#Queer Christian

[ohholydyke]

Saint Sebastian being the patron saint of queers and of soldiers and especially a patron saint of queer soldiers standing up against empire and our current political climate means I’ve now added St Sebastian alongside St Michael and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in my mental map of “saints to invoke at protests and anti state action for protection and aid in the fight against tyranny” (and also really really wanna get my hands on another st Sebastian medal to sew onto or into my patch jacket where I wanna add built in scapulars)

[leftistcatholic]

I just love queer Christian spaces.

We’re all just sitting around a cyber campfire doing life and loving Jesus and each other, knowing that the God we serve is mighty and made us beautiful and queer and we just rejoice and love ourselves.

We are so loved, y’all.

[goldieboyy]

update!!! i called up a local Parish and talked about my current situation. the Priest on the phone was so lovely! he was kind and understanding and welcomed me to attend Mass so i could see what its like :)

also, when i asked if the Parish was queer friendly he said that he would love to see it be affirming and inclusive for everyone which was LOVELY (but for obvious reasons he couldnt speak for every member of the church). im so excited to go on sunday!!!

ive been feeling quite drawn to Catholicism recently, been having lots of thoughts and fascination and interest in it for just over a month now and im not sure what to do ab it.

ive contacted a Parish which im now waiting for a response from but if anyone could maybe give me some info or advice on what i could or should do itd be so appreciated!!!

may God bless you all <3

[proseandpsalms]

hello!! i don't know if you've been asked this before, but i just saw a post of yours that said you don't believe in a conventional/eternal hell. can you explain/expand on that please?

i was by a previously pentecostal "fire and brimstone" (now conserv. baptist) father, and a conserv. baptist mother. a lot of my family (the ones who are christian, anyway) are very end-times/rapture/hell/fire and brimstone-based. it's honestly terrifying- i grew up having nightmares about it all when i was young. i'm now deconstructing my faith, but that aspect always feels like a scary looming figure at the back of it.

i read somewhere once that jews don't believe in an eternal hell? i'm not sure if that's true or not, but that's what i was reminded of when i saw your post. is it like that?

basically, i'm asking: why do you believe that way? what supports it (not that you need anything to support it, just that if there is, i'd like to see it)? would you be willing to share?

thank you very much- i'm sorry this got a bit vent-y, but i just wanted you to understand my background, and where i'm coming from when asking. :D

On Hell

First of all I want to apologise for taking one million years to respond to this. Time is a slippery character with few morals.

The first thing that I want to establish is the difference between what I understand hell to be and what others do. Growing up I was taught that hell is a pit of fire and flames that people reside in for the rest of their soul's eternity, as punishment for not believing in the Christian understanding of God. I do not believe in this.

I do not believe this to be a biblical notion either. I encourage you to read the following and click the link to read the full text as they articulate it better than what I possibly could ever. Here is an excerpt from it.

"There Are The 4 Words Translated As “Hell”

Most of the confusion around Hell starts with translation error. There are four separate Hebrew and Greek words which are translated into the single English word “Hell”, despite having drastically different meanings.

Sheol (Hebrew)

Hades (Greek)

Tartarus (Greek)

Gehenna (Greek)

The English language is often very limited when trying to express certain concepts. A perfect Biblical example of this is the multiple Greek words translated to the single English word “Love”. Agape is a special version of love that speaks about God’s love toward humanity. Phileo speaks about brotherly love and Eros refers to sexual love or desire.

And just like “love”, the English word “hell” is unilaterally translated from the Greek and Hebrew words Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus, each of which have different meanings.

1. Sheol (H7585)

שׁאל שׁאול she’ôl she’ôl sheh-ole’, sheh-ole’ From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: — grave, hell, pit.

2. Hades (G86)

ᾅδης hadēs hah’-dace From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1492; properly unseen, that is, “Hades” or the place (state) of departed souls: — grave, hell.

3. Gehenna (G1067)

γέεννα geenna gheh’-en-nah Of Hebrew origin ([H1516] and [H2011]); valley of (the son of) Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem

4. Tartarus (G5020)

ταρταρόω tartaroō tar-tar-o’-o From Τάρταρος Tartaros̄ (the deepest abyss of Hades); to incarcerate in eternal torment: — cast down to hell.

Below, I’ve listed the full 13 times “Hell” is used in the NASB translation of the Bible. Sheol and Hades are always correctly translated as “the grave” in the NASB and other more accurate translations, which is why you don’t see any references below. I’ve included those words in our discussion simply because they will come up incorrectly as “Hell” in the KJV.

You’ll notice that NONE of the above 4 words actually translate to Hell. The closest is Hades, which is derived from Greek mythology and is never actually translated to “Hell” in academically accepted translations. Sheol and Hades are both always translated as “death” or “the grave” in the NASB and other more accurate translations. And as we are about to see, neither Tartarus nor Gehenna can be correctly translated as “Hell” either.

