Why am I so keen on wanting to go back to church?

There's only one that's gay-friendly and, as usual, I never felt accepted.

I'll go if it warms up to 10 above. But I don't see any point. I can pray for my soul right where I am. At least the dust mites are accepting of me.

but i know the god that i worship loves you. He- she doesn't care of a persons orientation. We both know your a good person so take heart. Remember as tab hunter says religion is not a popularity contest. Btw your right a church is just a building it's in your heart what counts and yours is beautiful.

I have found a new way to look at the whole thing. Let's not forget the rainbow and what it means. God sent the rainbow as a message that he'd never again destroy the Earth with water/weather, which fucking DEBUNKS what the homophobes always say after a hurricane or a tornado. So fuck them. We have our own God and they can kiss our asses because they are dead WRONG with their hate-filled rhetoric. Just remember the rainbow and what it means. Now let's turn in our customized hymnals (customized by your truly to include some better music) to page 1 and let us sing "Over the Rainbow" (I just watched the Wizard of Oz last night so I can halfway remember the words without a problem.)

That's Jamastiene's Sunday school lesson for you this morning. It's all you need. Plus this :hug:

were an army singing a song. Aint no weapon that can stop us. Rainbow love is far too strong.

place where EVERYONE should feel welcome, but unfortunately that's not true.
If you're feeling an inner need to go, I say just do it. Myself? Haven't been to church in years, (other than weddings and funerals), and I still don't feel a need.
Like you said you can always pray, anywhere, any time.

have more to do with keeping us out than with keeping god in?

UU, UCC,

You're a great person, I'm sure there's a church out there that would love to have you. :hug:

:rofl:

if you're in to "high church" ritual.

Churches always creep me out. Who needs dogma?

Religion is a creation of man. The Earth has been here billions of years. The first life one-celled life forms didn't evolve until halfway through the Earth's existence. If life on Earth is represented in a one-year calendar, humans don't emerge until the last minute of the last hour of the last day of the year. So, modern humans are a blip on the planet in the grand timeline, and Christianity and other religions even more so. What is this obsession with the past 2,000 years, a tiny little speck of time. I always think that cosmic contemplation is far more meaningful than the myths and stories humans make up to judge one another and control others.

Because the childhood cultural thing is hard to shake.

Have you tried an Episcopal church? There are some (but not all) that are very diverse in their populations. The last one I attended I was the only straight person in the choir.

aside from the obvious goal of social interaction (as you put, acceptance), rather than answers to questions, why would you WANT to go?

strangely enough, marilyn manson (who's only cd i liked was mechanical anmials, on which he allegedly sould his soul to madison avenue) helped me to boil it down to nothing more than a vast oversimplication...:-)...

marilyn says, "god is a number no one can count to", and "god is just a statistic".

that pretty much explains it. answers to unanswerable questions.

counting.

infinity.

eternity.

they can be defined, but it is hard to conceptualize no beginning, and no end.

if there WAS no beginning and there will be no end, then all that claptrap bandied about as justifications for the lack of acceptable and believable answers, seems rather irrelevant.

however, it CAN be easily used as manipulations of entire populations, as long as the populations can be instilled with the "proper and correct" beliefs.

"be nice".

that, really, is the whole point of any religion, once you discard all those manmade myths...

Be Nice!

but you, on some level, knew that. therefore the inability to "fit" into the church scene.

you are to be admired!

:thumbsup:

:toast:

Too many of us think of religion (and here, I mean Christianity) as a personal thing only - a "just me and Jesus" relationship. This is particularly true in our culture of individualism.

However, we are also part of a community. Church is far more than a place where we develop a personal relationship with God. It is also a place where we form a community of faith, the "body of Christ."

Fundy churches seem to have trouble with that concept. They think that everyone is supposed to be the Right Elbow, and they keep using it to jam it in the ribs of those who aren't part of their gang. These are the places that cannot understand the beauty of diversity, who do not want to hear a variety of experiences or opinions.

Funny thing about that, is right before Jesus died, he told his own disciples "I am giving you a new commandment: that you LOVE one another. Just as I have loved you, you shall love one another." All these people who say they love Jesus, just want to ignore his words.

Keep looking, Toad. I wish you were around here.... I'd LOVE to have you join our church!!
:hug:

Great way of putting it!

For me, attending church is enjoying the unity of souls focused on a common goal (the secular equivalent would be a really good anti-war rally) outside themselves, getting caught up in the beauty of the liturgy, and joining part of the "strength in numbers" to do good works that I cannot do alone.

I'd say, Hypno Toad, that you'd be welcome at any number of churches in the Twin Cities. The Metropolitan Community Church is not the only option. The UUs, the UCCs, and any other church that proclaims irself a "welcoming congregation" (this includes most Episcopal churches) would welcome you.