
Originally Posted by
Speaker
Thank you very much for all your replies, they are appreciated.
Can you see, though, why religion in general (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) may be seen as harmful to non-believers? The basic principle behind them - love, kindness, forgiveness - are all excellent, but there are aspects which confuse - and even disturb - me. I used to give counselling to a gay Christian man everyday for three years. He had had two failed suicide attempts & had been disowned by his strictly Christian family. He BEGGED me to heterosexualise him. BEGGED me. He was so confused. He wasn't promiscuous, but he was deeply in love with his gay partner. He begged me to help him let that partner go; to help him want a female partner. As an agnostic, I tried to reason with him; I needed him to ignore his religion just so he could be happy! I needed him to accept who he was. He wasn't harming anyone, he was just struggling with a feeling of LOVE towards a member of the same sex. He went to Church groups where he attempted to be heterosexualised - he wasn't.
Six months ago I discovered he had managed to kill himself. This man who did nothing wrong but love another man KILLED HIMSELF, because he could not cope with the guilt placed on him by the Bible. That is the concept I struggle with.