The Subject of Boys

The Faith is my life

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Category: The Subject of Boys
Created: Tuesday, 03 December 2013 03:21
Published: Tuesday, 03 December 2013 03:16
Written by DV, Gay/Lesbian Baha'i Story Project
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I was born and raised in a Baha’i family in Malaysia. I am a 3rd generation Baha’i. I realized that I was different when I was about 13 years old. When I found out that I was attracted to someone of the same sex, my whole world came crashing down. I was devastated and heartbroken because I couldn’t accept the fact. I was scared. I grew up believing that homosexuality was a disease and can be cured.

{josquote}I concluded that God created me the way I am and He loves me for who I am. I accepted myself.{/josquote}

Every day I prayed and asked God to make me normal. He seemed to answer all my other prayers except this one. I became confused. I cried a lot, sometimes crying myself to sleep. I asked God “why me?” but He never told me the reason. I had nowhere to turn or talk to.

Malaysia is multiracial and multi-religious nation. Homosexuality is deemed as a sin and punishable by law. People don’t discuss about homosexuality because it’s considered a taboo. This didn’t help me. I felt alienated. I felt disgusted with myself. I became severely depressed and even thought of ending my life a couple of times. The burden was just too heavy to carry.

Two views of the Baha’i view on homosexuality

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Category: The Subject of Boys
Created: Friday, 18 October 2013 22:07
Published: Friday, 18 October 2013 22:01
Written by Sonja van Kerkhoff, Just a Bahai
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{josquote}Is it “illicit sex”, is it “another form of marriage”, or is it something new that isn’t in the book?{/josquote}

Recently in a discussion a Bahai asked what would happen if a Baha’i started a pledge similar to this one where members of the Jewish community pledge at working at ending homophobic bullying or harassment of any kind in their synagogues, schools, organizations, and communities.

In response: a Baha’i wrote:

The official policy of Baha’is toward gays is demeaning…what to do? I mean that first statement in the pledge implies that we see each gay or lesbian as created in the image of the divine. This doesn’t quite go with the image of gays as inherently handicapped and in need of repair to their basic nature. Not that I don’t appreciate your intention…I just don’t see how it all fits together in an intelligible and consistent way

So here are two differing responses to the question “What is the Baha’i perspective of homosexuality?”

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Baha'i on Life

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Category: The Subject of Boys
Created: Thursday, 10 October 2013 07:43
Published: Thursday, 10 October 2013 07:34
Written by Sarah Thomas, Sarah goes to church
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{josquote}And that's when Sarah stepped off the Bahai boat{/josquote}

Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen
Grab myself a handful of chicken
And eat and groan and try to come to life.

Slap on some make-up so I don't look scary
Pull up some tights cause my legs are quite hairy
Hop into the car and drive to the Baha'is.

I knew (almost) nothing about the Baha'i faith. I didn't google it or check out the Wikipedia. Their beliefs and customs were unknown to me. Rebecca stated they were against drug and alcohol consumption and weren't fond of the gays. That's it. That's all I knew. So when Sunday morning rolled around and I found myself taking a seat in a windowless room at the Baha'i Information Center in Webster Groves I had no idea what I was in for.

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Sex, Doubt and the Pope

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Category: The Subject of Boys
Created: Tuesday, 08 October 2013 15:48
Published: Tuesday, 08 October 2013 15:42
Written by Gary Gutting, The New York Times
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Gary Gutting

Many liberal Catholics have been encouraged by Pope Francis’s comments about sexual ethics in a recent interview. His general point was that these are lesser matters, not to be emphasized at the expense of the church’s essential message of healing and salvation. Asked about homosexuality, he simply evoked God’s love for all humans: “when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person? . . . In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy.” More widely, he said: “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods . . . . The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.”

{josquote}Unless the pope is prepared to reject the hierarchy’s absolute condemnation of these actions and revise the official teaching, his comments reflect merely changes of style and tone.{/josquote}

Nevertheless the pope, unlike many Catholics, seems still to accept the hierarchy’s official views on abortion, contraception and homosexuality: “The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear, and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.” Presumably, then, he agrees with the official line that these actions are seriously immoral. In an earlier interview he similarly accepted the official view that divorced and remarried Catholics may not receive Communion and that women cannot be priests.

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Mormons admit sexuality not a choice

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Category: The Subject of Boys
Created: Saturday, 05 October 2013 23:07
Published: Saturday, 05 October 2013 23:03
Written by Andrew Potts, Gay Star News
Hits: 1253
Salt Lake Temple

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has admitted that sexual orientation is not a choice and that same-sex attracted people should not marry people of the opposite sex but maintains that homosexual acts are sinful

The leadership of the Mormon church have admitted that same-sex attraction is not a choice and has launched a new church website to begin a conversation on the issue.

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