[tdogg]

Tdogg here. Nice to meet you.

I don't believe being gay is a sin, most gay people don't and neither do a good number of straight Christians. I used to be a Christian, now, while I hold on to some of my faith beliefs, I have accumulated others. Sadly, many of so-called Christians I know don't act very Christ-like, and organized religion on the whole doesn't either. So I have distanced myself from organized religion - Christian or otherwise - as a whole. Although now and then I'm not entirely against attending an affirming & welcoming church.

I also don't believe God is gender exclusive - I tend to think of God as beyond gender or even better, all-gender. It is interesting (and a little self-serving, no?) that males, that largely wrote the original scriptures that aren't all that similar to what we call the Bible today, 'created' an image of God as a male, human-like, father figure. Used even now to keep women in their place so to speak. If we replace that with a gender neutral or all-gender figure, then we are all truly 'created' equal.

If one believes in sin, then one most likely believes in hell, which is an interesting concept as well. When I am speaking with religious people that believe in the concept of hell, I usually like to ask them a question. What would it take for their child (or other loved one) to do, that they would willingly toss them into what their mind perceives is hell. The answer has always been 'nothing, I would never do that!' To which I reply, then why would you worship a God that is willing to do just that? To which there is only silence.

Ok, enough rambling. Welcome and hope you stay around and read through the posts, and share some more.