it happened again today. i opened up a piece of mail from an conservative religious group within my denomination and saw the words: "practicing homosexual."
few other things disturb me the way this phrase disturbs me.
from dictionary.com:
prac·tic·ing –adjective 1. actively working at a profession, esp. medicine or law.
2. actively following a specific way of life, religion, philosophy, etc.: a practicing Catholic.
ok, maybe there are some who could make the argument that homosexuals practice being homosexual if you follow the second definition, but i have yet to hear one person use the phrase: "practicing heterosexual" and this is why the phrase totally falls apart for me and becomes stupid and silly.
strangely enough i don't practice my sexuality... i'm not certain how exactly i would do that besides some obvious activities that are reserved for me and hubby alone... of course i haven't ever referred to that as practicing, not even the first time.
what do people think glbt's do exactly... to practice being glbt? do they have to keep trying to practice until they get it right? why is it that i don't have to practice being straight? or do i? omg, what if i'm not practicing and suddenly become a lesbian because i haven't practiced being straight enough?
sexuality is not like piano lessons folks.
and here's the next problem with this phrase. "practicing homosexual" is supposed to refer to those people who are having sex with someone of the same sex. if they aren't practicing... do they suddenly become heterosexual or asexual?
is my sexuality based solely upon whether or not i practice having sex?
maybe it's that there isn't a better phrase that we use such a stupid one. (it unnerves me even more when people who seem hip to this kind of stuff use this phrase.) but i'm not really sure that we need a phrase to describe this concept of glbt's who are in relationship or sexually active besides "single" or "in relationship".
sigh.
God's peace y'all
4 comments:
You know, I respect everyone except the disrespectful! Basically, I only hate HATE!
It's easier to self-righteously focus on the supposed sins of others than to focus on your own. We all abuse God's gift of sexuality in some way and we all fall short of the grace of God in most ways. Instead of pointing and blaming and condemning, all Christians have the opportunity to let God's light shine before others. We need to stop throwing stones and start treating everyone and everything with love and respect. This is, IMHO, the first step in the Great Commission. Love with everything you've got and let the Holy Spirit take care of the rest.
Stupid hate-mongers
I like to tell those people I'm not a "practicing" bisexual--I'm accomplished! :-)
If the people/organizations that used that phrase instead said "single" or "in relationship," that would humanize rather than demonize us, so they have to avoid those terms!
It's killing me not to make some inappropriate comment about how my husband and I should take today off work to practice.
Hmmm. I guess I didn't quite make it.
I think the point is to keep the focus on homosexuality being something you choose. Just like you can choose to be Lutheran or you can choose to be Jewish you can choose to be homosexual. And if you pray enough you can choose to not be homosexual anymore.
That always seemed strange to me. I didn't choose my sexual orientation anymore than I chose my gender. I think it is because these people believe that God couldn't create someone homosexual because homosexuality is against God's word. So that puts the 'fault' of the homosexuality back on the individual. It is a moral failing.
Because if someone could actually be born homosexual that would mean that either God thinks homosexuality is ok or that the Bible was wrong. Neither of which is possible in their world view.
It is really sad. These "christians" seem to forget the basic tenet of Christ. (paraphrasing) - "Love the Lord your god, blah, blah, blah and love your neighbor as yourself." All the rest is dogma.
Post a Comment