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okay so first of all we have to understand the inherent problematic nature of the church. the catholic church has always been corrupt, there will always be someone taking advantage of it and all those who follow it. the catholic church becomes very cult like the moment that one person discovers how much power they have. personally, i used to attend a church that was catholic, and their weekly newsletter showed how much money they were racking in through donations (like 6k aud a week!!) and still, they did nothing with it that served the people. instead, they organise pro-life campaigns, or use it to send support to israel, so now at the church itself, people are fainting because they still have no air conditioning during mass. but hey we have a new floral arrangement!!! also send more money to our friends in the holy land 🥺🥺🥺. This is where faith becomes politics and then it slowly becomes the defining factor of everyones human rights. we can't afford to feed the poor!!! jesus said that its YOUR job to feed the poor!!!! its OUR job to make hella money bucks 🤑🤑🤑 i mean its ridiculous.

This is where we separate the church from the faith, because if it ever reflected the morale of Jesus Christ, it certainly doesn't now. Jesus was known to tell people to leave the church, to stop submitting to the money hungry religious leaders because they dont have anyones interests at heart, and it was a hill he literally died on!

So my first point is if the church tells me that i'm going to hell for my beliefs or the love within me, i know fully well that they cannot talk whatsoever. All churches become corrupt in the end, which is why all of them are inherently problematic. Not enough faith, too much control.

So why do I still identify as catholic? because i believe in the intercession of saints and i recognise the purity of the blessed virgin and how powerful that was. Call me naive, but if i read old accounts of saints who healed others through prayers, or had incorrupt corpses, or failed to be killed so many timea, all recounts set at a time where its hard to correlate stories to make them seem similar and yet coming out similar anyway, i'm inclined to believe them. Furthermore, its my biggest goal in life (or thereafter) to become a saint by doing good works and helping people and praying for them to heal from what is hurting them. I also love Jesus and believe that he was the reinactment of the passover lamb, like the lambs were sacrifices to free the israelites (not to be confused with the european settlers in palestine) from egyptian slavery, Jesus was sacrified in what history regards as the most horrific death as the most sinless and innocent man to walk this earth in order to pay the price for all of our sins. it is the greatest act of kindness that i have ever heard of, and he did it out of pure love, which is why i love him and look up to him. My faith lies in Jesus, not the church.

So what does Jesus say about gay people? literally nothing lmao. When sodomy at all (the act of sex or sexual acts without the purpose of procreation) comes into the question, Jesus defends those who enact it against religious people who persecute them for it. See john 8:1-11, mark 5:25-34. However, when theres the question of looking at someone lustfully, Jesus says that it equates to violating them even if you have not, because it is something enacted in your heart. This applies to everyone, making sexual integrity equal among the sexes, but not restrictive. sex is fully consensual, and thats that.

We could bring up the old testament, how God created adam and eve and not two women or two men, but obviously He did that because they needed to make babies? And then we could refer to whence God told moses that homosexuality was abomination, yet to me, i see it exactly how i see the slavery argument. most of moses' commandments were strictly for the kingdom of Israel (the prophet Israel, not the contemporary land of white settlers actively colonising and committing genocide against palestine. let me be clear that i hate israel) and their safety. A kingdom of people who have spent their whole lives in slavery would be less likely to just stop having slaves no matter who tells them. it's pretty well known that israelites were ungrateful as fuck. So God tells them to be safer with their slaves and treat them fairly. Similarly, imagine how many diseases could pass through homosexual acts at that time? ancient palestine with its poor health practices? and problems with consent? having safe sex? oh i bet. which is why most christians take the laws of the old testament with a grain of salt UNLESS its the 10 big commandments or anything that Jesus had mentioned.

Then there's paul, the guy who once killed christians for a living before seeing Jesus for himself. there is the argument of how paul saw people treating their male slaves (raping them into submission) and how he was disgusted with it. thats what i like to believe, but Pauls letters have been misinterpreted so much throughout history that its very hard to understand what he really meant in an english bible.

and lastly my own experience. I've been in a committed lesbian relationship for 1 year and 2 months (and 1 day). God is at the center of this relationship. God built this relationship. I prayed to God before we got together asking for him to bring us closer. The results were undeniable. We went from strangers to having deep conversations that went into midnight at least once a week. And then I prayed to love her, if it was right, if it was his will, and if i'd be right for her. no more than a month after I converted to catholicism, an opportunity presented itself, and I got to ask her out on a date, and she said yes. Whenever I have doubts, or the hateful words of other christians make me wonder if im living in sin, I pray about it, and God provides. He proves that I am right where I need to be, that my love is welcome in his home just as much as anyone else's, and that I'm not broken, I am his, and he made me this way.

Thats the lesbian stuff, political things are a little less complex. Long story short is that Jesus was a leftie too. He hated capitalism, authoritarianism, control, and anything that didnt enact peace. He loved women and their autonomy, he loved children, he loved love, and he loved everyone that did what he hated. I maintain that if Jesus existed today, he'd be totally punk, and not only that, he'd probably be woker than everyone. seriously, he'd blow us away. But I don't get my beliefs from Jesus, I developed them myself as an athiest, and Jesus affirms them and makes them better. Instead of violently asserting my belief of trans rights, I discuss it instead, and I support my dolls and dudes on their journey because Jesus says to love one another. instead of arguing with chuds about abortion, I spread support to the mothers who choose to keep their children, and the women who dont, because I love all of them.