On Your Way To Heaven

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Some are obviously impatient to join God in heaven

Religion would have been a more tolerable concept had it promised its adepts a place in heaven for doing good in the course of their existence. Instead, it somehow managed to convince them that their salvation is directly linked to the amount of involvement they maintain in other people's lives. As surprising as it may sound, it has become perfectly normal for some to dictate the lifestyle and moral values of a whole community, regardless of diversity and freedom of choice.

Religious people are so haunted by this consuming desire to please the mighty Lord ,and  therefore secure a position in a certain imaginary place, that they overlook the amount of pain or discomfort they're bringing to others. Take for example the religious groups fighting against gay rights. Their systematic attacks on gays may not affect the general population, but are certainly damaging to vulnerable homosexual teens who have to go through a lot of bullying and hatred. Such situations can lead to devastating results, such as depression and suicide... and the worst part? We can't even blame the culprit, because he doesn't exist!

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Homophobic Minorities?

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Why do minorities turn to their oppressors' religion?

Have you ever noticed that many racial/ethnic minorities seem to cling to the religions of their oppressors? The African-American community, for example, is often a big opponent of same-sex marriage. Many Native American tribes, which are generally sovereignty nations, have also come to outlaw same-sex marriages. In many parts of Africa, homosexuality can get you raped or even killed. But why?

Several of my friends that are of a racial/ethnic minority have told me that they’ve had comments directed to them such as, “You can’t be gay, you’re black” and “But that’s a white disease.” No one is apparently doing a history check before making these really ignorant statements. Guess what, homosexual behavior can be found, and could always be found, everywhere.

Most tribal people didn’t have a concept of “orientation.” They also weren’t always quite as strict when it came to what gender someone was despite their sex. Many cultures could have a male woman, for example, or a female man, or maybe even a completely different gender, and in most of those cultures these people were considered a powerful, positive asset to the community. Sometimes these male women were allowed, even expected, to marry a male man. Sometimes they were allowed, even expected, to have same-sex relationships outside of their opposite-sex marriages. Were they ‘straight’ transsexuals? Just a ‘gay’ feminine male? Who knows. And it didn’t matter. It was irrelevant that their sexes were the same. I know of tribes in both the Americans and in Africa that had these traditions. There are probably many more.

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Gay And Believer: Is God The New Queer Icon?

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Even her smile can't hide the atrocity of religion

A few things surprise me in life... unexpected combinations can amuse or shock me, but rarely make me go 'Oh what the hell?!'. I guess I'm not the judgemental type of guys; I'm tolerant, understanding and easygoing.

Having said that, I still can't fully grasp some of life's absurdities. What would be your reaction if I told you about a Jew Nazi? Shocked, right?... Now how about a religious gay person? What would you say? Normal? Acceptable? Or pure nonsense?!

I say it's ridiculous, unjustified and self-destructive. Being religious can be harmful in its own right, let alone when religion makes you its preferable target for criticism, mockery and demonization! For some reason (none actually) religion has declared war on the LGBT community. That's far from new, since religion has had an infamous record in human rights issues, however, and correct me if I'm wrong, we no longer live in the middle ages.

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