And I think my sexuality was heavily repressed by the church, by the, you know, the design of the mortal sins.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I learned from my Adventist upbringing that the biggest sins were sexual.
No relief was forthcoming from my then-Catholic faith, which said the practice of homosexuality was a 'mortal sin' subject to damnation.
There were theoretical elements in the subjection of women and it is not possible to avoid the conclusion that a large contribution was made to them by the Church. In part this was a matter of its hostile stance towards sexuality.
I came from a good, repressed Catholic background.
It was really intense for me to start having conversations with God, when according to the man-made laws in my religion - to be homosexual is evil.
At the time I perceived most religious men, particularly the pastors with all their talk about love, faith and relationship, as effeminate.
On the day, therefore, when I went to the church to be confirmed, with a number of others, I suffered extremely from the reproaches of my conscience.
I was told I had an overabundance of original sin.
The more I had to act like a saint, the more I felt like being a sinner.
I decided to take God and organized religion seriously, and to reject the secular life which in my teens had looked attractive because it allowed me to act in any way that I wanted.