Page 150 … the Weapons of Satan
Next you refer to 2 Timothy 4:3 when you state that, “[The Bible] says men will not endure sound doctrine, but will have itching ears and will heap to themselves teachers that will fulfill their own lusts.” … And to this I would once again simply answer with a resounding – YES! … And yet we must ask ourselves here: What are those “lusts”? And then we must answer: They are the actions & the beliefs that bear the evil fruits of conflict & dissension & sadness & arrogance & judgment & hatred (see Galatians 5:20-21, Matthew 7:15-20, Romans 13:10, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 3 John 1:11 et al). THESE are the real “weapons of Satan”, Lucy – and THESE are the weapons that your interpretation of the Bible forges & sharpens!
Please, my dear Friend, consider the following facts that reflect this Truth:
*Gay, lesbian or bisexual people are 10 times more likely to experience discrimination based on sexual orientation as compared to heterosexual people (Michael Friedman Ph.D., in Psychology Today, February 2014).
*As many as 50 percent of LGBT teens experience a negative reaction from their parents when they come out (N. Ray in 2006 – for the National Coalition for the Homeless), with 30 percent of them experiencing physical abuse, and 26 percent of them being subsequently kicked out of their homes. In fact, a 2012 Williams Institute study has confirmed that LGBT children comprise 40 percent of all homeless youth, and that family/community rejection is the primary cause of their homelessness.
*Just as disturbing, LGBT adults who report family &/or community rejection are six times more likely to be depressed, three times more likely to use illegal drugs and eight times more likely to have attempted suicide than non-rejected adults (see Garofalo in volume 153 of the Archive of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine – 1999; & Grossman & D’Augelli for the American Association of Suicidology – 2007).
*This trend towards extreme self-deprecation is just as prevalent in young LGBT’s, as reflected by the fact that LGBT youth with rejecting families/communities are at least eight times more likely to attempt suicide and are nearly six times more likely to experience intense bouts of depression (see C. Ryan, for San Francisco State University’s Wright Edelman Institute – 2009).
*And home is not the only battlefield strewn with the victims of LGBT discrimination. It turns out that over 85% of LGBT youth are verbally bullied in school over their innate sexual orientation (per a 2011 study conducted by San Francisco State University’s Family Acceptance Project), and this harassment often turns violent – with over 40% of LGBT youth reporting being physically bullied and roughly 20% of them admitting to being actually physically assaulted at school as a result.
*Research (from a study released in 2006) also shows that LGBT people display higher levels of psychological distress, deep depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse in communities where equal marital rights are denied or denounced (Herdt & Kertner, reported in the National Sexuality Resource Center Journal).
*And finally, it has been found that 20 to 25 percent of all LGBT people experience criminal victimization because of their innate sexual orientation (Herek, Gillis & Cogan, in the Journal of Consultive & Clinical Psychology – 1999); and that LGBT hate-crime survivors manifest significantly more & significantly more intense symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress than other crime victims.
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