explain.
Ok. In two passages of “The Good Book,” Jesus stands up for the gay people. A reminder: Jesus was a social rebel; he cared for the poor; he spoke to non-believers; he condemned only those who hurt people; he spoke volumes about love for all people; and he came to liberate the oppressed, as he said in his first sermon in Luke 4: 18.
If you don’t know by now, the gays are pretty oppressed people. There’s been an ebb and flow of a love-hate relationship with them since the dawn of time (seeing its high points of acceptance in the Renaissance and in Ancient Greece, and its low points in the Dark Ages and during “Old School Mob Church” rule), but, ultimately, now has been the absolute best time for gay people. However, Biblical times…not so much.
The following passages show Jesus Christ’s compassion towards same-sex relationships:
Matthew 8: 5-13: “Jesus Heals the Roman Soldier’s Servant:”
The Story (with Context Included):
Jesus meets a humbled Roman Soldier; something that was strange, because, at that time, Israel was controlled by Rome, and the soldier would have been in a much more powerful position than a wanderer and simple prophet like Jesus. The Soldier begins to tell Jesus about his sick and dying servant. Roman soldiers typically had a number of servants, just like in this story, but the Soldier keeps explaining to Jesus why this servant, the sick one, is special to him. Servants, like slaves, were like property that could be easily replaced, but this Roman Soldier has a special connection to this servant. He humbled himself before a man that most Romans thought was a loon. out of faith that Jesus could heal him. Jesus, knowing all, decided not only to heal this special servant, but to commend this Soldier on his great faith.
While so many people forget this story, it speak volumes about what Jesus thought about men having special “friendships” or “relationships” with other men. Jesus did not tell this guy that he shouldn’t be “getting too close to this male servant, because being gay is wrong;” he commended the man for stepping out of his comfort zone and acting out of faith and love for his fellow man.
The next passage, I feel, is the final nail in the coffin of Christian homophobia.
Matthew 19: 4-5 and Matthew 19: 11-12 “Jesus Speaks of Marriage:”
The Scripture:
Verse 4,5: “Jesus answered, ‘Have you not read that the One who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’ and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”? Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate’.”
Verse 11,12: “Jesus replied, ‘Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it’.”
Context of the Terms Used:
Here, Jesus refers to three exceptions to the requirement for heterosexual matrimony, all “eunuchs.” What are “eunuchs?” Eunuchs were highly ranked, but socially “deviant” men in charge of protecting and caring for female royalty. To be best at being a eunuch, one could never slip into a relationship with one of the female heirs, for all in the kingdom’s lineage could be compromised. Biblical historians speak of how eunuchs had many feminine, emasculate qualities, which societies back then detested for these men had little to no interest in sexual relations with females. While this was a very different zeitgeist than now, one can see a correlation between how eunuchs were seen and how gay males are seen by society.
In this passage, Jesus Christ list three exceptions to the command for Christians to engage in heterosexual matrimony:
(1) eunuchs born that way;
(2) eunuchs made that way by man;
(3) eunuchs who promise their lives to God.
Castration was a common practice among eunuchs. While many people believed that all these non-virile men were castrated, various biblical dictionaries go into detail on how castration was not the only way to become a eunuch.
Here, Jesus first says “eunuchs born that way” are exempt from heterosexual marriage. Since eunuchs are supposed not have “relations” with female heirs, and these eunuchs were born without attraction to woman, gays, bisexuals, and lesbians should use Jesus Christ’s exemption of “innate eunuchs” from heterosexual matrimony to speak for all gay people. In essence, here, Jesus Christ tells his disciples that people born without the innate attraction to the opposite sex should not marry people of the opposite sex.
Reason two: According to the Bible, Change is Necessary for Growth:
Just look at where we’ve come as a society. We went from being sexist, racist losers who fear every other kind of government (socialism, communism, etc.) like the boogeyman to being forward-thinking less judgmental individuals who definitely are not afraid to criticize the American (or any other) government.
Believe it or not, our society is becoming more and more diverse and more and more open to differing cultures. A little more than 150 years ago, a black guy, like me, was worth three-fifths of a real human being, but now, I have the opportunity at a higher education and more career options than some people in even the most developed nations. With saying that, I believe more often than now that people’s attitudes can and do change.