In other words, “Hell” is NOT actually in the Bible."

I believe in "hell" in the sense that when my soul feels hurt and tormented, that is a bad place for my heart and mind to be. When I think of Jesus and His loving teachings I am filled with peace and helps bring me out of that place.

While I don't believe in ETERNAL hell, I do believe in divine punishment. Those who do not follow the teachings Jesus preached (being loving, kind, empathetic, caring about social justice) will experience some sort of punishment. If it is not in this lifetime, I believe it will be in the next.

Do I believe they'll all be put in flames? No not really. I believe God will provide them with a consequence that will assist them in changing their perspective and changing for the better.

I don't believe people who don't worship the Christian understanding of God, yet follow what Jesus preached will be punished eternally. I don't think God will mind if we get the theology wrong but what we did get right was the act of loving our neighbour.

I've likely not explained this very well at all and I'm still growing and learning in my faith. If you have new perspectives you want to add onto this and more resources to provide to me, I am more that happy for you to share them!

If you are going to get upset with me in the comments for what I believe and tell me again and again that ETERNAL FIRE AND HELL is real, I am unfortunately not interested in that. I was taught that for many years of my life and it never brought me peace. It only made me feel further away from God because I didn't understand how He could be so hateful. Please don't come to my comment section and tell me my God is hateful. I deconstructed that notion long ago.

Let me know if you want me to explain anything better or provide more resources!

God bless everyone <3

[lightoml]

[blood-is-the-life]

[oleandro-drag]

saint sebastian tended by saint irene but they're both drag artists

felt like this might be something this site would enjoy

on stage: oleandro & delfi oraakel, photographer: peroksiid (on ig as oleandro_drag, delfi_oraakel and peroksiid)

[saintmachina]

Deeply religious openly queer people are God's strongest soldiers. Constantly justifying their own existence to everyone from all sides...Phew

[thyateira]

Medievalists speculate that the wound, pictured as a slit in Jesus’s side emitting blood and clear liquid, led some mystics to imagine other bodily slits that emanate blood and clear fluids. [...] Additionally, the blood of Jesus’s wounds is said to bring forth life; likewise, life is brought forth through the blood-discharging female sexual organ.

The idea of Jesus’s side wound being like a womb then led to artists showing a female — either baby or adult — being birthed from that wound. The birthed human is the Church, born through the life-giving blood of the Son of God … delivered through Jesus’s vagina. Jesus, then, becomes gender non-binary, bearing both male and female sexual organs.

Jesus’s Vagina: A Medieval Meditation // Emily Swan

[ohholydyke]

[shoutsofmybones]

being a queer Christian and ALSO being really into historical Christianity can be really strange, but not for the reason you think. For me, the weirdest thing is that I know for a FACT that many of the saints of the early Church, particularly early monastics, did not waste their time obsessing over people's sexual sins. Like, not even close to the amount of writing conservatives do today. What they were concerned about, however, was when their fellow Christians were judgemental and thought they were superior to their siblings in Christ (the term Saint Benedict uses is "puffed up," which is pretty funny). So, by the standards of the early Church, Christians who spend their time judging and putting down other Christians, instead of working on themselves, are committing the really problematic behavior.

So, because I love historical Christianity, every time I see a conservative rail against the "inherent sin" and "intrinsic disorder" of gay people, all the while holding themselves as the true ideal of a Christian? All I can think is "the Desert Fathers would HATE this."

[periwinkledragons]

I'm very thankful for openly queer christians because if I wasn't for them I would not have come back to God at all.

[dykecommunion]

sorry u don't see the inherent holiness of queer people and queer relationships. maybe u should praise God

[theskullkid]

just heard “turns out, shockingly, that you can’t pray away your gay thoughts because you can’t pray away your capacity for love” from a wise Christian queer man on a tiktok comp, and i thought it’d be wise to share

[theancientfootsteps]

Transition is a reflection of the glory of God, not an act of defiance against Him.

I would not be able to be what God intended me to be if I had not been given the body I was given. God created this body to be transformed. God made me to be wide-hipped and deep-voiced, to have breasts that hope to become scars. I was always meant to have exactly this experience, to be exactly this.

God did not create a different cis body from the one I think I should have, leaving me to disrespect His creation by trying to escape it.

God created a trans body.

A body that was made to change. A body that was created to participate in its own creation. A body that was fearfully and wonderfully made to sing His praises and bring glory to the boundless variety of His thoughts.

My transness forms the stones that pave my path to God. I was given this cross to carry in the footsteps of our Lord. And as self-denial gave way to truth, I was given the most precious gift - that of death and resurrection.