I happened to catch bits and pieces of a Lifetime movie called "Prayers for Bobby". The character Bobby grew up in a conservative family and town, and upon going away to college he came out as a gay man. I am not quite sure what led up to this, but he ended up committing suicide. I happened to catch the scene of the funeral where the priest was speaking on how sin begat (er..old bible words) sin, basically stating how unfortunate the truth is that when you live in a sinful manner, you are more apt to committing other sinful acts. In another scene the mother visits a school, I'm not sure again where it is, but it appears to be a catholic school, but surprisingly the Father teaches a message of tolerance and love that God has for all people. His statement was genuine, but I wonder sometimes how many religious authorities or religious groups actually believe what they are saying when they say this.

The more I see the religion and the LGBTQ community come at "odds", the more I think about my monologue, and essentially what I have learned from it (weirdly). I have become more sound in my beliefs, which enables me to talk more openly and openly engage in dialogue. I have only heard the Christian vs homosexuality argument, but not any on other religions. I doubt seriously that Christianity is the only religion that has been responsible for hurtful language against the LGBTQ community. I feel as though there are other people in other religions who may be LGBTQ identified who go through similar struggles and it would be interesting to hear that argument and those experiences.

I have a really good friend who is from Pakistan, but when I asked about LGBTQ issues and where that fits in with Islam, I did not get a direct answer. It was a general glazed over example that God loves everyone.

I do believe that Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc state the belief that God loves everyone, but the actions we display can be contrary to that statement. At times, I feel that we need to breakdown what the meaning of love means in our respective religions. If we believe that our God can love everyone unconditionally, who are we to think we are so much better that we cannot do the same. I wish sometimes people would be real with their feelings so that they would stop giving these sugar coated answers when asked about topics around homosexuality. Just confront your prejudices, and maybe you can grow from it!