Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Categories
- All Categories 13.8K
- General Category 10.9K
- General Announcements 184
- Faith Issues 3.4K
- Coptic Orthodox Church 2.5K
- Personal Issues 1.4K
- Prayer Requests 423
- Random Issues 1.8K
- Introductions 294
- Non-Orthodox Inquiries 232
- Youth Corner 606
- Hymns 2.5K
- Hymns Discussion 2.5K
- Technicial Difficulties 368
- Technical Topics 368
Homosexuality
is it wrong to have friends who are homosexuals???
for eg. i had this good friend, i often hung out with but soon after i found out that he was gay, should i still maintain the friendship??
for eg. i had this good friend, i often hung out with but soon after i found out that he was gay, should i still maintain the friendship??
Comments
The community we become a part of becomes a huge part of our personality.. So choose your company wisely because before yu know it you'll find that you're a lot like them im NOT saying that you're gonna turn gay or anything.. but if you have a friend that swears alot.. you'll prolly find yurself sweariing too. ! its truu ii know from experience. You know what the good thing is though ?? good habits tend to catch on too.. so if you've got a friend who regularly reads their Bible or has good study techniques.. yu'll very likely pick up on it.
another thing is that it works both ways. what kind of influence do YUU have on yur friends?? think about that one.
So maybe you should use this chance that God has given yyou to evaluate your relationships and how their affecting your personality.
hizz child highlighted this just as our friends influence us we also influence them, its important to practice what we preach
i havent got any homosexual friends but i have many muslim and mormon friends and i consider this an opportunity from God to assist and support them but also enlighten them about christianity
and again as was highlighted there is no perfect friend we have all sinned but the key is repentance
all in all we need to love all ppl even if they dont belive wat we do
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
n i guess my interpretation of that verse (plz correct me if im wrong) is that we shudnt be in the company of anyone who isnt christian
therefore the question i pose then is how can we be fishers of men, if we cant fish?
are you gonna say, " sorry I cannot befriend you because you're not christian" ?
& if we sit there picking our friends we'd have to first judge the kind of person they are and then theres the question of love i think we should be frendz with all people. ? maybe theres a different interpretation to that passage ??
all in all we need to love all ppl even if they dont belive wat we do
1 Corinthians 5
9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
I actually asked Father about this when I was talking with him one week, and asked how segregated we are meant to keep from such people, and while I can't remember his exact words, he basically said the message was given for people who cannot "cope" in the company of such people without being influenced, and said it was dependent largely on how well you could cope with it, and that at that it was very strongly intended for the people at the time to follow because of the way they were easily influenced, or something along those lines.
Generally speaking, people are heavily influenced by their environment until about the age of 25. That's the age that your personality sort of stops changing.. When you're one person & one person only.
So if you are still in your teenage years perhaps you shouldn't be 'best mates', but you should still treat him like you would treat anyone else..
God asked us to hate the sin, not the sinner. Even God Himself, hates sin, not the sinners. He came and died for the sinners whom He loves. Having said that, you should continue to love your friend the Christian Love (Agapy) where you always keep him in your prayers, talk to him about God whenever you get a chance and explain to him that what he is doing is wrong (that is if you care about him.)
Secondly, Abouna's words are 100% correct, but we need to make sure we don't fall into a trap. The all infamous trap of telling ourselves that we will not be affected by their behavior, and slowly we fall into temptation. Age has nothing to do with our ability to be influenced by others.
You should choose your friends, especially your close friends. It sounds like you are judging, but your friends are important to you. Just like you would try to help them when they fall, you need to make sure that they will help you when you fall. So, if you start to fall, your friends have a responsibility to help you up and set you back on the right track. You can't count on him to do that. You can't afford to have bad friends.
Those are my 2 cents.
Coptic boy,
I agree with everything you just said, except one thing:
[quote author=Coptic boy link=board=11;threadid=4588;start=0#msg63490 date=1163811488]
Age has nothing to do with our ability to be influenced by others.
Ofcourse age affects our ability to be influenced by others. While a person is young it is very easy to mould their personality, though if you tried to change an older person it's a different story. ;)
+God Bless
the right thing would be hate the act not the person
Agree and it should not be a Us Vs Them kind of approach
and age does need to be considered when looking at the influence of others. we are moulded by our experiences and influenced by those significant others. although as one matures they may question the benefits of being in the company of certain people
And as coptic boy highlighted we need to be choose our friends carefully but its not easy.
v.good point but also be a positive model, so practice what you preach explain to him that what he is doing is wrong (that is if you care about him.) dont you think they already know what they are doing is wrong
Well.. i was in that situation, and it didnt work out...
They are attracted to men.
My concern is this. Should gay men use the male changing rooms in a gym??
=]
[quote author=Coptic boy link=board=11;threadid=4588;start=0#msg63490 date=1163811488] Having said that, you should continue to love your friend the Christian Love (Agapy) where you always keep him in your prayers, talk to him about God whenever you get a chance
v.good point but also be a positive model, so practice what you preach explain to him that what he is doing is wrong (that is if you care about him.) dont you think they already know what they are doing is wrong
no i dont think they know its wrong. Homosexuality is not understood by so many people. Some think that you're born with it, that it's in your genes. However this has not been proven.
Some think that gay people can't help the way they feel. No, They can get some help.
Some think it's a disease or plague, not even going there.
I think it's a medical condtion. Homosexual people are known to have unusual hormone levels in their bodies.
