Charlie - Interpretation of the Bible is as individual as one's relationship with God. For years I was taught homosexuality was a sin but do not believe that to be the truth. Not by my interpretation anyway. I do not care to get into - or spark - a debate but wanted to share that with you.

James - I wish you well in your endeavor to find your own way and sorting out some issues.


Daryl

yea daryl, me too.

i can accept that certain churches have their code of ethics that they expect their subscribers to adhere to.

but, like you, i grew up in a country ruled by right wing religious bible based thought. the overall power of those ideals seem to be diminishing and i personally have gotten out from under its sway, and in doing so i have eliminated a great portion of internal stress. i can now breathe without the suffocating hand of religion blocking my mouth.

it sure is curious to observe the various and sundry stories that have come down the pike over the years attempting to conceptualize and contextualize the creator for human consumption.

curious AND frightening. i'm less frightened of a nameless faceless god than i am of the ones dreamt up in the imaginations of humans. i find that god much more approachable and compassionate.

sorry if the this response sidetracks the original conversation. maybe only mormons should respond. if it's offensive, let me know and i'll remove it.

all the best,

ron

JB, if you don't mind, let me give a brief sermon to you.

Something to consider is a saying I heard an elderly pastor say many many moons back- "When you quit questioning your faith, you quit believing."

God, Yahweh, Yvhv, Yashua, and by what other names He may have, is still the One and the Only "true goid" we will ever have. We, as in you and I, we know that Jesus IS His Son. We know that because He tells us so. We can question our faith, we can question our clergy, and you can even *ask* God questions, but you can NEVER question His honesty. So we have God. Then we have Jesus. Then we have the Holy Spirit. Again, because He said so. In this I cannot define "if" they are three yet one, perhaps they are. Perhaps they are three separate and distinct entities. Who knows? God knows. And along with the many gifts that God has given us, one of which is the Holy Bible.

So in this we now have One God. One Jesus. One Holy Spirit. And One Holy Bible. But from the 250 million souls in America alone, there seems to be 300 million different religions....? Why is that?

As the elderly pastor said, "When you quit questioning your faith, you quit believing."

One thing that was instrumental in me leaving the LDS is when they said they are the only True Church. Really? I recall being raised Mormon. Getting in fights with other kids because they didn't believe in the Mormon church and would make fun of it. But when they started telling us, me, that you never question church leaders, I began questioning if I really beleived in that church after all those years.

I was baptised at the tender age of 8 in Jan. 1978, received my Melchezidek Priesthood in May 1997. And I left in Nov. 1999. But until Feb. 2002 the church refused to honor my request.

I had to question our leaders. They are human, not god-like! I still had so many questions, and no one would answer them. Why?

So I started looking elsewhere for my answers.

Brother JB I am not asking you to leave the Mormon church. Go where you wish to go, and if that means staying Mormon, by all means stay! It's your life, you live it as you see fit.

I soon found another faith, and I joined them. After my initial departure from the LDS and before I was ordained in Cosmos, I had gone to 8 maybe 9 different churches. Then I found Cosmos, and I found home.

I feel that when a church tells you to what standards you must live inoder to be saved, I start questioning how much of a church they really are. It says in the Bible, you get to Heaven through Jesus and by accepting Him as your Savior. You get salvation by faith, not works. And we both know too well how so many people in the LDS do exactly the opposite- works ahead of faith.

Be whatever Church or religion any of you want to be. But before you take heed to their teachings, remember the Holy Bible. And remember that you are saved by choice, not by how much work you do.

Church is great for mingling and associating and learning.
Salvation means trusting in God and Jesus, not "a" church.

Just my view.

A couple of things to remember when questioning "right wing" conservative values and the bible. The Mormon church was forced to renounce polygamy because it is sinful. Yet the Bible has more polygamous marriages than not.

My wife was raised pentacostal and taught how evil sex is. Problem is (sorry to the atheists and evolutionaries, but this is in the context of belief in God) that God is the one who created the orgasm. If God only intended sex for procreation he would not have made it so pleasurable. As with many things, when it is placed above God in your life or leads you into doing evil (ie, breaking up your neighbor's family with adultery, snatching a child, raping another), then that is a sin.

Yet we have religions declaring what position must be used and certain sex acts (fellatio, cunnilingus, sodomy) are sinful in and of themselves. If you REALLY look, you tell me where in the Bible it states that premarital sex in and of itself is a sin. It does go back to the two Greatest Commandments. To an extent, all three of those acts previously mentioned are selfless acts to please another.In other words, acts of love.

i love the way u think catfish! ..... oh inverted world! take back the night daylight!

ron

Well it is true that sex is not a sin, ask the Catholic Church how that whole celibate preist thing is working out.