religion-homosexuality

[religion-homosexuality]

To complete this project, I have included the goal of the overall LGBTQ+ community; equality. Religion is often a huge hindrance to this equality. Despite recent forward movements for the LGBTQ+ community such as the legalization of marriage in the United States, religious individuals are still given exemptions to discriminate against the community. They are allowed to not employ people solely due to their sexuality. They can refuse service at businesses because a identity may “conflict with their religion.” 

As a gay man myself, I have watched religion affect my own life and others. I grew up in a house where sexuality was not discussed. I did not know the views of my direct family on the subject. I had extended family who I believed were not open to homosexuality due to their belief in Christianity. I lived in fear that I would not be accepted into my own family, all because of someone else’s beliefs. While this country and others continue to make leaps and bounds forwards, discrimination has always been and still is a severe problem for the LGBTQ+ community.

[religion-homosexuality]

This link was added in order to demonstrate why being gay is criminalized within the Islamic religion. Sharia law often prohibits many things that are seen as mundane elsewhere. For example, as the article says, in Saudi Arabia, they interpret Sharia law as saying that homosexuality is either to be punished by lashings or death. It is this law that permits governments to treat their homosexual citizens so extremely. Unfortunately, it does not stop there. This law also prohibits things like femininity and crossdressing, saying that men should not “act like women.” In addition, in more extreme places like Saudi Arabia, it is not just sexual relations that are criminalized, it is just being gay in general. If any police or government official was to find out, the person could be arrested. This leads to homophobic leaders being emboldened and calling things like homophobia and feminism extremist. It is for these reasons that Sharia law is extremely damaging to the LGBTQ+ community.

[religion-homosexuality]

This picture is included in order to further elaborate on the punishments oftentimes associated with the Islamic faith. Most African nations have an Islamic majority and some are even governed based upon the principles of the religion. As the picture shows, being homosexual in these nations is extremely difficult. The majority of these countries have it outlawed and some go as far as having the death penalty in place. As we saw in Under the Udala Tree, in places like Nigeria, hate crimes are accepted against the LGBTQ+ community, and death is common. This leads to a life of fear and secrecy for the community, due to the strict laws of these countries based in the Islamic faith. Once again, religion is a detrimental factor for the LGBTQ+ community.

[religion-homosexuality]

I chose this post to see what it was like to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community in a place where homosexual acts are often frowned upon due to the views often associated with the Islamic faith. While there are still things to worry about in more western nations such as the United States, there is a risk of incarceration and criminal charges for being gay in places such as Egypt. While these countries do not always have specific charges for homosexuality, there are often arrests made for things such as “debauchery,” as the article states. This not only provides a bad living situation for the people living within these discriminatory nations, it also forces them to live a life of fear. People avoid coming out out of fear for societal oppression. This is just another example of how religion is often a force of oppression rather than love and acceptance as they were designed.

#lgbt rights #religion #islam #libya #afghanistan

[religion-homosexuality]

I chose this article to transition the project from Christianity and homosexuality to Islam and homosexuality. Seeing as they are both Abrahamic religions, it seems unsurprising that they have similar views on homosexuality. In the recent translations (previous translations did not mention the word “homosexuality”) there are a few passages throughout the Bible such as Leviticus 18:22, which calls homosexual relations an abomination. However, I do not want to villainize the religion by saying it is the only one that provides homophobic propaganda. The Qur’an is similarly discriminatory in its teachings. As the article states, the Prophet teaches that if anyone “does as Lot’s people did” (meaning have homosexual relations) then they should be killed. While the Qur’an is not quite as explicit in its views on women and homosexuality, it is very clear that male relations are absolutely not tolerated. With this in mind, it would be extremely difficult to say that it is only Christianity to hold these views, seeing as Islam has extremely similar, and sometimes more extreme views.

[religion-homosexuality]

To end the portion on Christianity, I wanted to show that not everything is bleak within the church in relation to homosexuality. As we saw with Ijeoma’s mother, as time passes, people are more willing to be accepting. This study shows that more and more members of the church are willing to accept LGBTQ+ (specifically gay people and lesbians) into their congregation. In addition to these numbers, the study also says that 62% of respondents say society as a whole should accept homosexual people. 

