Thoth, I would disagree with your statement that I am not free thinking. I went to church schools all my life and was taught in science about evidence that totally went against what was being taught in RE. I took in both points of view and came to the point of view that the bible was bullshit as there was no proof for creationism and that there was evidence that tended to disprove it. I subsequently embarked on a career in science gaining qualifications upto PhD level. Every day I have to "think outside the box" to overcome technical problems. I am constantly reading of new theories and discoveries in my chosen field in academic literature, some of which I believe, some I don't. Over the years science advances as researchers find evidence supporting or disproving various theories they come up with. To a religious person the bible/koran/torah cannot be proven to be untrue as it is the word of their god and as such must be undeniably true, even without any proof. I believe that religious stories, used in the right context, can be very good at teaching children how to behave in a civilised society, in much the same way as Aesops fables, but Genesis, for example , should not be portrayed as an accurate description of the creation of our planet.
Although I am no expert on the bible I do know that there is something in there about it being an abomination for a man to lie with another man as he does his wife. This is where all the bigotry stems from. Personally I'm not gay and as I said earlier cannot understand why anyone who is gay would want to be in a religion that demonised their sexuality. Equally I cannot understand why a religion would condem homosexuality.
