The Christian Fellowship Club held a forum last week to provide perspective on what it’s like to be homosexual and religious. Putting the audience in the shoes of club members who identify as gay and hold a intimate relationship with God who look to take on the issue.
With chairs arranged in an order equivalent to a classroom, each speaker stood at the front of room TH112 and expressed their insight of what it means to identify as gay and christian in front of an audience of 25. The overall message from participants was to focus on the words of the Bible, and not the socially constructed bias against homosexuality that has been perpetuated by some faiths.
“You [are raised to] think that being straight is the holy state of being, when in fact the holy state of being is to take your sexuality regardless of the cards you’re dealt and to put them in submission to Jesus,” said Gregory Coles, a member of the club.
In addition to being homosexual and christian, you can add author to Coles’ resume. Coles is a proud author of “Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity”. He basically touches on the topic of religion and sexuality, providing his personal lens on the topic.
Being attracted to the same sex has historically drawn negative attention, however the barrier between religion and sexuality is nonexistent for Orion Barthley, Christian fellowship attendee.
Barthley described God’s grace as “an awesome orgasm” with a wide grin on his face that represents the pride LGBTQ community share in being religious. Barthley makes it clear that homosexuals can experience the grace of God just as much as the next person.
The members of the Christian Fellowship Club hold no discriminations to those who are attracted to the same sex. In fact, the club as a whole doesn’t allow for barriers between sexuality and religion to be made. The negative connotations carried about by the church ultimately have no effect on the Christian Fellowship Club as they’ve been accepting to those who share this distinct lifestyle.
Throughout the discussion numerous people were laughing at comments being made, clapping at every point of emphasis and cheering on each speaker who shared their experience. Each member of this club grew up amongst youth groups that hold their faith on a pedestal.
As the discussion continued, the audience’s attention remained undivided as they listened to quoted Bible verses and homosexual revelations.
“We need to be able to let the Bible prove us wrong,” said Coles. “Then we also need to be willing to let the bible tell us what we don’t want to hear.” Members at the forum believed that those who are against homosexuality often reference the bible to prove their point. As he delivered his speech, Coles proficient dissected the bible on what it means to be straight and homosexual. By doing so, he realized that the bible is often taken out of context which allows for individuals to automatically view same sex relationships as sin.
As a Christian and homosexual, Coles was determined to study what the Bible was teaching him instead of listening to outside factors telling him how to live. When Coles looks back on how he was brought up, he realizes that the majority of what he was taught was socially constructed, and not dictated by the Bible.
“Therefore you have no excuse, you who judge someone else because at whatever point you judge someone else you yourself stand condemned as you do the same things,” as Coles adds the exclamation mark. By tackling life-long debates like sexuality vs religion, the Christian Fellowship Club continues to plant their feet forward in the right direction as a unit.