Christian ministers and Bible study leaders are wondering why so many of their youth have left the Church and abandoned their previous teachings of the Bible. It’s simple. They’ve changed, and adapted to the new world, while their churches would rather them to resist and conform to old standards.
Jesus even put in his two cents about change and the Christian church, in Matthew 5: 7:
“Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Again, with these visual examples! It’s a metaphor, meaning basically that the newness of society can be confined by old societal norms, laws, and customs.
The problem is that you’ve got “old school” ministers, who grew up in an environment where “gay” really did not exist, telling “new school” youth, who are exposed much more to what “gay” really is, that “gay” is bad. Their friends are gay. Their favorite characters on television are gay. Their favorite musical artists are gay. It’s a losing battle to fight against gays and lesbians, because soon, we’ll be just as “normal” as heterosexuals. Gasp!
Ask yourself…if you’re gonna be an adamant anti-gay Christian with children, do you want your kids or grandchildren to look at you with the same disdain that you look at your racist or sexist grandparents?
Reason three: Denouncing a youth’s love interests can ruin his or her life:
It’s good to have an opinion and give a damn about what people do with their lives, because there are just some people out there who really need a kick in the rear to stop acting like freaking idiots, and be told what’s what.
Jesus Christ loved telling people what’s what, because He saw that what people were doing was harming other people. Jesus repeatedly told people NOT to judge each other. I feel that the most powerful, and oft quoted, commandments against judging is inMatthew 7: 1-5. This is the famous “Judge not, or you too will be judged” commandment, which Jesus continues on by saying “Remove the plank in your own eye, then you can worried about the speck in someone’s else.”
Now, wait a minute, some of you are thinking, first you say, Jesus doesn’t want us to judge people, and now you’re saying that we can if we remove the ‘plank.’ Jesus explains the difference between good teaching and bad teachings in a later part of Matthew 7, saying that (another visual example) a good “tree” bears good “fruit” and a bad “tree” bears bad “fruit.”
So, knowing that “teachings” and “judgments” are completely different, let’s say for all intents and purposes that you’re trying to “teach” a lesbian youth that she’s currently not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven, because of “choosing the gay lifestyle.” What sort of “fruit” will that bear in that child?
While some many Christian in the world believe that this sort of “teaching” will bear good “fruit,” as a gay man, myself, as a witness for so many more gay and lesbian Christians who’ve been hurt by other Christians, I’m here to say that this does not produce good fruit. Telling someone that their innate love for another human being is sinful or inferior to another person’s innate love for another human being can be the most detrimental news to a young gay person’s life.
Put yourself in the shoes of a young gay person. You imagine yourself with a wife (if you’re a lesbian) or a husband (if you’re gay) in the future, doing all the things that straight couples do (having kids, holding hands, growing old together). Then comes an elder Christian person in your life who you look up to and want to honor who tells you that you can NOT have that sort of future, because, for some reason, it’s wrong.
While that elder may think that he or she has saved you from a life of sexual failures and tragic relationships, their words alone could force you into a life of sexual failures and tragic relationships. If anti-gay Christian leaders only knew this fact, their bad teachings would cease in a heartbeat and they could possibly save the life of another at-risk gay youth.
Jesus tells us to remove the plank from our own eye. I believe that the plank is our own biases and lack of information about who people really are. The plank blocks us from knowing why a person feels the way that she or he feels. If we remove these stereotypes and biases and start trying to understand other human beings like we should, we could truly help people through the real trial and tribulations of their lives, instead of trying to treat peoples’ innate sexual orientations as their problems.
Reason four: Bigots Unfortunately Have Used the Bible to Oppress Other Minority Groups
People don’t always have the best intentions when using things that can influence the masses. The Christian Church wasn’t always the benevolent, do-gooder, “come-as-you-are” church that most people know it as today. Back in the (Medieval and even colonial) day, the Church kinda acted like the mob. If you didn’t sing the same song as the Church and play by all their rules, you’d be sleeping with the fishes … literally. Some Christian communities would toss women into the water to see if they were witches.
