The Bible Preaches Acceptance of Others [Movie Transcript]

Paul: So here we are in Christ Chapel at Gettysburg College. I'm gay and I'm also Episcopalian. The Episcopalian Church is actually being ripped apart ironically over the issue of homosexuality: back in '03, they appointed a gay Bishop and that caused a huge rift in the Church.

Personally, I see the scriptures as being--a lot of people impose themselves and their values. Some people will say, "I don't believe gays should be allowed to live in the Christian community," but then, they don't recognize the fact that passages of The Bible accept and encourage slavery or the abuse of women, so I feel that there are a lot of people who are tempted to pick and choose their choices.

As for me, I believe that most of The Bible definitely leans toward acceptance of people and faith in Christ. So, you can look at it either way: you can decide to subverse yourself and try to discriminate against some people, or you can accept most people in the faith of God.

WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT: You Believe in God? Good for You! (Nelly)

So my mother is Episcopalian and my father's Baptist. My brother was baptized, and my sisters and I weren't.

The last time I was in a church was for my ex-girlfriend, as she asked me to go to her parents' church with her. It was... very weird, to say the least. Because they were all sorts of Nigerian and very firm believers in their faith. And, because of the accents, I couldn't understand half of what the pastor was saying.

Prior to that, I only went to churches for funerals and never felt very comfortable in them. Especially not after I visited a cousin's and felt like a piece of dirt while I was there (the kids didn't really play nice, and the Sunday school teacher wasn't any better).

So, it's safe to say, I don't exactly practice any religion. I'm more of a "you believe in God? Good for you!" kind of person. My family's pretty religious though (at least my immediate sister is... she goes to church semi-regularly with her friends).

Christianity seems to have that love/hate relationship with homosexuality. My minister friend feels like people still cling to this more outdated view of homosexuality. "We're all sinners, so how is one sin better than another?" she tells me when we get into a religion discussion.

I've never converted to any religion. Ever. My ex-girlfriend and I actually got into a row about this, as she told me one evening that she couldn't be with a non-Christian, and in my eyes I wasn't. And that bothered me greatly, as I felt like religion shouldn't dictate how you feel about someone. So I attempted to be more "Christian" for her, which just made me feel like a poser so I stopped that. Because religion doesn't play a role in my life like that.

Suffice to say, I thought religion wouldn't play into my partner's importance, but I guess I learned that I was wrong. It's a major turn-off to have someone "give up" their religion for you after they tell you to your face you're not religious enough for her. And y'know, to be the *cause* of such an internal dilemma like that sucks too.