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LGBTIQ Interfaith Furries and Allies
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a LiveJournal community rated in the top 2000 each day continually since 1 April 2013, and in the top 1000 each day continually since 4 May 2016
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Update:
17 July 2017 - It was announced in January that our membership would be set to "closed" and our comments set to "members" on August 1st, but now there has been some renewed activity in other pertinent communities, so we're going to put those plans on hold until we see how they do.
The two communities of interest both launched this month: a new LGBT called 
gaygeeksrule and a new regional furry called nefurs
We’re an über friendly community of queers and furries of all different faiths, and their allies. We’re a diverse bunch, and we like it that way. Life’s too short to spend it bickering over which religion is best or judging others for their sexual attraction or furry interests.
As far as discussions go, it’s important to remember this is a safe zone for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex/androgynous, or questioning individuals (LGBTIQ) and their allies. In all of our freedom in discussion, please remember that these are not open for debate, neither are you welcome to proselytize. Many found their way here from other communities where their orientation, gender identity, religious faith or lack thereof were not welcome, but here they will ~always~ be welcome. We are not a community which is usually in the habit of deleting posts or making people walk the plank, but we will take steps necessary to preserve the safe zone described above for all of our members. Yes, we have a plank *nod*.
In the same way that there is diversity of species which make up our collective furry natures, there is diversity in gender identities and sexual orientations which are inborn in everyone. That often comes as a shock to those who try to see everything in black and white.
There is very little which is off-topic. Ask a question, share your beliefs, a book or movie review, a poem, or any current event you think would be of interest. Share what’s on your heart, promote a pertinent site or organization. YouTubes and polls are okay if they are related to LGBTIQ, faith or spirituality, or being furry. You might have a prayer request. Give your testimony or give a hug.
Yes, Jesus Loves Me! Bible Study
“I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason and intellect, has intended us to forgo their use.” ~ Galileo Galilei
Some lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people have been led to believe that the Bible is a book of condemnation for LGBT people. But it’s important to consider the difference between the document, and those in authority who purport to know its contents. There is a difference between the original intent, and tradition.
Traditional Christian teaching often condemns non-heterosexual people and their same-sex relationships.
It was “tradition” in which Galileo was condemned by the Church, because he taught that the Earth revolves around the sun. The Church’s traditional view based their “stationary earth theory” on scriptures like the poetic Job 26:7 “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing” and I Samuel 2:8 “...for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.”
The astronomer and scientist Galileo was therefore labeled a heretic, was told to renounce his claims, and lived the remainder of his life under house arrest.
So as you click on each reference below, then read the scripture link at the top of each new page, you will likely feel that twinge of condemnation caused by the traditional Church which has taught you from birth their own biased interpretations. But just as Galileo finally received a formal apology from the Church in 1979, 337 years after his death, read the explanations of what the scriptures are truly saying in the context in which they were given. Read the old words with new understanding. Let it set you free!
First, the “clobber” passages traditionally used against gay and lesbian people...
Genesis 19:4-13~ This covers the biblical sum total of what they have against you. Their condemnation does not stand up to serious scrutiny, but the evidence in this study can too easily be explained away as a trick of the devil to trip up the faithful or a twist of scripture to further the ‘gay agenda.’ Their growth beyond condemnation is prolonged by both fear and pride: Fear in the irrational belief of a threat to society, to family, or to children; Pride in believing that they alone are equipped to truly ‘know’ the Bible, making it difficult to admit to themselves that they may have been mistaken all along, that they actually have a biblical obligation to receive LGBT believers as their brothers and sisters in Christ instead of maligning them.
...is about the residents of Sodom who wanted to violently rape the guests of Lot out of their arrogance and show of dominance, and is in no way a condemnation of loving, committed relationships.
Leviticus 18:22; 20:13
‘Man shall not lie with man’ is a small portion of the “Law” which was only given to the Israelites, to primarily keep them from being assimilated into the cultures of the surrounding nations. Levitical Law in its entirety has never been adopted or mandated by any Christian denomination.
Romans 1:24-28
...is a warning for heterosexuals not to go against their own natural sexual orientation for their religion, or in pursuit of pleasure. It says nothing against gay people or their committed relationships.
I Corinthians 6:9-10; I Timothy 1:10
...are both victims of poor translations of arsenokoites and malakos in certain versions such as the Living Bible. Both instances are actually warnings against prostitution, and do not condemn loving, committed relationships.
Jude 7
...is centered around the term “strange flesh” which has been wrongly interpreted as same-sex relations, but a simple lesson in Greek reveals it is not talking about that at all.
Some will concede it is not a sin to be gay ‘as long as you don’t act on it.’ They argue that the Bible lacks examples of where such relationships are affirmed. Again, they would be mistaken. Here are just a few...
Jesus mentions Natural-born Eunuchs
Philip and the Eunuch
...and in the Old Testament...
The nature of Ruth and Naomi’s relationship
The nature of David and Jonathan’s relationship
In conclusion, here is a promise in Isaiah for “Eunuchs” which is a term we now know refers to intersex and gay people.
This original version of the YJLM will receive no further updates.
Please visit this YJLM on the MyRainbowArk website which features the study in PDF.
Rainbow Ark LiveJournal Community was founded on the 7th of February, 2004.
The ark prow logo above is ©2005 Jeff Hall (Jarrell)
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