God loves gay people too (1)

I cannot stress enough how oppressive Joseph Aquilina's letter (The Bible And Homosexuality, July 7) is towards LGBT people and their families with its condemnation of homosexual people using quotations from the Bible.

I read the letter after coming from a three-day spiritually directed retreat and whereas usually I would just ignore such a letter, I could not simply let this one pass by. I am a homosexual person myself but cannot see how this limits the practice of my Christian beliefs and values and prevents me from being loved by God unconditionally. My lifestyle in general consists of doing voluntary work, working as a caring professional, helping out groups, attending a Christian group and above all sharing my life with my life partner whom I love very much. My question to all those people who see LGBT people as unfit to be part of the Kingdom is: What am I doing wrong to be treated as a lesser human being and unworthy of Divine Love? Moreover I ask these people, if human beings who err and make mistakes like my family, my friends and colleagues can genuinely love me for who I am, how does this God who is so loving and compassionate simply push me away from His arms?

I am not going to open any "battle of the quotes" here. Simply, I want to point out that the Bible should be used as a means for empowerment for all people and not as a means of oppression, hence the Good News. Women were oppressed so much throughout these centuries mainly because they were portrayed as the bearers of sin starting from the very beginning with the fictitious Eve, all the way through the Old Testament to the New with Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, when in fact if one reads carefully she was never mentioned as being one.

I used to agree with Marx that "Religion is the opium of the people" because I used to think of God as an ageless, Gandalf-like, close-minded old man sitting on a big cloud who shuns all those who do not fit into the box of saints. However, if we try to think God as much more than that, we will then start seeing things with an open heart and mind. I may not have given any answers or arrived at any conclusions, but if we want to live in a world with no wars and no violence, let's start by exercising acceptance (as Christians should do) towards those who are already in pain for being judged and condemned.