This survey was done in 2012, so if the trend was linear, it is likely that this acceptance has continued and flourished. Of course, there is a plateau. Some people are simply going to be hateful no matter how far the people of their congregation develop. In addition, the entire study was not perfect in reference to acceptance. The 2012 numbers were still underneath 50%, and the Catholic church actually had fewer churches that were accepting of the community in 2012 compared to 2006. So, clearly things are far from ideal, but perhaps they are on the path of improvement.

[religion-homosexuality]

I chose to add this link from the class tumblr to my project to show how even within their own ranks, churches can be extremely toxic for their LGBTQ+ members. The main subject of this article wanted to assist the church and help to spread the word of Christ as a Clergyman. People in his own congregation turned him away because they were not prepared to accept a gay person as a leader in the church. It seems that everywhere LGBTQ+ people look in the church, there is someone fully willing to turn them away due to their sexuality or gender identity. The article also speaks of those who managed to find a way to reconcile their religion with their identity, but these instances seem to be done through immense self reflection, rather than support from within. At risk of seeming cynical, it would appear that if a member of the LGBTQ+ community was looking for acceptance, a church would not be the most ideal place to look.

[religion-homosexuality]

I include this post in order to continue along the lines of Christianity and how it very often can disintegrate into something bastardized and discriminatory. The Westboro Baptist Church is one of the most discriminatory religious groups in the United States. They are extremely radical, doing things such as protesting military funerals, saying these soldiers died because God is angry that the country accepts gay marriage. They intentionally enrage those around them in order to raise awareness of their unintelligent and unkind cause.

This is what religious discrimination can boil down to if it is allowed to flourish unrestricted in these Christian spaces. These people have their entire lives consumed by homophobia, their entire personalities are hating gay people. Why is it that Christianity is so deeply concerned with homosexuality when it is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the bible? The answer is simple; it is the easiest way to justify hatred.

[religion-homosexuality]

To begin with Christianity, I wanted to show some of the detrimental effects that this church based discrimination can have. While many in the church would claim that practices such as conversion therapy are not discrimination, most reputable people in the psychological community would deeply disagree. Looking at the experience of the woman in this article, things like this can lead to a staggering amount of mental health issues including suicidal thoughts and actions within the LGBTQ+ community, especially in the youth. Homosexuality is simply a part of who a person is, it is not something to be healed from. Framing it in this light makes it so that people feel like there is something innately wrong with them, making them ashamed, embarrassed, and secretive about their sexuality.

These practices do nothing but abuse the people on the receiving end. The psychological community agrees that sexuality is not an affliction, nor something that can be changed through prayer. Yet, these churches keep pushing the discriminatory practice, promising people to “heal” them from something they never would have seen as wrong had the church not interfered in their life. A church should never insert itself into the sexuality of one of its members.

#lgbt rights #religion #uk news #mental health #sexuality

[religion-homosexuality]

I want to start this blog with this picture that was posted to the class blog earlier in the semester. Unfortunately, religion is used as an excuse to discriminate all too often. One of my favorite quotes is “there’s no hate quite like Christian love.” People who practice religion (not just Christianity) often say that practices like homosexuality go against their religion and go against God, but is that not just a masked way to expose their homophobia without societal judgement? People are so very often willing to excuse people for clear injustice because it “goes against their religion.” Think of the COVID vaccine, people are not getting the vaccine for political and personal reasons and then claiming it to be a “religious exemption,” when it is in fact just an attempt to make a (blatantly incorrect) political statement. It is the same with the issue of homosexuality. These people will harbor hatred against the LGBTQ+ community because they are simply bigoted people, but then claim it goes against their god. 

This bastardization of religion to hide wrongdoing is far from what any god would want. In Christianity, the bible preaches love and acceptance, but instead bigoted Christians focus on a few mistranslated passages to justify their disdain. These people say that being gay is a one way ticket to hell, but seeing as these religions preach love, is their hatred for us not in itself a sin? 

Discrimination is not, and will never be a value of religion.