Hello.
I'm 21 and I've had a christian education when I was kid but it's only recently that I seriously started to look into it and after much research I found myself wondering about sins and God's sense of justice.
During a long time I was just agnostic and I was following my own sens of justice, constructing myself a code of honor that I respected at all time. Basically it was about never doing anything to hurt others (both physically and mentally) and seeking altruism. That's why I ended up hating people who willingly hurt others for their own pleasure (bullies, some criminals, people who step on others for money and social recognition) to the point when I thought they deserved to die. Since I've looked into Christianity again I've understood that it was a sin to hate others because, as much as the sin itself can be hated, we mustn't hate the sinners because they can still change and ask for forgiveness. I already saw most sins as bad things I wouldn't do and this is an exemple of a sin that I understood and stopped to do once I've looked enough into Christianity but there are still some sins that I don't understand at all.
Here is an example that I've stumbled across:
http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/40SinsThatWillSendYouToHell.html
The one sin that shocked me is effeminacy.
I don't understand how this can be a sin. I don't even see how it can be considered as even remotely bad.
I'm shocked that this is a sin because I am a guy with a lot of feminine traits. I used to see it as a part of myself and I loved it. Mentally, I'm straight and I'm fine with being a man but my behavior clearly correspond what our culture associate with being a girl. I'm so girly that when I was in high school talking with my classmates (most of them were girls) they said to me that I should have been a girl and I couldn't even object because I secretly agreed and liked the idea of me being a girl. Physically, I dress myself as a boy but I did choose to have long hair because it partially reflected this side of my personality and I wanted to try cross-dressing when I would have my own house.
I don't see what's wrong with being a boy with girly traits. What kind of justice and love would it be to throw away someone in hell for this even though he believe in Jesus and love him?
The same goes for homosexuality, which doesn't concern me. It harms no one and is the contrary of hate since it's about love.
Our society made great advances when it comes to accepting each others. We accepted homosexuality and we are starting to see more and more men who don't hide anymore their feminine traits and vice versa for women. Accepting each other is the first step toward loving each other, which is what God want us to do the most.
Is there any evidence that God really thinks things such as effeminacy and homosexuality are sins or was it invented by some intolerant people? Because if it really is the case I would be scared and I would wonder if our religion is really a matter of love and justice. God love us so much that he gave his own Son for us, he accepted us despite our sins, how could he be so intolerant toward our gender identity? If such things are really sins then it appears to me that when their will be no sin anymore (in paradise), everyone will be same.
I'm 21 and I've had a christian education when I was kid but it's only recently that I seriously started to look into it and after much research I found myself wondering about sins and God's sense of justice.
During a long time I was just agnostic and I was following my own sens of justice, constructing myself a code of honor that I respected at all time. Basically it was about never doing anything to hurt others (both physically and mentally) and seeking altruism. That's why I ended up hating people who willingly hurt others for their own pleasure (bullies, some criminals, people who step on others for money and social recognition) to the point when I thought they deserved to die. Since I've looked into Christianity again I've understood that it was a sin to hate others because, as much as the sin itself can be hated, we mustn't hate the sinners because they can still change and ask for forgiveness. I already saw most sins as bad things I wouldn't do and this is an exemple of a sin that I understood and stopped to do once I've looked enough into Christianity but there are still some sins that I don't understand at all.
Here is an example that I've stumbled across:
http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/40SinsThatWillSendYouToHell.html
The one sin that shocked me is effeminacy.
I don't understand how this can be a sin. I don't even see how it can be considered as even remotely bad.
I'm shocked that this is a sin because I am a guy with a lot of feminine traits. I used to see it as a part of myself and I loved it. Mentally, I'm straight and I'm fine with being a man but my behavior clearly correspond what our culture associate with being a girl. I'm so girly that when I was in high school talking with my classmates (most of them were girls) they said to me that I should have been a girl and I couldn't even object because I secretly agreed and liked the idea of me being a girl. Physically, I dress myself as a boy but I did choose to have long hair because it partially reflected this side of my personality and I wanted to try cross-dressing when I would have my own house.
I don't see what's wrong with being a boy with girly traits. What kind of justice and love would it be to throw away someone in hell for this even though he believe in Jesus and love him?
The same goes for homosexuality, which doesn't concern me. It harms no one and is the contrary of hate since it's about love.
Our society made great advances when it comes to accepting each others. We accepted homosexuality and we are starting to see more and more men who don't hide anymore their feminine traits and vice versa for women. Accepting each other is the first step toward loving each other, which is what God want us to do the most.
Is there any evidence that God really thinks things such as effeminacy and homosexuality are sins or was it invented by some intolerant people? Because if it really is the case I would be scared and I would wonder if our religion is really a matter of love and justice. God love us so much that he gave his own Son for us, he accepted us despite our sins, how could he be so intolerant toward our gender identity? If such things are really sins then it appears to me that when their will be no sin anymore (in paradise), everyone will be same.