Jaccar+Garcia

 Religion & Homosexuality Jaccar Garcia What the bible says or what life taught you? We all make decisions in life that were influenced by another part of our lives. Most religious people make decisions based on the bible and what they learned in church. Carrying on in life by what the bible says. Do we do it out of fear? Fear that there could be possible consequences to not following things according to how the bible says. While this handful of people live their lives following all their religious rules you have another handful that still believes in some religions but don’t find that some decisions in life shouldn’t be named “sins”. For example, homosexuals live an everyday struggle trying to get accepted into churches due to their personal decisions. Many religions believe that it is a sin to sexually desire the same sex, while others believe its apart of human nature and love should have no limit.

With further research I came across 3 religions that light up the topic homosexuality and religion. Hinduism, Christianity, and Catholicism. In able to look at this topic with more points of views I needed to choose a religion for the topic, a religion against the topic, and a religion that neutral about the topic. Christianity and Catholicism are very similar religions but they don’t seem to agree on the same things when it comes to homosexuality. Hinduism believes that homosexuality is normal and apart of life. All 3 of these religions see homosexuality different. But why? If truly analyzed one notices that in the end all the religions believe in the same thing. All religions believe that there is some type of higher power. If so then why are we all believing something different? Hinduism:  With almost 1.5 million Hindus in the world Hinduism has made their mark in America with their beliefs and traditions. Hinduism is also well known for their acceptance of homosexuals. Gender and sexuality has been a topic that’s been amongst Hindu’s for over two millennia. It is believed that homosexuality was once apart of mythic stories. Hindu’s believe that love is an eternal force and that there should be no limits for it. Even though they support homosexuals they still frown upon premarital sex. With in the religion there are three main functions; Prajaa, Dharma, and Rati. Dharma is the activity of fulfilling all responsibilities in a relationship. Rati is companionship with friendships and people who are romantically involved. Parjaa are the descendant of one’s family.

Christianity: With over 2 billion adherents Christianity made its way across America with it’s most adherents. Even higher would the numbers be if homosexuals were accepted into all Christian churches. Homosexuality is accepted in some Christian churches while other Christian churches believe that it’s a huge sin to support homosexuals. According the Christian bible [|Lev. 20:13], "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them." In the bible it clearly states that it is sin to be a homosexual. The group of Christians that don’t support the idea seem to believe that the other group of Christians are insane. The Christians who believe in human desire make the statement that now people should be treated differently and should have the same rights that any other person has.

Catholicism: Being one of this Christian dominations, Catholicism has made its way down a path towards becoming completely independents. Unlike Christians, Catholics completely find homosexuality as a religion. As the bibles say’s [|Lev. 18:22], "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination" You can determine that they are strongly against it. They do believe that even though homosexuals are not welcomed into their churches, they still believe they should be treated equally. If someone is stating that people should be treated equally but they aren’t doing that themselves than wouldn’t they be sinning? Question: If Christians were to completely welcome homosexuals into their churches what would Catholic’s reaction be?

Analysis: These articles begin to have me thinking about religion and acceptance. I have been wonder about homosexuals and the religions they choose to go to. In certain situations I believe that if a person is homosexual and wants to go to church then they should join a religion that accepts their orientation. While at the same time I believe that if a person is born into a religion and then turns homosexual then there is now way for change because they are use to the ways of the religion. In that situation then there should be certain churches that accept ones beliefs and ways of viewing the world. There should also be no different religions because when truly analyzed we all believe the same thing. Therefore, I believe that churches should only be divided into two groups. The ones who accept homosexuals, and the one’s who don’t. That way everyone’s happy. 

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