Pretty much until the Women’s Rights Movement of the 20th Century, evangelical Christian leaders used the Bible as their foundation and support for their “No Girls Allowed” policies when it came to church leadership. In some religious societies today, women are forced to keep themselves sexually timid, because of a wrongful interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve.
All during the 19th Century, strong Christian supporters of slavery of African Americans used the Bible (specifically the Curse of Ham in Genesis 9) to speak ridiculous volumes about dark-skinned people and their “accursed” role in white society.
What am I trying to say: the Bible is a great and wonderful tool to understand Jesus Christ and just how to be a good person, but perhaps Bibles should come with a label that says “Warning: Crazy people have used this book to subjugate women, support slavery, and spread homophobia. Read with caution and criticism.”
Reason five: At Least One Lesbian Couple and One Gay Couple’s Story is Told in the Bible:
In case you didn’t know, the gays have been around for … ever. We just never really got a chance to be recognized by mainstream society or in history for who we were or who we are today. The Bible itself is proof of forms of same-sex love.
Ruth and Naomi’s Relationship:
On the Surface:
This looks like a friendship of mutual convenience: two widowed gal pals move in together to share resources in a cold, hard world, until one of them gets married and has a bunch of kids.
The Whole Story:
Ruth and Naomi were once a part of a big happy family (in fact, Ruth marries Naomi’s son), but disaster strikes and all the men of their family die. Ruth is a widow. Naomi and Ruth’s other daughter-in-law, Orpah, are now widows, and the only logical thing for a woman (especially who did not have the societal benefits of being married and cared for by a man, in that time) to do would be to return to her own family. Naomi tells Orpah to return home, and she leaves her with tears in her eyes, but when she commands her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth to return home, Ruth makes a very special promise to Naomi, in Ruth 1: 16-17.
(A heartfelt plea and pledge of love and devotion, which is so lovely that it is repeated in many Christian heterosexual marriage ceremonies)
Soon after Ruth and Naomi work, live, and support each other as gleaners, Ruth meets Boaz, a 80-year-old distant relative of Naomi’s dead husband, who sees the kindness and love between Ruth and Naomi, and marries Ruth (for the most part) to continue her family’s legacy (an important tradition of that time).
Even after their marriage and blessing of children, her community celebrated that Naomi “has a child,” as seen in Ruth 4: 17, and they reminded Ruth that Naomi loves her very much, Ruth 4: 15.
So…how’s that gay?
It does not do much justice to the lovers of this story to say that this promise, which is so powerful that it’s used in marriage ceremonies, is not spoken by a person who was not truly in love with who she originally spoke it to.
In Ruth 1: 14, the King James Version of this verse says “Ruth clave onto her,” at a moment when she should have return to her own family. In Genesis, marriage is portrayed as “a man leaving his father and mother, and CLEAVING to his wife.” Ruth and Naomi have become “one flesh.”
Not to mention, the Bible pays very little attention to the Boaz and Ruth’s relationship, and so much more to Ruth and Naomi’s relationship, even after her marriage.
Reason six: The biblical passages typically used to “condemn” LGB relationships are NOT talking about LGB relationships:
While I’m not trying to sound like a Biblical scholar or know-it-all, it irks me how blind so many Christians are to the historical context of the stories, which are typically used to condemn gay people and the fact of being gay.
Below are the some facts about the Biblical time periods, in which the “Clobber Passages,” the texts typically used to say “The Bible clearly states that being gay is a sin,” take place. Take note, as you might learn something new about Biblical ambiguities in the Scripture.
Why do I call these passages “ridiculously-used”? Check out these passages from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and Christian Scriptures (New Testament):
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Genesis 2: 19-25 “Adam and Eve:”
“In the beginning, God made Adam and EVE, not Adam and Steve, nor Eve and Jane.” Anti-gay Christian ministers have used this as a crux to propagate the myth that homosexuality is “unnatural.”
While the Bible in Genesis tells us that God made “male and female,” does this really mean that all males and all females need to end up with opposite sex partners?
When talking about “what’s natural,” in the beginning, the first humans did not wear prescription glasses to see, use wheelchairs to get around, or attach prosthetic limbs to enhance mobility. Are all of those aspects of humanity “unnatural”?