It may also be a result of hardships in their lives. For example, if someone is not accepted by the opposite sex they may turn to members of the same in sex in search of intimacy... This does not make it right. These things are fully reversable if people WANT to be treated.
i can see where you coming from but i must say that society gives homosexuals HEAPS, they are one of many disempowered groups in society and are discriminated and disadvantaged due their sexuality. im not agreeing with the paths they have chosen, but they must at some point realise that what they are doing is wrong or at least socially not accepted. there is so much stereoptyes and stigma attached to homosexuals, i remember meeting a chick was lesbian, and she told me that while she was doing her christmas shopping, she could hear another girl being bashed who also happen to be lesbian, Some think it's a disease or plague, not even going there.
I think it's a medical condtion. Homosexual people are known to have unusual hormone levels in their bodies. your talking about excuses they use for not wanting to change their situation, that doesnt necessarily mean that they are not aware, you could know what your doing is wrong and still do it, and make up excuses to support your habit because you dont want to change
He was telling me that "God loves him the way he is".
And this is a practicing Christian. When i say "practicing" - i mean... attending mass EVERY sunday, praying... etc..
But the question is this: Can someone be born gay? I mean, is it a conscious decision, or do they somehow decide "I wanna be gay"? somewhere in their lives??
So, for example: this guy was saying that the relationship he had with his step-mother (that was quite draining apparently) triggered the events that led him to be gay. I think that's a lame excuse. Its like saying: "Cos i argued with some person on tasbeha.org, i decided to become hindu". that's so strange. Its very reactive. I think it's a decision that people take : That they want to be gay. They want to be different somehow. From talking to this guy, that was my impression.
That being himself wasnt enough, he needed to be different.
The worst part of all of this is, that in Canada - they teach kids at school that "its OK to be gay", and "u should experiment with homosexuality" because u could be gay and never know it???
Remarkable!!
I mean.. this is actually taught!! (To kids who are around 15/16).
When i was in canada - i even met so many girls who were telling me that they had lesbian relationships to actually see for themselves if they were lesbian.
(they didnt tell me that the 1st time i met them! I mean.. it took a few drinks and some light conversation to get it out of them... but generally, they're taught this way: U never know unless u try".
God have mercy on us all.
You think it's a medical condition homosexuality; that men are born gay??
Well.. that's interesting.
The most interesting thing i've heard in the Church was from a coptic psychiatrist who actually said that homosexuality was removed from the official list of mental health diseases so as not to offend homosexuals who felt that their condition was normal.
I guess we can extend this logic to many other situations:
Men that rape children can also argue that its a "medical condition" and that they can be, and should be accepted like that.
Men that rape women can also argue that its a medical condition and that they should be accepted like that because making rape a crime would be wrong because you are convicting innocent people who were born like that.
Men that commit adultary and fornication can also argue its a medical condition and that they should be accepted like that, so that saying adultary and fornication as a sin would be wrong because you are convicting innocent people who were born like that.
Men that commit murder can argue that it is also a medical condition, and that they should be accepted like that, so making murder a crime is should be wrong, because you are convicting innocent people.
Are we then leading people into holiness this way?? by telling them or making them believe that their condition is "Acceptable" ???
Instead, we are teaching kids that they should find within themselves their own sexual orientation through practicing.
Medical condition?
You think it's a medical condition homosexuality; that men are born gay??
Well.. that's interesting.
The most interesting thing i've heard in the Church was from a coptic psychiatrist who actually said that homosexuality was removed from the official list of mental health diseases so as not to offend homosexuals who felt that their condition was normal.
I guess we can extend this logic to many other situations:
Men that rape children can also argue that its a "medical condition" and that they can be, and should be accepted like that.
Men that rape women can also argue that its a medical condition and that they should be accepted like that because making rape a crime would be wrong because you are convicting innocent people who were born like that.
Men that commit adultary and fornication can also argue its a medical condition and that they should be accepted like that, so that saying adultary and fornication as a sin would be wrong because you are convicting innocent people who were born like that.
Men that commit murder can argue that it is also a medical condition, and that they should be accepted like that, so making murder a crime is should be wrong, because you are convicting innocent people.
Are we then leading people into holiness this way?? by telling them or making them believe that their condition is "Acceptable" ???
Instead, we are teaching kids that they should find within themselves their own sexual orientation through practicing.
No. You missed my whole point. I did not mention anywhere that they were born like that. I said it was a medical condition, you are not born with all medical conditions which you may face throughout your life.
For example, I was recently diagnosed with anemia caused by low iron levels in my blood. I can easily solve a problem like that by eating meat.. But it's not that easy.. I'm vegetarian. I cannot bring myself to eat meat, everytime I see it or even smell it I visualise the beautiful creature that once lived. As long as I am stuck in this mentality I cannot by any means solve this problem naturally. I have to take pills. Likewise a homosexual cannot heal himself unless he changes his mindset, and if it's as hard as eating meat, let me tell you... IT'S NOT EASY! They need pills.
So, u believe in fact that gays need help?? Medical help?? what medication is there?
The hard part is admitting that they're not normal.
I think we need good devout servants in the Church. If we were united in Christ, we could change people, but because we are divided (orthodox, catholics etc...), our voice is never respected nor heard.
i think its NOT a medical condition and therefore cannot be treated and people are not born with it. these are just unsupported excuses
their mindset and their previous experiences is a key instigator for such behaviour. many lesbians i have met were sexually abused by males and as a result turned to women and failed relationships too
but if they really TRULY knew God and TRULY were practicing christians.they would realise that this behaviour is not acceptable in the eyes of God. when i see homosexual couples holding hands or kissing i cringe.
God's first creation(as in human creation) was MAN and WOMAN, not woman and woman or man and man. he created man and woman initally for a reason, not so they could go off and explore their sexuality with the same sex couples.
From Vassilios
"They don't even believe themselves its not a sin."
Do you make an error?
There is a book by our Pope which (?) talks about homosexuality
http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/ordofwom/index.html