Many translations say that God makes Adam a “suitable helper/companion.” While Adam already had all the animals of the world under his dominion, God saw that Adam was alone and he needed a “suitable” helper, who just so happened to be first lady Eve.
Relating this to our own lives, so many of us are surrounded by many “helpers” and “companions,” but, only a few, maybe one, are truly suitable to aid and comfort a person throughout his or her life. People who are gay or lesbian maybe surrounded by heterosexual mates who are perfectly “adequate” helpers, but the “suitable helper and companion” that God has made for them is not a person of the opposite sex. Plus, if gay people are not meant to be with their “suitable helper/companions,” are they meant to be alone, without a helper? I believe God would say “no,” according to Genesis 2: 18.
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Genesis 19: 1-13 “Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction:”
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Basically, God says that He’s going to destroy cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, if two angels cannot find any good people within the towns. Once the angels arrive, a kind man named Lot invites these angels into his home and entertains them. This angers the cities’ men, and the men rallied outside of Lot’s home, wishing to do “perverse actions” to these male angels. Moments later, the two cities are destroyed by fiery rain.
Many anti-gay Christian ministers use this passage to say that this is an example of God’s wrath against homosexuality…as if the men of Sodom were all gay, and all trying to “be gay with” these male angels.
Historians and sociologists tell us that gang rape was a very common form of brutal humiliation of the subjects, in the ancient Western world. The Sodomite men did not come to Lot’s house to have monogamous, committed, loving relationships with the male angels residing there. They came to rape these angels.
Also, MULTIPLE parts of the Bible (Luke 10: 10-13; Isaiah 19: 13-14; Jeremiah 23: 14; Ezekiel 16: 49; Zephaniah 2: 8-11) tell us that God despised the greed and their wickedness toward outsiders as their sin, not that fact that men wanted to “have sex” with men.
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THEN…there’s Leviticus 18:22 “Mosaic Law Prohibitions” and Leviticus 20:13 “Mosaic Punishments for Violating Mosaic Law:”
The ridiculousness of using Leviticus to condemn ANYTHING is simply in looking at what in the world the Book of Leviticus condemns.
Rules in the Bible were always tied to some sort of reasoning. In the case of this gay sex prohibition, a consistent thread in early Judeo-Christian understanding was that semen alone was considered unclean, because sex was ONLY meant to be procreative.
Check out what God does to Onan when he ejacuates outside of a woman in Genesis 38.
In the same passages where gay sex is condemned and punished, so is eating shrimp, crop co-mingling, eating rabbit, wearing linen and wool at the same time, and eating raw meat. So if you’re gonna be a Biblical literalist, you might as well start sewing your own clothes and becoming a vegetarian.
Conclusion: Test All Things:
YAY!! (Every gay person shouts!) There’s at least one or two or even more people out here who are reading up to this point and are still not convinced that Christianity explicitly condones homosexuality. In other words, some people still think that there’s still no explicit clause in the Bible that says that “gays are OK and can/should be in relationships with other gays.” To them, I say, just look beyond your own understanding.
In Jesus’ first pro-gay passage, the message is to step outside of your comfort zone and act out of love. Jesus also tells that, when you’re acting out of love, you won’t judge, because you ALWAYS will have biases. If you’re gonna “teach” someone, be sure that your teachings will produce good “fruit,” rather than bad. And finally, we’ve learned from Jesus that we cannot prescribe “Old School Mob Church” rules to the “new school” of society. If you don’t believe me, just understand what Paul says in Thessalonians 5: 20-21:
” Do not despise all Spirit-inspired messages. Test all things; hold fast to what is good.”
We, as Christians, are NOT meant to be close-minded and ‘holier-than-thou,’ but rather open-minded and quick to understand and love people who are different for who they are. That’s who Christ was, and that’s how REAL Christians should aspire to be.
We agree to did agree…good enough….not we must have that magic number to meet economic need….there is a need of people….and there “has” to be an attractive reason to be here…plp knows this but they don’t,lend a hide nor hair of understanding tuit!
I view this with great despair…open and truthful dialog …is necessary from plp…because they know this but don’t acknowledge it…or propone what is needed….and I feel they know it but are stirring up the pot for their wants and desires….with no regard to our economic…our economic requirements….I find it to be down right subversive!